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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127268
ENDDROAMA National Championship Reliability Enduro Series: Round 5
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More than 500 Letter of Intent, expert and amateur riders turned o u t for the 20th .An n u al Trask Mountain Two-Day Qualifier held at the scenic Flying M Ranch,
Suzuki rider Rob Mesecher emerges out of the woods and enters the impound
area before heading back out for another 65-mile loop on da y one,
fastest spec ia l test d mes in th e terrain
test a nd the fin a l MX test o n Su nday.
After na il ing th e fastest time in th e
first sp ecia l test o f th e day, whi ch was
p la nt ed less th a n two mi les from the
sta rt , the Czechos lov akian , Posledn i,
had th e cy lin de r head gasket g ive out,
whi ch ca used th e eng ine to fill with
radiator coo la n t, H is ride was sudden ly
over.
Wash in g ton 's Da vid Rhodes was
a noth er rider who ca rded a DNF on
th e firs t da y. Rh odes, who ha s been
riding signifi ca nt ly faster sin ce switching to th e 250cc two -stroke class fro m
th e Open Fo ur-Stroke class this year,
had th e ig n ition go o ut o n his Suzu ki.
H e re-impou nded and ro de well on
Su n day .
.
Besides R oeseler 's dro wn in g o ut,
Posledrii 's b low n h ead gasket a nd
Rhodes' failed igni tion , Sa turday saw
no real su rp rises. T he tra il sched u le
for bo th days were easi ly maintained
by a ll th e riders, so it wa s immedia tely
a p parent th at th e specia l tests scores
wou ld be th e determ in ing factor for
the o u tcome o f the even t.
.
In the fir st g rass tra ck specia l test
o n Sat urday, P o sl edn i posted th e
fastest ti me over Dahners a nd H ough.
Taz Harvey was th e quickes t in th e
125cc cla ss an d Bert ram headed th e
Open class. In th e 350cc Fou r-Stroke
class, H a lcomb h anded Ha wkins the
reigns af ter crashi ng in bo th th e grass
track a nd terrain test s, w hil e Dan
Sm ith edged H u sa berg-mo uru ed G reg
Su rdyke in the Open Four-Stroke class .
H ou gh smok ed everyon e in th e
terra in test , top p in g the nex t fast est
tim e set by Dahner s by 10 seco n ds.
Lewis a lso b lew away h is 125cc rival s
wi th a 15-second adva ntage o ver th e
seco nd-fas test class ri der, W illia m
Perkin s. Roeseler edged ou t Bertra m
in the 500cc class, whi le Smith a nd
Surdyke tied for the fa stest ti mes on
thei r b ig-bore four-stro kes.
At the end o f th e first day , H ough
held a conservative 10-second lead over
Dahner s, whi le Bert ra m a nd Sm ith
were tied in th ird, 38 poi nts beh ind
Dahner s. Ha wk ins led Ha lco mb by a
co m fortable 38 points.
Day two saw o n ly a few riders lose
po ints o n th e tight a nd twisty O regon
trails, bu t n on e of th em were th e to p
co nten de rs, a lt hough Surdyde d id d ro p
o u t o f the event wit h tra nsmission
prob lems .
T he first of two tests o n th e day was
a very fa st, two- tra ck terrai n test, a nd
it was Roeseler o n h is modi fied Open
class KX250 racking u p th e fastes t
tim e. Roeseler was six seco nds fast er
th an th e next rider , H ough , who in
turn was six secon ds ahead o f Sm ith.
T he end o f th e firs t loo p was th e
sa me grass track specia l test as Sa tu r-
da y's, but ru n in th e op posi te d irectio n. T his time it was H al comb a nd
h is DR 350 Suzu ki cli ck in g o ff th e
fastest time, edg ing ou t both Bertram
a nd R o esel er, w ho fini sh ed two
seco nds o ff H a lcomb 's p a ce. Ne x t
fast est were Rhodes a n d H ough , both
o n e seco n d b eh in d Bert ram a n d
Roeseler.
H ead in g into th e fin al MX specia l
test (six la p s a ro u nd a fa irl y sho rt g ra ss
track). Hough enjoyed a co m fo rtable
30-seco nd lead over h is nea rest riva I,
Dahner s, 1357- 1387. Bert ra m fo llowed
with 1389 a nd Sm ith was nex t with
139 1.
Ther e was no sto p p ing H oug h in
hi s moto , a s h e roosted ahead o f
everyo ne rig h t from the sta n . H is time
en ded u p being the th ird fastest o f th e
da y (beh ind Roeseler and Rh odes), as
he cro ssed the fin ish lin e in fron t o f
Idah o 's jimm y L yn gar, wh o ga ve
H o ugh a run for h is money early in
the moto. T he o n ly r ider who had a
remote cha nce o f ca tch ing H o ugh in
the overa ll sta ndi ngs was Da h uers, but
he fell in th e moto a nd en ded u p
cha lking up a disappoint in g 930-poin t
(each po int eq ua ls o ne second ) sco re,
co m pa red to Ho ug h 's 88·1.
Bertram h oo ked up h is Suzuk i and
won h is m o ro wit h a 925, wh ich mov ed
hi m pa st Da h ners by just three po int s
in th e o vera ll sta nd ings .
Fo llow ing Bert ra m 's wi nning moro ,
Roeseler went o ut a n d set the fastest
MX tim e of th e day in hi s mota: "After
yesterday I had a better a ttitude a nd
just rod e better in th e tests," sa id
Roesel er .
All eyes were focused o n desert racers
Da n Smit h , Pa ul Kra use a nd Dan
Ri ch ard son in th e b ig- b ore FourStro ke fina l mota. Desp ite Krause's
factory-backed AT K having a n electri c
starter, wh ich wou ld see m to be a n
adva n tage for th e dead-en g in e sta rt ,
Smi th stole th e hol esh o t on hi s kickstart KTM a nd mo tored away with th e
win o ver Krau se a nd Hu sab e rg mou nted Ri chardson. Smi th's time of
902 moved h im pa st bo th Bertram
(925) a nd Dahners (930) for seco nd
overa ll. Smi th ma naged a ll this even
though he h ad a cast o n a fin ger o n
h is right hand.
" I rip ped th e ligament in half a
co uple o f weeks ago a t th e Ely G rand
Prix ," sai d Smit h. "Luckily , it didn 't
both er me a t a ll o u t there."
Man y .sp ecta to rs looked forwa rd to
the duel betw een OR350 riders H awkins a nd H a lco mb in th ei r mota .
Halcomb grabb ed th e holes hot a nd
slo wly pu lled away from H a w kin s.
Then , towards th e end of the moto ,
a Iootpeg fell o ff H a lcomb 's Suzu ki,
a llowing H awkins to- move in . But
before H awkins co u ld swoop in for th e
kill , th e chec kered n ag ca me out a n d
H alcomb took th e narrow win. How- ,
ever, th e war belonged to H awkin s by A
fini shing 20 poi nts a head of H alcomb Z
in th e fin al sta nd ings.
J
" Pro ba b ly th e m o st i meres t i ng J
thing th at ha p pened a ll weekend was )
seei ng Roes eler drown o u t a nd fall
twice," said H a wkins. "Tha t's n o t
~
so met h ing you see every day ."
T he Seni or cla ss 'was do mi nated by
L yle Du ronso , wh o fin ish ed 68 po ints
a hea d o f hi s nea rest riva l ]. 0. Ben tley. I
R ick Beckstrom fin ished third, while
Gary Doerr sett led lo r fourth .
In cele bra tio n of th e 20th An nua l
Tra sk Mo unta in Q ua lifier , a 197\
Origina l R ider cla ss was held for those
riders wh o had competed in the first ,
T rask event some 20 yea rs ago. Da ne
L e imha ch, w ho had s ig n if ica n tl y
fas ter times th an anyo ne else in most )
of the specia l tests, was the overa ll a
w in ner. Leim bach ta ll ied \539 p oi nts,
whil e ru ruu-r-up ho no rs went to Craig ~
Yon ng wi th 1609. Ro u nding o u t th e
to p five wer e Lars Larsson , Orvi
Olso n a nd j ack Leh to. T he Pe n to n y
famil y, includi n g T (Jm, jilhn a n d v
j ack, a tte nded with o n ly Tom break-..
ing into th e to p 10 with a nimh- pl ac
finis h.
1:N
Results
O / A: I. Kun
lI o u ~h ( Ka w };
:t Ih \'!' lk-rt ra m
2. na il Smi th ( KT M );
(S il l); .1. J a 'iflll Dahucr s ( Ka w]: 5.
J imlll Y L yugar ( K;lw ); fi. Ra udy H a w k in s (Stll); 7.
S(l IlI Dr;ll, (S UI ); X. J o h n Nil+'.C.'U ( Ka w); 9 . Kd hy
Pl'P lwl ( 1\.;: \\'): In , Cha rk!lo Hako mb (SIJ/ ); II.J imm y
1
I A'w i, iJ\TM ); 12. (T I E) Rohh Mt''i('f"ht'r (SuI:)/j ohn
Ha nker (Kaw): I ~ . Dam -n Sa nfo rd (S UI); 11. (T I E)
Dan 11;IIW/M;1I1 S tavi sh (l-IlU1)/ (;a ry H ald ( Ka w ):
17. P h il J)ou~tl": 1M. n an n y Ha mel (KTM ); 19. Tom
Wt,hh (S UI): 20 . Rri;1II Wa lkt'r (I(;)w); 2 1. Barre
)\ I II W II ; 22. j eff O do m: 2: . Bria n Lohman: 21. Wayne
1
Kn"/ l": 2:•. P;1ll1(ht hu (Ka w ); 26 . Tal H a rvey ( Ka w):
:!i. S<-oll I.... th rop (S UI ); 2M. William Perki ns (Ya m);
:.. ). (T I E) S II.'\'(' lIalf h (Su/) / Ro h R ilc:y; 31. Ron
~
Law...in (Sa t) : :i2. Sh;...... n Haybar ger ( KT M ); 33.
l\tlrt ) \\'ahlt'lI: :H . Ri cIt Mall wrs: 3;). Pa ul Krause
(AT Io:. ): ~ li . D