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/127368
"The track was too fast, way too fast for a National," said J eff Ca pt. "There was no challenge. It was just wid e open. A beginner cou ld've ridden the whole th ing." Ron Nay lor agreed. "There wasn 't' anything that took an y skill. If you got somebody who had no fear and could hold it wide open in the d ust, th ey could be in front 90 pe rcent of th e race," said the ATK p ilot, who was str uggl ing wi th a rear fla' after his moouse tire disintegrated. "To call it a National, 1 th in k they have to ma ke it tou gher tha n this." But the course began to ta ke its toll as the miles wore on. J eff Kawell went do wn twice tryi ng to wrest the 125cc lead fro m Kawasaki's J ohn Braasch , h igh speeds pu t Ru dder o n his head , and loose rocks had J im Clar k slipp ing and slidi ng off his KT M. The terrain go t to Paul Os tbo just 10 mil es from the fin ish . " I go t nailed by six peo p le in the last sectio n, " said Ostbo. " I inj ured my kn ee abo ut a week ago and the rea l bad whoops were awfu l. 1 fell off the bi ke four times and every time 1 did it, 1 hurt my knee worse. 1 cou ldn't do anyt hing towards the end. " Out in front , Hunnicutt was cruising. The KX500 pi lot kept his troublefree run going all the way to the finish and flashed home to tak e th e checkered flag first. " I had a good time," said the Kawa'sa ki/ J T / P ro Cir cu it /Tsu baki /Renthal/BeI-Rayl Acerbis/CorbalTrickl Metzeler-backed race r, "The course was marked reall y well, whic h made it nice, and 1o nly go t lost o nce abo ut five mil es back. 1wasn 't loo king far eno ugh ahead and picked the wro ng trai l, " It's great to get the overall ," sai d Hunnicutt. " I was a bit worried after my DNF in the last race, but maybe things are com ing rig h t." Things ca rne rig ht for Gri ewe abo u t 15 mil es from the fin ish , wh en he dodged pa st Crandall and raced in to capture second overa ll. " I got a bad start but I just kept passing people." said Griewe, wh o th an ked ATK, Ken Wi lkes, Smith Goggles and AT K mec ha ni c Mo riale. "It was a rea lly well laid-out co urse. It was rea lly technical and had some hi gh speed stu ff too ." Chris Cranda ll ca me home two minutes beh ind his ATK teammate to claim th ird overall and second in th e Fo ur-Stro ke divi sion. " It went really well and 1 didn 't have an y prob lems until the last IS mil es," said Crandall, who thanked ATK and ATK mechanic Moriale, GA Racing, Smi th , Exceed and Sh oei. Garth Sweetland 's loop-two blitz made up enough time to secure fourth overall, just ahead of Vet clas s winner Chuck Miller in fifth. " It was an excellent co urse for fourstrokes," sa id Am erican Honda 's Mill er. "T he re was a lot of sand. It ne eded h orsepow er , a n d my bike worked great." Abe Baumann had the throttle open all the wa y to sixth o vera ll. " My bike wou ldn't run on th e bott om end. I had to keep it wide open to ma ke it go, " Bau mann explained. " It was a fast course, so that hel ped." Rob ert Laughli n came home in seven th overa ll a nd John Silva took second in the Vet class with an eig h th o vera ll fin ish . Team Green's Pau l Krau se foll owed Silva ho me in ninth overall, and Ron Nay lor , Vet co ntend er Ostbo and l25cc class winner J eff Kawell rounded out the to p 12. " I blew my suspe nsio n out and it was po undin g me to deat h ," said Kaw ell , wh o fi n ish ed eig ht pl aces ah ead of second l25cc fin isher J eff Capt. Jeff Kawell fell twi ce as he battled to the 125cc class victory. Don Griewe recovered from a poor stan and charged up to fmish second overall. Danny Hamel led the start and sta yed out front until his chain broke. Chris Crandall had problems in the last 15 miles but hung on to fmish third overall. Garth Sweetland charged thro ugh the second loop to capture fourth overall. T he top honors in the 250cc class went to KT M's Greg Searle in 13th overall, with Scott Stearns o ne place back in second and John Rudder third in the class. Bill Maxim won the Over 40 class for the second consecutive tim e after ear ly class leader T om Barbero suffered a front flat half way th ro ugh the second loop. Bu t Barbero prom ised to have the last laugh. Several riders said dust was a problem in the early stages of the race. " H e got me again , but he's goi ng to pay for it, He 's riding with me and I'm going to make him wal k ho me," sa id Barbero . 01 Unofficia l results 0 /,4,: I. Ted Hunnicutt (K4I w); 2. Don Gri ewe (AT K); 3. Chris Crandall (ATK); 4. Garth Sweetland (Kaw); 5. Chuck Miller (Hon ); 6. Abc Baumann (Kaw); 7. Ro bert Laughlin (Hon); 8. Jo hn Silva (Kaw); 9. Paul Krau se (Kaw); 10. Ron Na ylo r (AT K); I I. Paul Osrbo (Kaw); 12. Jell Kawell (Kaw); 13. G",g Searle (KT M); 14. Scon Stearn, (SUl ); IS. Oram Pa lens ke (Yam); 16. John Rudder (ATK); 17. Jim Clark (KT M). O P EN EX: I. Tn! H un nicu tt; 2. Garth Sweetland; 3. Abe Baumann. 4-STRK: l. Don Gr iewe: 2. Ch ris Crandal l,' 25>0 EX: I. Greg Searle; 2. Seem Stearns, 3. J ohn Rudder. 12!; EX: I. Jell Kawdl; 2. Jell Ca pt; 3. Roger Hurd. VET O PEN EX: I. Chuck Mill er: 2. J ohn Silv a ; 3. Paul Onbo. VET 250 EX: I. G rant Palen ske: 2. Kenny Parry (Kaw). SR EX: L Bill Maxim (Kaw); 2. 'T o m Barbero (Hon]. 11