Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ENDDROAMA National Championship Reliability Enduro Series: Round 5 ' 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

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