Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ ENDDR0 Daytona Alligator Enduro e Mo re than 500 riders com p eted in the 41s t running of the Alligator Enduro. Sharpless nips Bennett By Mike and Anne Adair DAYTONA BEACH, FL, MAR, 7 anadian endu ro ace Blair Sharpless. riding a Suzu ki in th e 250cc A class , scored a n upset wi n a t • the 1 1st ru nning o f th e All iga tor End uro, edg ing o ut AA rider Kevin Bennett by one point, 16-17. T he Suzu ki of Ca nada/ R&M Motorsports/Dunlop/Shoei/Scott/Tsubakii Ans we r/ Fac to ry Connection -sponsored Canadian said, " T his is my first maj or overa ll victory, which ends a streak of bad luck for me. It (the string of bad luck) bega n four weeks ago when my pit guy, Dustin H eacock, and I left T oronto for the Cal ifornia Na tional Enduro a nd roll ed the va n and tra iler three ho ur s lat er. " H onda-mounted Bennett , from New Je rsey, finishe d second overall and claimed first place ' in th e AA class . Suzuki 's Kevin H in es and H onda's Scott Summers scored 18s for th ird a nd fou rt h overa ll, respec tively and Ka wasaki T ea m Green riders Lar ry Roeseler, Kenny Keylon and Kurt Hough were dead lock ed at 19. ' Hines said, "This is the best Alliga tor th at I ca n remember. Wi th a little bett er chec k placement, this cou ld 've been a Na tional." The Daytona Dirt Riders' event a ttrac ted 598 riders, who competed on th e I06-m ile co ur se, which was the longest in th e end uro 's his tory . , C lu b ad m in istra tor L en Puck ett said, " We had a lot of ob stacl es this yea r; th e bigges t being insurance." Co urse layo u t chairma n Joe Vanseeters, who was credited with being a key man in 'g etting th is year 's event ro lling, said, " We wan t to tha nk the Georgia Pacific Corporation for letting us use their land for mos t o f the trail on the run. If it wa sn 't for th em , this event wouldn ' t have happen ed." Im mediately follo wing the end uro, T eam Green Ka wasaki a nd Scott USA joine d forces to feed th e pack of riders with a barbecue dinner. T eam Green 's G reg Quador said, "The rider s wer e held ca p tive here waiti ng for th e res ults to be posted, in the meantime, we th ought we would add a social as pec t to th e even t by having a barbecue." C Canadian Blair Sharpless (shown) scored the win, beating Kevin Bennett by one po in t. J ames Mit~eJl (335) was runner-up to Scott Summers in th e Four:Stroke A class. 28 T he end uro started out a t a leisurely pace and en ded with two "ba rk bustin g" woo ds sectio ns nea r th e end. At the gas stop, KTM 's Jeff Russell carried zero penalty points, b u t he wo uld lat er lose his bra ke pedal and injure h is foo t in th e fin al sectio ns. None the less, he still carded a resp ecta bl e 2 I-po int sco re. KTM's T om Corn ar sai d, " O ur team (Allen Gravitt, Alan Randt a nd J eff R ussell )a re in good shape. All I di d was tig h ten chains." Randt added, " It's hot and the air is still ou t th ere." At t h e gas stop Ka wasaki re ps swa rmed over fifth-place A A fini sher Kur t H o ug h 's KDX250. H ou gh said, "T he clu tch was ma king some noise, so G reg Qu ador changed it. J eff Chambers rep laced th e rear brak e pad s at th e same time, all during th e reset pe riod." Kenny Keylon, who dropped one point in the ea rl y going a nd eventually fi nishe d fo urth in th e AA cla ss, said, "S lower riders held me up just enough to m iss a check by 18 seconds." Executive class contenders Bevo Forti a nd Bill Larson retired in a dra w at the gas sto p. Forti said, "A ctua lly, I was looking for more pave ment out there . Next year I will host a Bevothon for th e Six Days (ISDE) effort. Ma ke your pl edges now." Sharpless credited his winning time in the fina l wood sectio n with a mat ch ra ce aga ins t Fo ur-Stroke A winner Summe rs. Sharpless said, " Sco tt (Summers) got bogged in a m ud hol e and I got by. H e caught u p to me - the sound of a fou r-stro ke o n your ta il is awesome - bu t I di dn 't want to let him b y. I rode hard to stay a hea d, and we both emerged from th at secti on with th e best scores." Sharp less wanted to th ank Team Su zuki 's Ch arles Halcomb for his help in getting him prepared for the event. Summers, the National Hare Scrambl es and Cross Country Champion who has ridden just a handful of enduros, sai d , " Blair and I pushed each other in that trail section, and we both rode faster for it."

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