Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127272
~ CROSS COUNTRY AM! WlSfCo/YamahalYokabama Grand National XC CbampionshiJl'l_: _d_ _ _ R_OUD 7 ~ Honda XR600-m ounted Scoit Summers' third victory in the Grand National Cross Country Series moved him into contention for th e series championship. Gene Onail finished fourth overall after he passed a tiring Craig Jones on th e last lap. Ona il beat Jones by 15 seconds for the 200cc A class victory. Robert Stock (I) moved a step closer to h is second stra ight Youth Grand Na tional Cross Coun try title when he topped Jason W ard in the Youth class. Summers scores State Line win By Davey Coombs SHELBY NC, JULY 22 , ith the Nati onal Hare Scrambles Championship already decided in his favor , H onda's Scott Summers is now focussin g h is allen: tion on the Grand Nat ional Cross Country titl e with a victory a t the State Lin e Cross Country National. It was th e third win of the series for the Honda XR600 pilot, Summers, whi ch moved him into sixth p lace in the ser ies point sta n d i n gs. However , despite currently running sixth in the series, Summers is still in champ ion ship cont en tion, with the best eigh t of th e 12 races in the series counting . towards the series championship. Second at the State Line National was the defending champ, Yamaha's Ed Lojak , wh ile Team Gr een's Duane Conner pla ced third overa ll. Roundin g ou t the top five were 125cc pi lots Gene Onail and Craig Jones. The seven -m ile-p lus co u rse was relatively easy by cross country standards: "It's the 90 degrees temperatures combined with three hours of racing that 's going to make it tough," said track designer Buren Hamrick before the race. Hom estate hero Steve McSwa in pu shed his KTM into th e ear ly lead and set a torrid pace, one th at would cost h im lat er in the race. After one 20-minute lap, McSwain wa s 40 seconds clear of Lojak and Summers. Ohio' s Ga ry Roach was fourth , just less than a minute behind McSwain , with fellow KTM rider Martin Kehmeier holding on to the number five positi on . W For the first two of nine com plete laps, McSwain tried to push away from the pack, and after the second lap he was more th an 70 seconds clear of Summers, who displaced Lojak for the shotgu n spot. Roach, still fourth, was soon more tha n two minutes back, wh il e Du an e Conner' overcame a disastrous fir st lap to claim fifth overall after two circuits. By the end of the thi rd lap, McSwain was showing the effects of his early charge and began to slow sligh tly, allowing Summers back into the hunt. Lojak had fallen more than a minute off of Summers' pace; McSwain was twice that far ahead. Roach and Conner still clung to fourth and fifth. while current series points leader T im Shephard di smissed Kehlmeier from the number six position. Laps four through six saw McSwain and Summers begin a see-saw tilt for the top spot on ce Summers made up the initial deficit. Summers hit the barrels at th e end of lap four in the . lead po sit ion with McSwain breathing down his neck. The top spots would be reversed on the next lap, as McSwain regain ed th e lead going into th e checkpo int but with just two seconds to spare. Then on lap six Summers mad e hi s getaway , leaving a fatigued McSwain behind by a minute and a half. Lojak was closer to McSwain that the KTM was to Summers and soon his sigh ts wou ld be set on McSwain's rear fender . Conner also made some headway on lap six,._overcoming a