Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

AMA National Championship ReliabilityEnduro Series: Round 5 1 heard th a t Larry (Roeseler ) d ro wn ed ou t a nd that ' Bu bba ' (Posledn i) wa s o u t - the tw o guys 1was wo rri ed about most - 1 felt I had a cha nce. Wh en th e results ca me O U I a fter the fir st dav a nd I was lead ing. [ kn ew I co u ld h ol d o n ." Misty rain greeted th e rid ers o n Sa tu rday m orning , making visibility tough. Kurt Hough (202) was the overall winner. Desert race r Dan Sm it h felt rig ht a t home in th e Oregon wo od s, as the four-stroke KTM rider earned seco n d overa ll . Hough two tough at Trask By Kit Palm er Photos by Tom Van Beveren ~1r~1I:,\\ ' ILLE, OR, jl'i'\E 23·2·j esp i\<, a pa inf u lly sore sho u lder n -su ll ing Irorn a hi gh -speed get·off two wee ks ago a t the Rose C ity Qualifi er in Mich igan . T ea m Green 's Kurt H o u g h co l lec te d h is seco n d co useru t ive Tras k Mount ain ISD E Qual ifier victory, as we ll a s hi s th ird win o f t h e se ries . Fu rth e r m o re , H ough 's name will go down in h isto ry D as th e first ride r 10 win t he in augu ral AMA Nati ona l Rel ia b ility End uro C ha mpion ship titl e a fu-r cl inc h ing th e cha m pions h ip a t Tra sk. "I 'm reall y happy 10 win here," said Ho ugh. " O n ly Di ck Burl eson , Kevin H in es a nd La rr y Roeseler ha ve wo n th is even t IWo tim es in a row. No w I've gOI tw o in a row here: iI'S n ice having yo ur name among peop le like rhese." H o ug h 's victory wa s mad e a lill ie eas ier wh en team ma le La rry Roeseler a nd R o se C i tv wi n n er Bohum il Posledni were k;lOcked o u t of co n ienrio n ea rly in th e first day . Roeseler dropped hi s Ka wa sa ki in a strea m crossin g a nd dro wn ed o ut th e en g ine in the p ro rcess . ca u sing h im to lo se seven m in ut es a t th e first check, wh ile I' osledni retired when th e head gasket in h is two- year-old Suzuk i RMX250 gav e OUL With Ho ugh 's ma in co m petiti on OUI of th e wa y, it wa s ba sica lly a two -day cru ise for the new cha m p io n. " I j us t di d n ' t mak e a ny mi stakes." said Hough . " I didn 't wa n t 10 fall down or a ny th ing, became if 1 landed o n m y sho u lde r it wou ld be over. When Four-t im e Nati on al H ar e & H ound Ch ampion Dan Sm it h ended up bei ng H ough 's nea rest co m pe titor aft er a ll th e specia l test scores were tallied and th e fina l results posted , Sm ith , aboard a fac tory-backed four- stroke KTM , la n ded seco nd ov eral l. finishing a respectable 52 points beh ind H o ug h , 2241-2293. Suzuki's Da ve Bertram, ridi ng a modified R MX250, edged o ut Kawa saki rid er J aso n Da hners in the fi nal i\IX test by just three points for third o vera ll , and th e Open class victory. Da hners o pen ed man y o n looker 's eyes , as he threa tened Hough for th e overa ll lead a fter th e first day . Ju st 10 poi nts separa ted th e two a fte r Sa turday ' s res u lts , but Dahners dropped back in th e sta ndings on day IWO foll owing med iocr e terra in arid fina l MX special test sco res. KT M's Jimm y Lewis wa s favored to win th e 125cc class in the absen ce of T eam Green 's Aa ron H ough, who had a lrea dy clin ched a spot o n th e U.S. tea m before th e Oregon rou nd. As ex pec ted , Lew is took th e class victory, with 58 poi nts 10 spare over Ka wasa ki speed ster Brian Wal ker. T al H a rvey finished th ird. T he 350cc Fou r-Stro ke divis io n fea tu red a two -wa y dogfight between Suzuki team m at es Ra nd y H a w kin s and Charles H a lcomb, both ridin g DR 350s. Wh en th e dust seu led . the two -t ime defending National Enduro Champion , H awk ins, had prevailed, topp ing H a lcomb by 20 poin ts. T h is wa s Hawkins fir st rid e o n th e DR 350, whi ch fea Iur ed a W h ite Bros.-modified engine a nd in verted forks. The Trask Mountain M.C. Two- Da y Qual ifier marked th e fin a l ro u n d of th e ac tua l ISDE q ua li fying seg ment of th e Na tio na l Champio nsh ip Reli a bi lity Seri es. so ma n y riders wer e hoping for good finis hes a t Trask to impro ve th eir cha nces o f qua lifyin g for thi s year's ISDE in Swe de n thi s fa ll. O f th e to tal 70-p lu s rider s who co m peted th ro ug hout the series, o n ly ' 34 riders (p l u s th ree Se n ior ri d ers ) wi ll be selected to ride the Swed ish Six-Days . More tha n 500 rider s, includi n g Lett er O f Intent (L O I) riders, experts a nd a ma teurs, tu rn ed o u t for th e 20th a n n iversery of th e Trask Mountain event. Saturday's rid e included two 60mi le loop s with o ne grass tra ck test a nd one ter rain test, whil e Su nday's agenda feat ured two 45-m i!e loo p s wit h one gras s track test, one terrain test a nd a fina l :\1X speci a l test for th e LOI riders o n ly. T he first g ro u p of riders left th e starti ng line at 7:00 a .m, a nd it wa s within th e first tw o miles that Roe seler , who wa s seek ing hi s third-career victory a t Trask , eliminat ed hi m self as a top co ntender. " It was n't even th ree mi les into the rid e a t the seco nd wa ter crossing that / h it a rock a nd bobbl ed ," sai d Team Green 's Roesel er, ../ put m y foot down a nd it was rea l slimey . I lo st m y foot in g, fell dow n a nd m y bik e pinned m y leg , a nd th e icey-cold wat er ran right ove r me, All 1 co u ld sec was th e handl ebar sti ck ing III' o u t o f the wa ter - it fill ed the whole motor u p with wa ter. So 1 had to tip the bik e up side dow n a nd p ump a ll the wa ter o u t o f en g ine a nd the carburetor, and I had to ch a nge the spa rk p lug. It m us i've co st me a bo u t 20 rninuu-s, I wa s e ig ht minutes la te to th e next chec k." T hi s effect ively pu t Roeseler o u t of co nt ention , despite cli cking o ff th e

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