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/127377
RHARE&HOUND~AN~oo~~~~'~ _S _H_&H _m_'~_:R_oo_~_4~~~~~~~ .~ Team Gree n 's Larry Roeseler kep t his title hopes alive by scoring his first series win of the year at the Utah National. Roeseler 's team mate Garth Sweetl and moved in to the series points lead after finishin g second overall. Roeseler wins, Hamel breaks at Jericho By Anne Van Beveren Photos by T om Va n Beveren 22 DELTA, UT,APR.14 t was close racing all the way for overall winner Larry Roese1er at the Utah National, as a determined ride by loca l hotshot Brandon Gerber I kept his Open class KTM in conte ntion for the first two loops, then Garth . Sweetland and Jimmy Lewis turned up the heat in the final third loop to close Roeseler 's winning margin to less than 30 seconds. For Roese ler, though, the Utah win - h is first of the four-race-old series - was made even sweeter, as series points leader go ing into the race, Danny Ham el, fail ed to fin ish the race beca use of mech an ical problems. This means th at both title favorites Roeseler and Ham el - have used up thei r al otted two th row -awa y races with three events remaining in the series (a DNF by either rider at any one of the rema in ing races will realistica ll y kn ock th em o u t of ti tle cont en tio n). Ham el has two overa ll wins and two DN Fs to hi s cred it so far, whi le, in com pa rison , Roeseler, who is seeki ng hi s firs t-ever Na tion al Cha m pionsh ip title, has one win , one secon d a nd two D NF s. H ow ever , consis tent finishes th rou gh out the series by R oesel ers Tea m G ree n teamma te Sweet land has moved hi m into the series points lead and is now a serious threa t for the cha m pionship title. T o date Sweetla nd has recorded 16th , fourth , thi rd and second place finis hes. The 3rd An n ua l Sh awn Gerber Mem orial Hare & Hound was orga n ized by the Sage Rid ers M.C. and drew 228 riders to the Little Sah ara Recreation Area, 100 mil es sou thwest of Salt Lake City. The competition promised to be fiercer than ever as th e racers lined up for the start of the three-loop course. Sh ortly before the Utah National, the racers were informed that the origina lly scheduled eigh t-event National Hare & Hound Seri es was dropped to seven races with the can cellation of the . Co lorado National (Sep tember 15). Now, o nly three (instead of four ) rounds remain to accumulate the five best fini shes needed for the series. The Amateur/Expert wave got orr to a delayed start just aft er 11 :30 a.m . and it wa s a Iour-rnan race, as Team Green's T ed Hunni cutt, KTM 's Hamel and Jimmy Lewi s, and Gerber cha rged into the four mi les of sand dunes th at ope ned th e course. " My race lasted abou t three miles," . said Hunnicu tt, who in jured his hand in a crash. " Lewis and I came orr a sand dune. He d ug in whe n he landed and I came down on the side of hi m. My hand got caugh t between the bars." Ha mel was out of conte nt io n just a few mil es further o n. "I was go ing back and forth wit h Gerber abo ut 10 miles o ut and the bi ke jus t died. T he cra n ksha ft bro ke and th e flywh eel came right o rr," said Ham el. Cha rlie Morris cras hed and retired in tile sand dunes and Duan e Summers did enough dam age to retire at the end of the loop one. The rest of the field was glad to pu t the treacherous sand dunes behind them . " I hat e that start more tha n anythi ng else in the world," said ATK's Chris Cra n da ll. " It 's reall y dan gerou s beca use everyo ne wants to go so fast. It 's big san d dunes. You can't see wha t's over the o ther side and there are people going back and forth across all sorts of different tra ils." Gerber led the way pas t the IO-mile mark and spri nted across the flat s to the tree-li ned section of the 38-m ile first loop. Four inches of sno w' the day befor e the race had melted o rr the lower sectio ns of th e course and left near du st-free conditio ns mo st of the way. Lewis , ridin g a KTM 250, took adva ntage of the clear a ir and tu cked in beh ind Gerb er and Roeseler. Kawasak i KX500-mounted Garth Sweetland and Suzuki pilot Corky Maughan passed in a blur just seconds behind. Problems plagued th e pa ck thro ughout the first loop. Kawasaki's Dan Richardson dropped off the pace wi th carb trouble and John Braasc h was forced to retire after his rear axle n ut came loose. "All my other races are going fine bu t I haven 't had a good