Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Imooww.~~~~~_E~~~m~oS~m_·~_:R_oo_n_d7 ~ ~ Kevin H ines finished three points behind Hawkins for second overall and, du e to th e outcome of protest earlier th is season, remains in cont en tion for th e title. Defending National Enduro Champion Randy Hawkins moved closer to clinching ,his third title by taking the overall win at the Forest Hill National. Hawkins doses in on title with Forest Hill win FOREST HILL, LA, ocr, 7 efending Nat ion al Enduro Ch ampion Randy Hawkin s moved on e step closer to an unprecedented third Na tional Ch ampionship title wi th the overall win at the Acad iana Dirt Riders' Nati on al Enduro held in Louisiana 's Kisatchie National Forest. H awkins, riding a 1991 prototype RMX250 Suzuki, finished three points ahead of series -long rival Kevin Hines, 22-25, to claim his fourth victory of the year. With just one round rem aining in the eigh t-event series, Hawkins must finish no wor se th an th ird to clinch the series title if H ines is to win th e final enduro in Redding, California, on October 21. " It was a good enduro; the club did a great job and marked the course D 16 well ," said Hawkins. " Kevin hung right in there the whole ride, bu t I pretty much beat h im at a ll the checks." Finish in g third overall and in th e hunt for the overa ll win the whole way was KTM 's Allen Gravit, wh ile Joey H opkins finished fourth. Kelly Ketz tu rned in a strong performan ce for fifth ' overall ahead of Jeff Pluckeu, Nolan Knight and George Wall er, Jr. Heat and humidity played a big factor in the Louisiana National. "It was hot," said Hawkins, who nearly collapsed after he rod e into the p its at the end of th e da y. "If it wasn 't so hot, it would've been a pretty easy, enduro ." " It was pretty much 'a straight forward enduro, but it was hot, really hot!" said H ines. " It reall y wasn 't th at toug h of an enduro, but the heat. I had a little tro ub le with the heat in the tig ht sectio ns; I was trying to conserve my bod y and was th inkin g abo ut the fini sh. Like J oey H opkins, he was having a super rid e but bonked at the end because of th e hea t. Randy, Allen Gravitt and myself were the on ly riders to zero the last check. I th ink J oey was ahea d of Allen goi ng into th at last section , bu t Joey just bonked ou t. Allen 's good in the hot weath er because he's used to the heat ." One of the key sections of th e enduro was an IS-mi le special test section tha t had man y of the rid ers gasping for air as they entered the last of two pointsrob bing checks in that lon g, tight sectio n. "The first tie-breaker of the day I went 2:03 and Kevin wen t 2:35," said H awkins. "T hen we had a few other checks that we zeroed, then at the next tie-breaker I went 5:20 and Kevin went 6:05, I th ink, so I gained"a point on him there . Then we went into th e long section; they checked us in, checked us in the . middl e and checked us a t the , other end. I went one; he went two (in the middle check) and then I went 13 and he went 14. Pretty mu ch in every test section, excep t for one, I beat Kevin ." ' " I hu rt my th umb a week before the Rhode Island Na tional," said Hines. " I injured some tendon s when I pulled my thumb back and it still bothers me. It' s my right thumb so every time I have to brake, I have to use two fingers. It's not that bi g of a deal but it does bother me. Basicall y I rode as hard as I coul d but Randy beat me." Despite th e on- going duel Hawkins and Hines have been fighting throughou t the year, both rid ers have nothing to say but praise abou t each other. "T o tell you th e truth, this is the best I' ve ever seen Kevin ride," admitted Hawkins . "I' d say tha t we are pretty even ly matched. I th ink the biggest differen ce between us are our bikes . I mean, I'm not trying to sell Suzukis, but I feel that my bike works better. I've had a lot of su ppo rt from Suzuki - Charles H alcomb, Bob Star, and my mechanic and friend Dale Stegall, but most of all I've been having fun . " I rea lly respect Kevin and even tho ug h we've been prett y mu ch th e main rival s th rou ghout the season, we can still talk and be frien ds at the races," sai d Hawkins. " I'll help hi m any time and I kn ow he would do the same for me." " Ra ndy's p u t in a goo d year," said H ines. "Everything is goi ng good for him and he's a goo d guy to compete against. H ead -to-head it's ' th e best competition I've ever ' had, and I'm enjo ying every minute of it. Withou t this kind of competitio n I would q uit , raci ng," Foll ow ing the Lou sian a Nati onal many people left th inking that Hawkins had clinc hed the series cha mpionsh ip, including Hawkins and Hin es', bu t th e Thursda y follow ing th e event; the AMA held a meeting regarding the Ch erok ee National Enduro, held back in March in Maxeysr'Oeorgia, whi ch was unofficially won by Hawkins. A protest was filed immediately after the Cherokee National by Team Yamaha's Jeff Russell , who felt th at a checkwas im p ro p erl y pl aced . At th e recent meeting, the AMA decided in Rus sell 's favor, which officially gives Rus sell the victory at th e Georgia National and drops Hawkins to second, This decision keeps H ines ' hopes a live for th e 1991 Ch ampionship titl e. "T h is makes me real excited," said Hines. "I th ought it was all over, but I gu ess it 's not. I was going to go to Cal ifornia to win anyway, but now I really have to win. Anything ca n happen. " " Basically, Kevin has to win the enduro," said H awkins. "And if he does win then all I have to do is place third or better. Now , if he doesn 't win , or finish second, then it won 't matter, becaus e I won't even have to fini sh ·it to clinch th e Championship. "I'm really proud and excited to be dicing th is close for the Championship with Kevin at the end of th e season like this," said Hawkins. " It's made a this year a lot of fun." Results 0 / A: I. Rand y Hawkin s (Suz): 2. Kevin Hin es (KTM ); S, Allen Gravitt (KT M); 4, J oe Hopkins (Kaw); 5, Kelly Go tz (Hon); 6, Jell Plunkett (Yam); 7. No lan Knight: 8. George Waller Jr .

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