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/127381
R ~DUROOA~~~m~m~_fud_~ :R_OU_~_4 _ _S_m_'~_ ~ _ e Defending National champ Randy Hawkins scored his first overall win of the season. Series points leader Jeff R ussell overcame brake problems and finished second overall. Allen Gravitt lost out to R ussell on the tiebreakers and ended up third overa ll. Hawkins is back! Win ittleB sL rownJug By Mi chael Snyder UNION, SC, M AY5 efending Na tional End uro Ch ampion Randy Hawkins proved to h imself, h is co m p eti to rs and everyo ne else that he is as good as fully recovered from hi s thumb in juryafter scor ing h is first overa ll win of the season at the punishing Little Brown Jug National . T he factory Suzuki rider's win didn 't come easi ly, however, as he had 10 come from behind to nip series points leader J eff Ru ssell and Allan Gravitt by one po int, 57-58. KTM factorybacked riders Russell and Gra vitt both ta ll ied 58 poi nts, but Russell edged ou t hi s teamma te bv seven seconds on the t ie bre a ke rs . F'inis h ing o ne point behind Ru ssell an d G ra vitt was Kawasaki 's number o ne endu ro rider Kurt Ho ugh . whil e Suzuki p ro support rider Steve Hatch ro unded o ut the top five overa ll with 60 points dropped. Desp ite winning the event , H awkins \ claim ed before th e event that h is thum b, whi ch he broke in a local end u ro in February, was not yet up to par, " My thumb 's about 70% healed," sai d Hawkins. " It's not there yet, but I' m here to try and gai n as many points as I ca n. At least it's not sloppy and mi serable conditions like las t month in Ohio," (H awkins fin ished eighth in the Ohio event). D 12 Russell, o n the other hand, wasn 't buying Hawkins' story and wasn 't about to take him ligh tl y at the Little Brown J ug National. " 1£ Randy's thumb is 70%, it 's 70%, but that doesn 't mean he can 't win ," said Russell. "I never count him OUL He has the ability to win at an y time, that's wh y he 's the champion." This year's Little Bro wn Jug National was perhaps me toughest yet th is season, as the 250 riders that competed wer e subjected to I0 I (actu a l) miles of grueling and very tech n ical trail s laid out through the Sumter National For est by the hosting Gr eenville Enduro Riders Association. Stamina would be a maj or factor at this year's event. " Yo u' re in for a very long and technicall y dem anding run," trail boss John Parker announced at the moming's riders ' meeting, As it turned out, he was tru e to his words. By th e first gas stop, the AA riders were telling tales of seemi ng ly endless trail sections with trees no more than a ha ndl ebar-width apart for miles , as well as off -carnber hillsides. It was shortly af ter th e first gas that Russell began having problems, as he overshot a tum an d hit a large vine with his brak e pedal. The impact was hard enoug h to bend me lever under-