Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Blair Sharpless goes around one of the many large puddles form ed by heavy rain on his way to the overall win . Allen Gravitt dropped 91 points and finished fourth overall. lessly, as he easi ly outd ista nced ru nnerup J eff Russell by 15 poi nts , 69-84. Former Na tion al H ar e Scra mb les Champion Mar k Hyde, who came out of retirement to com pe te in his " back- . yard," gave Ru ssell a ru n for h is money, finis hi ng just th ree points behi nd the current series po ints lead er, Ru ssell. Allen Gravitt, H yde's KTM team mate, was fourt h overall with 91 points dropped. Rounding ou t the top five was ISDE veteran Kurt Hough. Rain , whi ch began falling Friday afternoon and lasted almost non-stop through late Saturday afternoon, made for extremely difficult riding through- out the event, forcing the host cI ub, Appalachian Dirt" Riders M.C., to make several route changes due to flooding problems and creeks overflowing their banks. Despite the club 's desperate effort to mak e the course rid eable, nearly half of the 202 entrants never made it to the first check, as a muddy bank on th e side of a creek not even three mil es in to the enduro - claimed most of the riders. "I was very lucky to have an early number (five)," said the Suzuki Canada/R&M Motorsports/Dunlop/ Optimol/Shoe/Cliffshore Racing/Tsubaki/NGK/Ico/Factory Connection/ EBC Brakes/S-IOO Cleaner-backed Sharpless. "So, 1 basically only had a couple of riders and the sweep crews ahead of me after the creek ordeal. The trail was hard to follow because there wasn't hardly any line to follow so you had to really watch your route sheet. I'm still a littl e surprized 1 won this one , because 1 fell in the last three sections a few times and Russell made up a lot of time on me there." Despite currently being ranked second in the 1991 AMA National Championship Enduro Series point standings, Sharpless will not shoot for the title. " I hope the momentum carries onto the Canadian Enduro Serie s, which starts May 5th. 1 really don 't think I'll be coming back to the U.S. very often because the Canadian Enduro Series is my priority to my spo nsors." By having an earl y number, Sharpless was abl e to get th rough th e tough sec tio n s before th ey deteriorated. Perhaps the great est advantage he had by having a low number was arriving ea rly a t th e afo remen tione d creek crossing. " An early number was definitely an advant age," said factory KTM rider Je ff Russell. " When 1 came up to that creek bank, 1 just couldn't believe my eyes. All 1 saw were bik es everyw here. Most of the bik es were buried up to their gas tanks. 1 had to do a lot of weaving through that and just kept the throttle pinned all day. "The course was very hilly and due hree-ri e at.ion;jl\ Enduro Champion Rand flawKins retumeu to action at the Little Ra()£,OOn National Enduro after undergoing Lhurrib surgery in February. Hawkins, 23, from Travelers Rest, South Carotina, broke his thumb in a local enduro on February 3, less than two weeks prior to the open ing ro und of the AMA National Championship Enduro Series in California. Hawkins opted to postpone surgery in order to compete in the California National. hoping to salvage as many points as he could. He finished 15th overall, earning six valuable points. Two days after the event , the factory Suzuki rider underwent surgery to have three pins placed in the thumb and he missed the second round of the series. On April 3. seven da ys before the Little Raccoon National, he had the pins removed. After therapy, under the guidance of well-known motocross trainer Jeff Spencer, Hawkins' goal was to finish in the top five at the Ohio National. However, the tough conditions were almost too much for Hawkins. Riding "in pain" he finished 16th overall to earn five points. " H ey, I finished, " Hawkins said. "My thumb is really weak, 1 hardly have any hand strength. I have to move my hand a lot on the grip to do simple functions like pulling in the clutch. My wrist is also weak, because 1 can't do proper conditioning. "Today, 1 dropped 15 points at check one, and JeU Russell dropped HI, so I was in the hunt at the beginning, but then 1 fell a couple of times and had a hard time picking up my bike. Now, I've got tIfree wee\(S to rest the thumb before the South Carolina National. May~1 C31I ~ve them a run." His title hopes> "Like they say, it's not over till.the fat.Iad.y sings," said Hawkins. "It's going to be tough. - 1 certainI~ made m,;self a challenge, "but there's no doubt in my mind that I'm going to win Nationals. We'll j~t have to (wait and) see what happens." T Sharpless snares Little Raccoon National By Mike Snyder 30 M cARTHUR, OH, APR. 14 uzuki of Canada's Blair Sharpless took full advantage of drawing an ear ly start number and beat the mud as well as the nation's top enduro S riders at the Little Raccoon Nat ion al Enduro. Sharpless gu ided hi s Suzuki RMX250 through the water holes and a deep stream. crossing almost effort. --------------_----..

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