Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127365
More tha n 400 racers turned out for the Desert M.C.-hosted hare and hound at Lucerne Valley ; it featured three loops totalling 142 miles of trail. that. The bike died aga in right as I pulled int o the pit." Ost bo had th e ride o f a lifetime going when he hit the a lterna te gas. The Vet class contender made th e most o f th e d us t-free roc ky terrain ea rly in loop two a nd launch ed a bli tz th a t too k h im up [rom nin th ove ra ll a t pi t o ne and to seco nd overa ll a t the al ternate pit, j us t [our m inutes beh ind Hame l. "You sho u ld've seen h im rid e. He j ust a te me up in the rocky sections," said Crandall. Nay lor was making h is move from 15th overall. " I r od e really 'conserva tively a t first a nd once my hand loo sened up I started picking g uys 0 [[ ," Na ylor. " I was all the way up to fourth al one stage but I got 0[[ th e co urse and started follow ing som e p lay riders. I kep t prayi ng [or tight stuff because tha t' s th e on ly p lace I ca n pass anybody. It was so fast o u r th er e I didn 't ge t m an y cha nces. " Lead er Lewi s was also looking [or som e tight terrain. " 0 [[ th e bomb I wasn 't as brave as' som e of th e guys in th e dUSI so I had so me gro u nd to mak e up and I hoped the second half would be light. It had some sectio ns that were excelle nt bUI they were on ly ha lf a mile a t th e most - not near ly lon g en ough to do what I needed," said Lewi s. T he pace gOI even faster as the race dr ew to a close. a nd the National contend ers made a last dit ch bid [or rou nd on e points, bUI no o ne co u ld ca tch Ha mel. The KT M pilot kep t th e number o ne spot a ll the wa y to th e fin ish and took th e chec kered flag with ' a winning ma rgin o f alm ost [our mi nutes, despite losing time in a [all o n the fina l downhill. "I got hung up o n a rock o n th e firs t hai rpin curve of that last downhill and ended up fall in g down it. Apart . [rom th a t and ru nn in g ou t of gas at the al ternate, I had a fla wless rid e," sa id Hamel , w ho is sponsored by KTM / Answer, Met zel er , Du ralube, SCOll, Acerbis, Z Racin g, Alumil ite, F&L , N'Slyle a nd MT C.. " It was a good co urse - a really to ug h race, and it [eels good to win it. I th ink winn in g th e first one of th e series ma kes the rest o f the year a littl e bi t easier. " Ostbo's seco nd place [in ish brought mixed emotio ns. ' 'I' m mad at m yself becau se I shou ld 've done beuer 0[[ the start. It 's hard to make up that ma ny minutes with the q ua li ty of the riders we're u p aga inst her e," said Os tbo, " Bu t I'm happy with seco nd . T his is a preuy good finish co nsidering how the race sta rted." The Vet class winner was followed in by Crandall in . third overa ll a nd H usky pilot Don Griew e claimed fourth. Krause brought Open bike number five int o th e finish and Navl or's ATK thundered ho me in sixth. . The first 250cc en try to cross th e fi nis h line was Lewi s in sevent h overa ll. " I didn 't ha ve a ny real problems bUI th e co urse was a bit fast [or me," said Lewi s. Su m mers finished o n Lewis' heels to claim second in th e 250cc clas s and R udder finished 'one place back in ni nth overa ll to claim third 250. Ch uck Mill er loo k second in the Vet Open division ( L Oth overa ll ) a head o[ 250cc Experts Ra n dy Moseley a nd Greg Searl e, a nd Pa rry held 0[[ a challe nge by Gram Palenske to tak e th e Vet 250cc win in 13th overall. T he race-long battle for th e 125cc hon or s saw ] e[[ Capt ( 15th overa ll) co me o ut on to p o f Braasch by just Moving up to the 250cc class after making his name well known in th e 125cc division, KTM 's Jimmy Lewis finished seventh overall, scoring the 250cc class win . two places. Defend ing class cha m p Bill Maxim took a wire-to-w ire win in the Sen ior di vision in 19th overall. " It was rough - probably one o f th e ro ug hes t o nes I've ridden ," sa id Max im . I:N Resul ts 0 1A: I. Danny Ha mel ( KT M); 2. Pa ul Ostbo lK3w ); 3. Ch ri s Cra nda ll (ATK); 4. Don G tiewe (Hue ): 5. Paul Krause ( Kaw) 6. Ron Na ylor (AT K): 7. J immy Lewi s (KT M); 8. Duane Su m mers (Ya m) : 9. John Rudder (AT K); 10. C h uc k Miller ( H o n ): 11. Ran dy :'010",1<)' (SUl ); 12. GJq< Searle (KT M): 13. Ken n )" Parr y ( Ka w): H . Grant Pal enske (Yam ); 15. Jdr Capt (Ya m) : 16. Garlh Sw eet la nd ( )(a w) ; 17. Joh n Braa sch ( Ka wj: 18. Sco u Morris (K3w); 19. Bill Ma xim (Ka w): 20. J im Clark (KT M); 2 1. J ohn Silva { Ka w): 22. Corky Maughan (SUl) ; 2~ . Dun n Vo yer ( H on j: :N. David Ondas I Koiw ); 25. Ma rk Anderson (AT K). • 13