Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ CROSS COUNTRY AMAWiseco/YamahalYokoh~ Grand National Cross Country Series: Round 6 e ~ An esti mated 20,000 specta to rs turned o ut for th e Blackwater 100, which saw the ret urn of the fam ous Route 93 river crossing. In one of the sp ort's greatest upsets, Thomas Norton, from Norfolk , Massachusetts, ran awa y with the victory. He is the first rider ever to win the race on a 125. N shocks the field orton at Blackwater 100 By Da vey Coombs DAVIS, W , JUNE 1 V 7 u rn ing in a performan ce that will go down in the record books as one of th e gr eatest ups ets in offroad racing histor y, 27-year-old KTM T rid er Thomas Norton from Norfo lk, Massachusetts, won the 16th Ann ua l Blackwater 100 on a 125cc mot orcycle. The New Englander, wh o describes him self as " a hare scra mbler from NETRA (New Eng land T rail Riders Associa tio n), " sim p ly ou tra n the starstu dded field th at incl uded Ameri can Honda 's Sco tt Sum mers, Kawasaki Tea m G reen 's Larry Roeseler and T err y Cun n ing ham, and defending Grand Nat iona l Cross Co untry Ch ampi on Ed Lojak, Team Yamah a's Loj ak had the best chance of bea rin g Cliff's Cycles/ KT M America/ Factory Conn ection l Ara il Acerbi s/ Sm ith /M ax i rna 10 I DI E BC IM etz e ler l FA H -Q Racin g-backed No rto n but ga thered a rock in the cases o n the wh ite flag lap and seized hi s Yam aha. After mor e than four hours, Norton beat four -time Blackwater 100 cha m p Mark H yde by less than two minutes with GNCC points leader T im Sh ep hard an extremely close third. Shepha rd and Hyde raced in to town and rode th e last half mil e on the streets of Davis wheel-t o-wheel in what they each th ought to be a battle for the overall win. " My pit crew had Nort on's name on the board o n the last lap but I missed it, " ex p lained Hyde. " I never kn ew that he was o ut in front o f us." Fini shin g fourth o ve ra ll wa s Su m mers wh ile Yamaha -mounted Frank Keegan rounded o ut th e top five. Nearly 500 rid ers and ap pro xima tely 20,000 fan s poured into th e sma ll Ca naa n Vall ey town of Davi s to tak e part in " America 's tou gh est race." The Racer Product ionsl Alp in e Festi val event featured a difficult 18-mile trail wit h numerous riv er cross ings , mud bogs and rock-lined roa ds. After a twoyear absence, the notorius Route 93 river cross ing was back in p lace with thou san ds of fan s lining the banks of the sma ll river in orde r to Walch and help th e rid ers. T he race began o n the main str eet of Davis with the 185 rid ers lined up in row s of five. RoeseJer drew nu mber one for th e first -lap leadoff spot but had no further luck from that point o n. Just after the first wa ter cross ing, Roeseler was dis placed by number two sta rter No rto n and th en began having m ech ani cal diffi cu lti es . Ro ese ler dro p ped ou t after o ne lap with a flat tire and serious ignition problems that kept grounding hi s KX250' s motor. Also experienc ing earl y difficulties were GNCC co nte nders Sum mers and Loj ak, Sum mers crashed o n th e main road at the end of the start straight whe n the front end of hi s big Honda XR 600, mod ified to 630cc, washed ou t on the concrete. He lost a ppro xima tely I 50 p o si tion s before refir in g his mach in e. Lojak als o dropped his bike in the street but lost o nly a handfu l of spots .befor e gelli ng down into the knee- deep water of the first river crossing, In the water 'Lojak met a sta lled-o ut Scott Plessinger, the Nati on al Hare Scrambles cham p. Plessinger had difficulties throughou t the day with the waterproofing of hi s KTM and was never a threat. O ut fro nt , Norton was enjoying h is tim e in the lead as the field behind co n ti n ued to thin out. But when Norto n fin a lly made it to Ro u te 93, I h is glass slipper nearly fell off. · I " It took me two tries to make that bank ," said Norton of th e slimecovered, 30·foo t wall that the riders must climb after cross ing the water. " Fi n a ll y so me of the Mud Fleas (spectato rs who becom e mud-covered wh ile assisting riders) ca ugh t my bike and helped me o ver the edge." Nort on had diffi cu lties at Route 93 each la p , but never actu ally dropped hi s bike in the water - he a lways step ped off and walk ed the bike across, It wa s a lso a t th e cro ss i n g t h at Sum mers go t within earsho t of the leader. . " As I w as going through the crowd, I hear a loud fo ur-stro ke engine behi nd me," said Norton of the firs t attack on his position. " I tho ugh t he was just so m e quad rider playing arou nd behind. You can hear that th ing a hal fmile away."

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