Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

BHARE&HOUNDoAN~oo~~~~_H_&H_S_~_~:_b_oo_d_l~~~~~~~_ ~ KTM's Danny Hamel scored the overall win at the open in g round of the National Championship Hare &: H ou nd Series. Hamel scores Lucernewin By Anne and T o m Van Beveren P ho tos by Tom Van Beveren LUCERNE V ALLEY, CA,JAN. 27 igh teeri-year-o ld Dan ny H amel (ro m Boulder Cit y, Nevad a, rocketed into th e lead just 20 m il es (rom th e start o f th e open ing ro u nd of th e Nati onal Cham pi onship Series a nd kept hi s factory-backed KTM 540 ou t in front all th e way to th e chec kered flag. Hamel com p leted the fast -paced 104mil e event in just over two a nd a half ' hou rs 10 ta ke th e round o ne win almos t ' four m inutes a hea d o f runner-up Paul Ostbo, who was riding a . Kawasaki KX500. " T hat was a good, tou gh race," Hamel said. " I liked th e co urse and, apart from ru n ni ng o ut of gas o nce and fall ing on th e last downhill , I d idn 't have a ny prob lems. " I'm rea lly hap py to win th e first ro u nd o f th e series because my goa l th is year is win th e o vera ll cha mpion ship ," said Hame l. " My lo ng term goal is to beat Dan Sm ith 's mark o f five N ati on al H a re and H ound cha m p io nshi ps.". Smi th recen tly retired. fro m mo torcycle racin g to ca m pa ign a four -wh eel drive tru ck in SCO RE off-road com petition. The five-tim e ha re and hound c ha mp 's d eparture spa r ke d renewed interest in the p resti gi ou s eig h t-race seri es a nd top gu ns (ro m as' far away as British Colum bia turned ou t for a shot a t this year 's ea rl y po ints lead . Round on e was orga n ized by Distri ct 37's ' Desert M.e. in th e Camp Rock Road a rea o f Lucerne Vall ey. The race co ns isted o f a 38-m ile first loop a nd E 12 . - a 66-mile second loop with a n alternate gas pit near th e 40-m ile mark on loop two. The sta rt ing banner dro pped for th e first tim e just after 10:00 a.rn. a nd th e Expert wave charged no rth up th e fast paced bomb run and , into th e first twi sty wash o f th e day. Tea m G reen's Ted Hunnicutt gra bbed the lead half way up th e bomb and dashed into th e 38-m i le firs t loop with Kawasaki teammate Paul Krau se hard o n hi s heels. Ham el sho t pa st th e bomb in third a nd th en o vertook Krause to captu re second overa ll. T he fro n t-ru n ne rs enjoyed a du stfree run th rough th e wide open terrain o f th e o peni ng mil es but , fu rther back in the pack , slower starters were tra pped in nea r zero visibi li ty. '" m us r've been the last bi ke off the sta rt a nd th e dust ,was terrib le," said AT K's Ron Na ylor. " I was way back pa st 14th wh en , went by the bomb. I dro ve stick into m y hand betw een th e knuckl es last week and d isloca ted a co uple of fin gers, so we sho t it wi th Novocain and m y han d was numb when th e racestarted. It was kind o f hard to ride until it loosen ed u p a bit. " Even 14th overa ll was an im provement on Na ylor 's sta rt at last year's Desert M.e. Nati on al event. " I cras hed on the bomb run last tim e and bro ke my sho ulder, my back in four p laces and my pelvis in two places. No matter how far back you ar e, it's still bett er tha n th at, " said Na ylo r. Honda's Chuck Mill er was also in th e running (or last bik e off th e Expert a starting line. " I kicked abo u t 10 tim es - my typica l start, and I took off in solid dust ," said Miller. A promising earl y run by Team Green's Larry Roeseler was cu t short wh en his cha in brok e near th e 10-mil e mark. Roeseler was running fourth overall wh en he was forced to drop 'o u t o f th e running but hi s misfortune proved to be a blessing for Kaw asaki KX500 pilot G arth Sweet land. '" had a great stan and was running right behind H amel and Roeseler , but I lost my rear a xle nut," said Sweetland.. '" borrowed a nut from Larry after he broke hi s cha in a nd tha t let me get back in to it." T he first loop head ed north tow ards the top of Johnson Vall ey th en turned east to chec k two on th e far side o f Victo r Pass. The terrai n cha nge d fro m fast to technical a nd back again without wa rni ng and th e racers were on th eir toes all th e way. Hunnicutt was wo rki ng ' hard to hold o ff the top cla ss com pe titio n, but Ham el 's ten acit y paid o ff halfway through the open ing loop. " I co uld see Ted o u t in fro nt and I just staye d back o u t o f hi s d ust. I th ink he fell or some th ing becau se I go t righ t o n his ta il, th en go ing ac ross a lon g valley my bike was working a bit bet ter th an hi s a nd I passed h im ," said Ham el. Ham el was still lead in g th e way wh en he flashed into th e pits at th e end o f th e first 45 m inutes o f racing. Hunni cutt hit pi t ro w just 52 seco nds behind th e leade r a nd a fast pit cu t th e lead even furth er as the top tw o head ed o ut into th e 66-m ile second loop. , Krause brough t hi s Kawasa ki KX500 down pit row two m inutes lat er in thi rd, with ATK's Ch ris Cra ndall , fir st 250cc rid er Du an e Summers, a nd Don G r ie we h ard on his h eels . John Ru dd er's ATK held th e number two 250cc spo t in sevent h overall , just a he ad o f Suzuki -m ounted Randy Moseley, and Ostbo led the Vet contenders through in ninth overall after recovering from a co lli sio n on the bomb -run. " I had a pretty bad start," said Ostbo. "I got tangled up with some, o ther bikes in th e first 10 to 15 feet - there was a real mess, and I ended up behind th ree or four riders going down the same tra il. I didn 't get to the bomb until ma ybe 13th ." Abe Baumann rounded' ou t the top 10 less th an five minutes behind the lead er , with KTM 's Jimmy Lewis (who is now riding in th e 250cc clas s), Vet co ntender Kenny Parry battling a rear flat, a nd Mill er not far behind. N ay lor had elbo we d his way through th e pack to claim 15th a t the end of th e first loop and Jeff Capt and John Braas ch were fighting it o ut for th e 125cc lead just two places behind him. "We were really close the whol e tim e," said Braasch. " We were hi tting together a nd bouncing off. We nearly ki lled eac h other a hundred times." The hi gh -speed dash continued as th e racers headed north into the second section, a 66-mile loop that ran aro u nd th e outside of th e first loop cou rse. Hamel was in front all the way in th e cha rge to the: north en d of the power line road and was bui lding a co m fo rt a ble m argin as the co u rse turned towards Means Dry Lake. His lead started to look even more secure when a high-speed mistake took second-placed Hunnicutt out of the running near the 25-mile mark. " I was in a wash and I went a bi t wide. The front wheel went through th e two rocks I was aiming (or but the rear wheel clipped one of them and I went flying," said Hunnicutt. "I smacked my knee and at that stage I was too sore to co n tin ue. I sat for a while, then just cruised in and called it a day." ' The co ur se was also , claiming casua lti es further back in the pack. Krause and KTM 250 pilot Greg Searle were battl ing noise and reduced power after los ing their silencers ear ly in th e loop; Moseley was pushing to make up six places he lost falling on a roc ky downhill , a n d Kawasaki KX250 hotshot Scott Morris was trying to keep his ride going without a kick sta rter. " I was m aking a pr etty good charge until I lost th e ki ck starter," said Morri s. " I had to push th e bik e up out o f a wash to get it going and I lost th ree or four minutes there and it took a lot o f energy o u t o f me. I killed the bik e agai n la ter on but lu cki ly it was o n a hill so I co uld get it going again withou t too mu ch trouble." T he o nly problem four-time Canadian Cross Country cha mp Guy Perett was having was understanding th e com peti tio n in h is first off-road race 'in Ca liforn ia. " I've never seen dust lik e this before a nd I backed o ff wh en I co u ldn' t see but th ese gu ys just hold it o pe n. T hey' re nu ts o u t h er e," sa id the AT K rid er . " I saw so ma n y people go end over end. I liked th e co urse though - I'll be back for more of th ese." Most o f the field sta rted to feel the pinch as th ey pass ed th e 40-mile mark o n th eir way to th e altern a te gas on Bessem er Mine Ro ad . Hamel ran out of gas with th e alterna te pit in sight and had to sto p to dump a quart of gas he was ca rry ing, and Summers l ost th e 250cc lead to Lewis when his Yam aha ran out of gas twi ce heading into th e a lterna te pit. " I ran o u t about five mil es before th e altern a te and it cost me two overall p laces and first 250," .sa id Su mmers. "I had Lewis by 20 or 30 seconds before

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