Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ _o_un ENDURO AMA National Championship_E_nd_u_ro_Se_ri_es_:R _d_7 e ~ J~, , \ ", ' 0 Ci'l Ci'l • ...... • ~ r- ...... - .... Q,) ..0 0 ..... u 0 Early series lead er Hines sees his 1990 en duro title hopes slipping away. Defending National Enduro Champion Randy Hawkins (28D) extended his series points lead to 10 over Kevin Hines with a narrow win at the Little Rhody National. Jeff Russe ll (below) and Fred Hoess each accumulated 14 points, but Russell edged out Hoess on the tie breakers for fourth overall, one point behind Kevin Bennett. Crucial win to Hawkins at Little Rhody National By Paul Clipper/Trail R ider and Michael Snyder Photos by Michael Snyder IV. GREENW ICH, RI. SEPT. 30 Iter a fou r-w eek br eak in th e Nati ona l Ch ampionship Enduro circ ui t, Team Suzuki's Rand y Hawkins a nd KTM 's Kevin Hines resurried their series-lo ng due l for th e number one plate at the Little Rh ody Nati onal. T hetwo end uro aces went into th e Rhody - Rov ers M.G.-hosted event with th e def ending cha m p, Hawk in s, lead ing the 1987 cha mp, Hines, by just a few points, but after a da y-long sprint through the pine A 16 trees and over th e fam ou s rock pil es of Rh ode Island - that saw both Hawkins and Hines dro p nine points apiece ~ Hawkins slipped ahead of Hines on th e tie break ers to cap ture th e overa ll win and jump o ut to a co nserva ti ve, ye t adva n tageo us 10 po int lead in the series o ver H ines. H awk ins , wh o is seeking hi s third consecu tive National Champion ship titl e, couldn' t have asked for a bettersu ited cours e for hi s type of riding style; the Su zuki RMX 250 rider is wellknown to excel in sprint-orientated end uros , where the spec ial test sections are fa irl y short bu t tech nica l, as was the case at Rhode Islan d. The spectators seemed to be amazed at how aggressively th e factory Suzuki rider attacked th e sections, som e of wh ich were as short as three mi les. On the flip side, H in es seemed jus t slightl y mor e in control , althoug h h is cau tio n may have been hi s un doin g. Unlike H awkins, H in es favor s lon ger special test sections and 39 seconds wort h of . being carefu l, effectively bumped the form er ch a m p off th e to p o f th e rostrum. " I raced a race, " said Hawkin s, when asked if he was risk ing hi s neck in th e rocks . " I wou ld've ridden just as hard in South Caroli na . If I wi n , I win; if I don ' t, I'll get h im next week. It was close out there, though, and Kevin had some luck. At the first tie breaker, I came in wi th 4:23 and Kevin came through with 1:58. Two more seconds and he wou ld' ve lost a point. The same thing happened at an other late check - I saw Kevin come through o n :59. He just made it both tim es!" "I can' t co mp lain," said Hines. " I rode my best and Randy mat ched me all alo ng the way. He rod e reall y well , although I'd like to think that I'm not ta king as man y ris ks as he is, but som etimes that's wh at it takes to win. " The 3rd An n ua l L ittl e Rh od y Na tio na l attracted a grand tota l of 260 riders, and as far as the course went, Trai l Boss Bill Haas, said, " Com pared to the previous year, we tried to cu t speed averages to keep riders ' po int tota ls down. I th in k the riders will enjoy what's in sto re for them. " " I thou ght th e sta rt of the last sectio n cou ld' ve been faster ," said H awkins. " T hey (the club) ra n it a t 21 mph, an d at that speed, we cou ld ju st stay on time. T hey cou ld've gotten another poi nt o ut of us at 21 mp h. But I though t it was a really good run ,"! enjoyed it, but I' m glad it didn 't rai n ." Hawkin s' thankfuln ess for the coop erative weather was perh aps mirror ed by all the o ther riders present , since the last two Rhody Nati onals were rainy, co ld and just plain foul. This year sun ny skies and 70-degree temperature s mad e riding in the rock garden s almos t bearab le. Finishing third overall was ECEA points leader Kevin Bennett who rode a Fairway Cycle-backed Honda CR250 , dropp ing 13 po ints, co m pare d to Hawkins' and Hines' nine. Bennett nipped Yam ah a YZ250WR pilot J eff Ru ssell by o ne point, while 1989 ISDE "Top American " Fred Hoess finished fourth with 14 points (Russell beat H oess o n th e ti e-breaker s). To m Norton, th.e sur prise winner at this _ year's Blackwater 100, rounded out th~ top five in hi s fir st-ever Nationii End uro ride. No rto n, riding a KTM 125, dro pped 17 points and cla imed H igh Point A hon or s. " I shou ld reall y be in the B class," said Norton, " since this is o nly the fourth enduro I've ever ridden ! l owe it a ll to my Keyrnaster enduro com puter, because I had no idea what I was do ing o ut there." Kell y C etz finished seventh overa ll and KTM rider Alan Gravitt took eig h th , bo th riders earning scores of 17. The 1989 ECEA Champion , J ack La fferty J r., settled fo r ninth, leadin g a . who le pack of 18-point finishers. Rounding ou t the top 10 was R uss Stea rns. Eig ht-time Na tio na l End uro Champion T erry Cunni ng ham had a day he would just as soon like to forget. T he Team Gree n ' rider ended up wit h a score of 24, whi ch did n' t figu re into the top 20. 1 " I go t lost a co u ple of ti mes early in the enduro, whi ch seemed to be a sign for th e da y that I was about to have." Perhaps the mos t inspiring ride of the day was turned in by almos t-60yea r-old Don Cu tler , who is a former factory Ossa rider a nd ISDE co mpetitor. Cutler won the Super Senior class with 31 points. at Results O /A A &: AA: I. Randy Hawkins (SO') 9; 2. Kevin H ines (KT M) 9; 3. Kevin Ben nett (Hon ) 13; 4. Jeff Russell (Yam ) 11: 5. Fred HOl:>5 11; 6. Tom Nort on (KT M) 17: 7. Kell y G<:u (Ho n) 17; 8. Allen Gravitt (KTM ) 17; 9. Ja ck Laffert y Jr . (KTM) t8 ; 10. Russ Stearns (KT M) 18; I I. Richard Mollenkoh (KT M) 18: 12. Dann y Nensti el (Hon) 18; 13. George Waller - J r. 19; 14. Kerry Clark (Hon) 20; 15. Bert Guerrette (KT M); 16. Steve Hatch (502) 21; 17. Mike McH ale (KT M) 22: 18. Richard Heins (502) 22: 19. Alred Buch holz (Ho n) 22; 20. Rick Ingold (Hon) 23. t 25 A: I. T om Nort on (KT M); 2. ~l icha " Laf ferty (KTM); 3. Pa trick Ro yer (Ya m); 4. Eric While (Suz]: 5. Cun Howard (H us); 6. Terry West (502); 7. David Barcow (Kaw); 8. Dale H iles Jr. ( KT~I ) ; 9. Bob Agonis (KT M). 200 A: l. J erry Lynn ( Ka w); 2. Chri s No lan (Ka w ): 3. Paul Knowlto n (Kaw); 4. J eff Post (Kaw) ; 5. No rm Pope (Yam ). 250 A: I. Kerry Clark (Hon ): 2. Steve Hatch (Suz]: 3. Richard Heins (Su, ); 4. Alred Buchholz (Hon ); 5. Rick Ingold (He n ): 6. Peter St. Pierre (Hon): 7. Michael Gr iu le (KT M); 8. Rick Claxto n [Kaw }; 9. Ja mie Theur kauf (KT M); 10. Chris O'Brien (Hen). OPEN A; I. Gle n Bauer (KT M); 2. Cliff Te nney (AT K); 3. Steve Ribb e (KT M); 4. Ron ald Sta vCIU (KT M); 5. Ant ho ny Tomasello (KT M); 6. Gu y Hill (H u s); 7. Eugene Sweetser (AT K); 8. Lloyd Go ttshall (KT M); 9. Fred Tows lt'<(KT M). 4-STRK A: 1. J oh n Cushing (Ha n ); 2. Raymon d Da vis (SUl); 3. Bub Ellis (H us); 4. Thomas Ra in ville (Sur): 5. Bob Dugan (Hon ); 6. Je ll Wal ker (Hon); 7. Don Kirkpa trick (Han ); 8. jerry Shin ners (H us). SR A: I. Allan Zilla (KT M); 2. Jerry Randall (Hon}; 3. Ron al d Ryan (KT M); 4. Wes Clarke (Ho n); 5. Deni s La liber te (H us); 6. Richa rd Tompkin (KT MO: 7. J oe Co lli ns (Yam); 8. Wick Wicklind (Su r): 9. j ohn Laffert y Sr. (KT M); 10. Brian Szoc (Hon ). S/SR A: I. Donald Cutl er (KT M); 2. Don Burneu (Ya m): 3. Wo lfgang Kra u se (Ha n) ; 4. David Fitzgera ld (Kaw); 5. Cha rles Stapleford (Kaw) : 6. Edward Baker (Hon). 0 1A B: 1. Michael Lagomarsino (KT M); 2. Micha el Zaha nsky (H us); 3. Tim j onelis (Ka w); 4. Wayne Fon tanazza (KTM ); 5. Kevin Duffy ( Ka w~ 6. Todd Reder (Su, ); 7. Tom Vella (Ho n); 8. Pa ul Mora n {Ka w); 9. Mar k Marcin (KTMI; 10. Dennis Byrnes (Ka w]: I I. G lenn Galer (Hon): 12. Steve Reed { Ka w): 13. Martin Graver (KT M); 1-1. Crai g 5henigo (KT M); 15. Ken Robbins (H us): 16. Seen Evans (KT M); 17. James Burns (Ho n); 18. Jim Douston (KT M); 19. Rod Worster (KT MO; 20. Christopher Garber (KT M). t25 B: L Mark Marcin (KT M); 2. Crai g Shenigo (KT M); 3. Kerry Koeller (Kaw). . 200 R: I. Tim j o nelis (Ka w ]: 2. Denn is Byro n. ( Ka w ): 3. Steve Reed (Ka w): -1. J im Consta nt ino Jr. (Yam); 5. Geo rge Barr ett (Ka w}; 6. Tim Strm iska (Ka w) . 250 B: I. Michael Lagomarsi no (KT M); 2. Kevin Duffy (Ka w ): 3. Todd Reder (SUl ); 4. Ji m Douston (KT M); 5. Alan Rustici (KT M): 6. T im Thigpe n (KT M); 7. Rob Aldo kimov (Kaw); 8. Brian Sm ith (Suz): 9. Alan Vetri (Gag); 10. Jelf Bau er (KTM ). 4~STRK B: I. Gl enn Gater (Han ); 2. James Burns (Ho n ): 3. Erik Nijk amp (Ho n); -1. J oh n C mpen ! a (Ha n); 5. Ch uck Fabian (Ha n); 6. Ji m Thomp son (H en ). OPEN B: L Micha el Zaha nsky (H us); 2. Wayne Font an azza (KT M); 3. Marrin Graver (KT M); 4. Rod Worster (KT M); 5. Chr isto pher Garb er (KT M): 6. Tom Wheeler (KT M): 7. Rodm an Rodgers (KT M); 8. Scott T aylor (KT M); 9. Bill Martin (KT M); 10. Bob Young (KT M). . SR B: l. Kenn eth Elli nger Sr. (Hus); 2. Jack Schwarz (Ka w ): 3. Ron Co urtemanche (KTM); 4. Gary Circosta Sr. (H us); 5. Ernie Mellor (KT M); 6. Nichola s Corwin (KT M). S/SR: I. David Severe (KT M); 2. Robert Hoover (Hon). W~N : I. Ka'h y Gampbell (Ka w) : 2. Diane Pavon i (KT M).

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