Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ OFF·ROAD 23rd Presidente SCORE Ba'a 1000 ~ 'z WI '" WI ;.. WI '" Z < ;.. After a pre-running crash that prevented Dan Smith &om competing, KTM teammate Danny Hamel (shown) rode most of the 665-miIe race alone, finishing second overall. Winner La rry Roeseler (shown) an d his Kawasak i teammates, Danny La Porte and Ted H unnicutt, finished approximately 30 min utes ah ead of the ru nner-up team. Roeseler/Hunnicutt/LaPorte rule Baja - again By Anne and Tom Van Beveren Photos by Mike Klinger ENSENADA, B MEX. NOV. 9 .C. a wasak i Team Green 's Larry Ro eseler , Ted Hun nicu tt and Danny La Porte headed up an im pressiv sweep th at saw Kawasaki riders take wi ns in all six motor cycle classes and gave Roeseler his third overa ll Baja 1000 victory in a row, an d win n umber seven in h is career. " I' m really happy with the result. No matter how ma ny tim es you win i t, it's a wonderful feel ing ," said Roeseler. " It's getting mor e important each year , becau se ' don 't know ho w much longer I'll be ab le to do thi s," said 33year-o ld Roeseler. '" don 't know about next year or th e year after tha t, so I try to make every race count." A record field of 112 motor cycle teams lined up for the start of th is year's 665-mi le course that began and ended in Ojos Negr os, 25 mi les southeast of Ense na da . Of the ,I 12 riders 73 made it to the fin ish line. For man y of the_ top teams, the challenge of Baja bega n before th e , starting flag dro pped. A pre ru n ning cras h p ut KTM 's Dan Sm ith in the hosp ital with a bro ken foo t and torn ligamen ts and left h is team ma te, 18-year-old Danny Hamel, raci ng mor e than I I hours on h is own . " I' m getti ng a 50-m ile break from K 6 (N issan truck ra cer ) J ack Johnson before he takes over dr ivin g for Spencer Low and KTM race coo rdina tor's Dave Chase is doing 50 miles for me lat er in the race, but the rest of it' s up to me," said Hamel before th e race. Kawasaki's J oey Lane broke his arm in three p laces in a pre-race cras h but tu rn ed out for the race in plaster, with a plate in his arm and screws in his elbow . ' "The rules say the rider of record must ride the sta rt o r the finis h to get poi nts ," Lane's fath er explained. " He can still use hi s fin gers to work the clutch so he's goin g to ride a sho rt sectio n at the end." A prerace fire at Ensen ada' s LaPinta ho tel had many racers jumping ou t of windows and scramb ling to save th eir ridi ng gear, and it was touch and go for the o n ly all-woman's team in th e race whe n o ne rider was hu rt prerun nin g and the race bike failed to arrive o n tim e. " T here were o nly two of us left to ride, but La rry RoeseJer loaned us hi s perso nal bike - a KDX200, so we decided to give it a shot," said Lillie Sweetland. T he first mo torcycle left the starting lin e at 6.30 a.m. The o thers foll owed o ne bike at a time every 30 seconds for mor e than an hour and th e large field cou p led with dry co nditions made th e early running diffi cult. R oeseler was hard on the ga s the mom ent the starting flag dr opped and pass ed I I earlier starters to hit clear air at the front of the pack just 54 mi les into the course. ATK's Greg Zitterkopf was pouring on the pressure no t far behind an d Scott Morris set a blisterin g pa ce as lead -off rider for J oey La ne's KX250 team that put him in front of the 250cc fie ld as he raced no rth towar ds Mexica li. Morris' spri nt was interrupted wh en he lost the fly wh eel o n a dry lake near the 100-m ile mark an d took al most o ne and a half hours to get his bike to the next pit in the back of a Mexica n pic kup truck. T he Honda entry pilo ted by Baja veterans Bru ce Ogilvie and Chuck Mill et , and Nation al Ha re, Scra m bles and Cross Co un try Ch am p ion Scott Sum mers was making good ti me as it raced no rt h , bu t th e ride was a painfu l o ne for Ogil vie. '" didn't get even a mi le in the du st and ' h it a yucca p lant and a needl e went rig h t th rough the plastic and into my knee and stopped. whe n it hi t the bo ne, " said Ogil vie, who got on the bike at Nuevo J unctio n. " It didn' t reall y -slow me dow n bu t it hurt a lo t. I pulled it out with a pair of pliers wh en' go t o ff th e bik e 130 mil es later and it was about two inc hes long. " It was smooth sailing all th e way as Roeseler led the field no rth to hi s first rider change nea r Mexicali, but things were not goin g well for Hun nicu tt , wh o was waiting to take o ver. " I went o u t to check the lak e beds a nd I got the KDX I was riding stuck in th e mud," said Hunni cutt. " It too k me half an ho ur to get th e bik e out and by seven o'clock ' was a lmost worn ou t. 0 ' Hunnicutt kept th e char ge going on th e souther ly run to Borr ego near the 300-mile mark , and th e Kaw asaki team was a lmos t 20 m inutes a head o n adj usted tim e, as LaPorte took over for the sou thern loo p th rough San Felipe. Zitterkopf and Ron Naylo r brought thei r ATK into Bor rego in second overall, but left in ' fou rt h a fter problems with a tire. " We cha nged a rear tire and ' went ailou t five mi les ou t and the mousse came o u t a nd got wra pped up in the cha in ," said Zitterkopf. '" cras hed and then I had to go back an d cha nge the tire again. " Johnson handed th e KTM entry back to Hamel less than a minute behind the ATK and took over second when Zitterkopf doubled back for a new tir e. The 50-niile dash was Johnson 's first motorcycle race in more than seven years and if his Class 7S truc k had reached Borrego, offi cials said Johnson would 've made history as the first person to race a motorcycle and a four-wheel veh icle in the same Baja 1000. Th e Ogilvie/Miller/Summer Honda headed into the sout hern loo p in th ird overa ll, but Kawasak i privateers Paul Krau se and Ga rt h Sweetland were ru nni ng slightly ahea d of the Honda on adjus ted tim e when they raced throug h five minutes later. Over-30 racers Kenny Parry and Paul Ostbo were running an impressive sixth o vera ll at Borrego after starting back in 60th , and the South African tri o of Alfie Cox, Dirk Strydorn and Errol Dalton hea ded u p , the 250cc conte nders one hour beh ind the Open class leaders on adj us ted time. Yam aha pil ot s J ohn Braasch an d Du an e Sum mers had the early lead in th e three-entry 125cc class and Casey Folks/ Ken Maahs an d Todd Marte lla! Wayne Corneliu s/ Ri ck Shirey were neck-and-neck in Clas s 40 (riders over 40 years ). " It's so windy it's like a cyclo ne out there and it was blowing right at us. I cou ld hardly pull the gears ,(ln th e 125," said Braa sch . The cha rge cont in ued throughout the 200-mil e sou thern loop. LaP orte handed the KX500 ba ck to Hunnicutt for the run leading back to Borrego , but Over 30 leaders Parry and Ostbo kept o ne man on the bike all the way. " Peo p le said I was crazy to do the whole San Felipe loop. They said it , was too far, but when there's o nly two of you o n the team there's no t much yo u can do," said Ostbo.• T he San Felipe loop proved costly for ma ny of th e top -runn ing team s. Zitterko pf ran o ut of gas and p ut the ATK team almos t two hours down befor e help arrived and the South African team put a big dent in the ir 250cc class lead with a simi lar problem jus t befor e Zoo Road. } " Dirk Strydo n ran o u t of fuel a nd had to push the bike for two miles to the fuel stop," sai d team manage r H ylton Beattie. " We lost about 45 minutes. We still had the lead but it was down to six m inutes."

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