Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

qu it. It wa s fun while it lasted though. " Hamel was held back by lapped riders as he headed into loo p three. "That double part of th e course was reall y stu pid," he said. " It was eig ht mi les long and you had 10 pass reall y slow people tha t were still doing their second loop. 1 ha d to pass th ree people o n the hu ge downhill so 1 didn't get too far behind (Smith)." But whe n the opening stretch was over, loop three was worth the wait. "The .whole co urse was really fun ," said Smi th. " T he second loo p was prett y fast, but the first o ne had a littl e bit of everyth ing and that third loop was wonderful. If the y could mak e it all like that we' d be in heaven. It was reall y tight up in the pine trees, with wet ground - stuff that desert racers aren' t su pposed to do. " Sm ith was hard o n the gas all the way aro und loo p three and Hamel was chasing hard in second. Third-placed Hunnicu tt was running stro ng all the way , but almost took himself just five mil es from the fin ish lin e. " I hit a rock 1 didn 't see just befor e the fini sh and the next rocks 1 co uld see, 1landed in those," said Hunn icu tt. " I was probabl y in fourth gear going abo ut 60." Gerber con tinued a trou ble-free ride in fourth, but fifth -placed Ri chardson was off hi s bike three times in the last five miles. "The cha in derailed th ree times right before the fini sh and four gu ys got by me," he explai ned. " I had such a good ride and it fell apa rt wh en 1 could a lmost see the fini sh line." Roeseler and Sweetla nd made th e . most o l th e wet ground and elbo wed their way up [rom eig hth and nimh , but they were too late to cha lle nge th e top fou r. Smi th completed the 93-mile run in two and a half hours 10 claim th e overall hon or s, with Hamel taking th e 250cc win in second o vera ll, a n d Hunnicutt took th ird just ahead of Gerber. Roeseler was nine minutes behind the leader in fifth overall, with Sweetland in sixth. " [ go t a good stan and I led it all the way ," said KTM /H iP oin t/Sco ttl Melze ler /Maxi ma l Ar a i z'Acerbis10 backed Smith. " I needed th e wi n to get the lead in the seri es. I' m reeli ng pretty good abo u t it right no w. 1 think we cou ld make this five in a row ." Hamel. who is ahead on poin ts for th e 250cc class ti tle, described the Desert Fox es' course as " reall y bitchi n '. I was reall y impressed. It was a well put on race and 1 had a gr eat time," he said. H unnicu tt agreed: "It was a g reat co urse - a lot mo re cha llen ging than (ro und 5) Co lorado," he .said. " And it was pretty close all the way. 1 cou ldn' t see th em bu t 1 knew they were close beca use I kept runn in g into thei r dust." Fourth-placed Gerb er reported a tro uble-free ride: " It was a well laid ou t course. Nothin g really happened - I just ha d fun. Du st was th e on ly factor." Dust was more th an j ust a facto r to fifth -placed Roeseler. " It was rea lly da ngero us trying 10 pass people at the start of the race and there wasn 't mu ch I co uld do," he said. "If you can 't see, you ca n' t see and meanwhile, th e lead ers are getti ng away. But I had a good ti me - no fiat s, no cras hes, 1 j ust rode hard all day. It 's a b i t frus tra ti ng but that 's raci ng." Kell y Sorenson brought h is KX250 hom e behind Sw eetl and to cla i m seventh, ahea d of Corky Mau gh an and SCOll Morris. Dan Richardson kept hi s cha in in · pl ace long eno ug h to take 10th overa ll ahea d of Crandall, wh o too k the [ourstroke honors in l l th overa ll, and J immy Lew is headed th e 125cc field in 12th . Duke Lambert took the Over 30 class hon ors in 15th overall, just two places ahead of Over 30 riva l Gram Palenske, and Bill Maxim made it six in a row in the Over 38 di vision ahead of Utah's PreSIOn Gerber. Paul Pius led th e Amateur class from start to fin ish and took th e honors in 32nd overall . The win put th e RMX2 50 pilot in from of the Ama teur di vision National con tenders for the second 01 year in a ro w. Resu lts OVE RALL: t. Dan Smith (KT M): 2. Dann y l-< V ..0 .o ..., u o Winner Dan Smi th's KT M teammate Dan n y Hamel (6) surprised everyone with a second overall finish aboard a 250cc mo unt . He leads the 250cc class in points. Ha me l (KT M); 3. 1'«1 H unnicull ( Kaw); 4. Brandon Cerber (KT M); 5. L:lI:ry Roeseler (Ka w ); 6. Gan h Sweetland (AT K); 7. Kelly Sore nso n (Kaw ): 8. Corky Ma ugha n (SUL): 9. Scon Mo rri s (Kaw ); 10. Da n Richardson (H on); It. Chris Cra nda ll (AT K); 12Ji mmv Lewis (KT M); 13. Greg Sear le (KT M); 14. Sca li Meyer (Yam); 15. Duke Lam bert. jYa m): 16. Chri s Clark {Hen ): 17. G ram Palenske (Yam) ; 18. Eric La rson (Yam ); 19. Clint Stephan {Hon ): 20. Mark Lundgreen. OPEN EX: 1. Dan Smith (KTM): 2. Ted Hun ni cutt (Ka w ): 3. Bran don Ce rbe r (KTM). DON'T LOSE ANO E 2SOEX: I. Da n n y Ha m el (KT M);2. Kell y So renson : ( Kaw); 3. Co rky Mau ghan (Suz). 125 EX : I. Jimmy L ewi s (KT M); 2. St ev e H ut ch in gs; 3. J o n Almberg (Ka w ]. ().3(J EX: I. Duke Lambert (Yam ); 2. ( ; ranl Palen ske (Ya m) ; 3. Cl int Stephan, 0-38 EX: C Ri ll Ma xim ( Ka w); 2. Preston G erber IKT M). 4·51'1( EX: I. Chru Cra nda ll (AT K); 2. Pa ul Krause (AT K); 3. Terry Blan d. WOME..~: I. Brenda Nu ttall : 2. Kathy Tuma. MI u E. liTHE NAIL" Ron Naylor FLATTENS the com petition at the FLAT RIVER GP by seven minutes on his A TK, as Bob Caplinger wins the Sen ior Class and Chris Grabber w ins the 4 Stroke Class... And liTHE ZITT" Greg Zitterkopf ZAPPS th e teams at the Desert Mesquite 'GP by four minutes! TAKE A MINUTE to ch eck out th e new 1991 A TK Cross Country machines at th e A TK dealer nearest you! THE WINNIN G BIKE: The 199 1 ATK 406 Cross Country. MOTORCYCLES 5430 Union Pacif ic Aven ue, City of Commerce, CA 90022 • (21 3) 722-8880 15

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