Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

_ e GU~ pmX&m~_B_~A_~_~_m_GP ~ Jimmy Lewis (12) grabbed the early lead in the 250cc Expert race , ahead of Paul Krause (6), Ted Hunnicutt (1) and winner Larry Roeseler (behind Krause). The 33·year-old Roeseler, shown here on a 1974 Kawasaki KX250, won all seven classes he entered, including the 125, 250 and 500cc Expert and Vintage divisions. Lucky sevens for Roeseler By Donnetta and Bob Murray ADELANTO, CA, FEB. 2-3 a wasa ki Team Green 's Larry Roeseler amazed som e, but most r iders a n d specta to rs had n o doubts that he co uld pull off seven wi ns for seven races. There were a record 1425 entries a t the event, whi ch was held in the ci ty of Adelanto and K 12 staged by the Desert Viper s M.C. Roeseler's seven win s were won over two days of hard riding under mos tly clea r skies with thousands of specta tors lin ing sectio ns of th e co urse to cheer him o n to hi s acco mplis hme n t. Roeseler zipped through the first event - the Unclassified race - o n a Kawasaki KX250 for h is first wi n. Two-and-a-half hours later , he was back o n the start lin e for the Vet Expert! Amateur race (the huge 360stro ng Vet class had been split this year). Rid ing a Kawasaki KX500 down th e main street of town, Roeseler was a t the front of the pack by the time th e pa veme n t ended. On ce in th e desert, Roesel er wa s follow ed b y Kawasaki T eam Gr een 's Paul Ostbo a nd J ohn Silv a. Sil va passed Ostbo , wh o was nursing a n inj ure d knee and ma naged th e treachero uus water jump a nd whoops with o n ly one foo t on the pegs. How ever , Ostbo almost caught Silva half way th ou gh the fou r laps as Silva's bike sta lled, but he got it started and finis hed seco nd behind Roeseler , with Ostbo hanging on to third. Kenny Parry won the 250cc class and was fourth o verall, while Ron Bragdon rounded o ut th e top five. The Amateur class was won by Jeff Ha res with David Harman finishing runner-up. T eam Gre en 's Roger Hurd was first off the start in the 125cc and Wom en 's race. He led for half a lap, until Roeseler passed him in the ro ug h grain section of the desert. He tr ied to stay up wit h Roeseler, but said that "Larry j u st motored a way" for the win . Behind Hurd, Ka wa sa ki ' s John Braasch and J eff Capt were di ci ng through th e mot ocross sec tion toge ther. Braasch finall y go t Capt at the road cro ssing, when Capt's transmiss io n fai led. Braasch pushed himself until he reeledjn Hurd a nd the du o hit the fin al trip th rough the mot ocross side by side. Braasch tried to get Hurd on the inside, but had to sett le for fin ishing fender to fender for th ird place. " I just have a lot of fun ridi ng th e 125s. It work s so well in the chop py ar eas, a nd it's a lot of fun in grands prix, getting o ut with the kids," said the 33-year-o ld Roeseler. "I had to rid e hard to sta y ahead of Roger. I like to mem or ize the co urse. ft is chop py a nd ro ug h, it helps to ' mem orize the bad spots; it makes it mor e lik e o ne big motocross co urse." J eff Kawell a nd Aaron Hou gh were fourt h and fifth in the Expert class, respectively, wh ile · the Amateur division was won by David Chase, with Ch ris Kefalas taking seco nd. Team Green 's Mercedes Gonzal ez battled with teammate Anna Merritt for the Wom en ' s win . Gon zalez had the advantage in the mot ocross sectio n, while Merritt made up her time in the desert portion. T he pair were never mor e than a few seconds apart at home .chec k, but Gon zalez finally acclimated to the hi gh desert air and pulled away some in the fina l lap. Roeseler ba rely had tim e to catch his brea th befo re he was back on the starti ng line. After racin g both a 250cc a nd Open bike that day, he made th e decision to go with the big-bore bike in th e Pro race, knowing that Kawasa ki's Gr eg Zitt erkopf woul d be o n a 500cc. O ver 40 pros charged down the stree t at the drop of the banner. Fir st to hit the desert were J uan Ben avidez, Zitterk opf, Ted H u n nicu tt and Roesele r, Hunnicutt too k a bad lin e and fell behind as did Benavid ez. After the first chec k, it was Roeseler a nd Zitterkopf swa p p ing bac k and fort h for the lead the entire co urse, T he crowd roared as the first rid er entered the motocross sectio n. Roeseler had gained th e lead and was zipping th rough as though he was on a Sunday ri de. Foll o win g closely was Zi tt erkopf. Roeseler tipped o ver in the ba les as he was leav in g the ch ica ne a nd Zitterk opf grabbed th e opport unity to take th e lead. KTM 's Danny Hamel was a minute beh ind, with Benavidez and Hunnicutt follo wing. Zitterkopf and Roeseler co nti n ued to battle with one another through the desert. At o ne point, they cro ssed a road with each rid er 's tire hitting the pavem ent a t th e exact sam e moment. Roeseler fell at the entrance to the mot ocross, allowing Zitterk opf to take the lead , whi le Roes eler was less than a bik e's length behind. This contin ued for the first 45 minutes of the one-anda-ha lf-ho ur -p lus race. At th e end of the fou rth la p , Roeseler pitted for gas, giving Zitterkopf a big lead . In tum, Ziu erkopf had to pit a t the end of the fifth lap a nd as Roeseler started o ut

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