Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ OFF·ROAD lOth Annual Flat River Grand Prix e Winner Scott Plessinger leads Larry Roeseler in a close race at the Fla t River GP. Plessinger takes the Governor's Cup By Arlene Hejlek FLAT RIVER, M ocr.5·6 O, ormer Hare Scra mbles Na tio na l Champion Scott Plessin ger didn 't let getting lost at th e start of the Flat River G P get the best of hi m, in stead , all it did was fire up the KTM rider. He came ou t on top of a fierce battle with Kawasak i Team Green 's Larry Roeseler and Swede Kent Karlsson to score th e overall win an d take home the pres tigious Governor's Cup Trophy. . Karlsson, a to p enduro rid er i n Sweden , was the runner-u p , while Roes eler, wh o had j ust clin ched the AMA Nation al Ch ampion ship Relia bility Enduro Series title in Nevada the day before, finis hed th ird. More than 550 riders converged on Main Street in downtown Flat River for the start 'of th e race, whi ch was hosted by the Cha mber of Commerce, with th e coo pera tio n of the Missouri Dep artment of Natural Resources. The competitors were led in waves by a pace veh icle to the edge of town and across th e river that ga ve th e city its name. After crossing Flat River, th e green flag dropped for th e five-lap race aro und a 20-mil e course in St. J oe State Park. The race got off to an auspicious start for Plessin ger. "I got lost on the first lap ," Plessinger said. " Ron Naylor, Roeseler and myself got off the course, but we found our wa y back and caug h t Karlsson before the end of the lap." . But more problems were in store for Plessinger. ' F 20 " On the second lap , I got off on th e Mini (class ) trail because someone forgot 10 take the banner down (after the Min i race wh ich was held earlie r in the day) . Tha t's where Karlsson pi cked up a lot of time on me," he added. After Plessin ger got back on th e rig ht cou rse, he and Roeseler p ushed each other in hopes of catching th e four-stroke Husab erg-mounted Swede. " Roeseler an d I pushed it pre tty hard to catc h h im and we eventually did ," Plessinger said. " Once we caug h t him, we just rode with h im ." But that didn't last for lon g. " I wanted 10 get in front of him (Karlsso n) before I pitted for gas," Plessin ger said. " I passed him and was ab le to pu t about I0 seconds on hi m before I had 10 gas up. I fig ured it wou ld be a bette r strategy to gas after the first and thi rd laps ins tead of the second and fourth like everybody else. T ha t way I could go the last two lap s wi tho ut stoppi ng ." Pl essin ger man aged to pu ll back out on the course after pitting j ust in front of Kar lsson to keep his lead intact. The KTM rider 's strat egy pa id off, as Plessin ger led for the rest of th e race, gai ning even more tim e on Karls son and Roeseler when they pi tted late in th e race. Pl essinger and h is KR W Cycle/ Srnith/Tsubaki/ Dura Lube/Malcolm Smi th / Ara iiD yn a Port/M etz el erbacked KTM crossed the finish line Swede Kent Karlsson was the early leader before finishing third. ap proxima tely 30 seconds ahead of ru nner- up Karlsson. "T he last lap was not so good for me," Karl sson said. " I rode as hard as I cou ld on the last lap , becau se I kn ew he (Plessinger) didn 't have to sto p for gas and I did. Bu t a woman fell in front of me and I fell 100. I los t too much time, and it was too lat e to ca tch him." While poin ti ng to hi s brui sed knuckles, Karlsson added, " In Sweden we cu t th e trees dow n ." H e was referring 10 the ver y tight tra il s through the Missouri woo ds. Roeseler, who flew overnigh t fro m Nevada to compe te, sai d, "T he secondto-last lap I go t a flat rear tire. At th at poi nt, Scott (Plessinger) and I were ru nn ing first and secon d. We go t ah ead of Karlsson and I knew toward the end it wo uld be him and me seeing who had enough energy left to rea lly race the last lap. And, sure eno ugh, I go t a fla t tire abou t half way th rough, so I came in and pitted, fixed th e flat and pulled back ou t in th ird. Oh well , it was a rea lly goo d course a nd a lot of fun ." Finishing .fourth overa ll was Ron Nay lor wh o won the last two Fla t River G Ps. Nay lor sorted o ut some probl em s on the first lap and fin ish ed nine minutes beh ind the winner. H usaberg-mo u nte d J erry H eman n rounded o ut th e top five, two minu tes behin d Na yl or. Am erican Juni or World team rid er at thi s year's ISDE, David Rhodes was sixth. Rhodes, wh o usuall y rides a 350cc Husaberg, rode a 500 in todav's race. " I think I h it every tree ou t th ere," sai d Rh odes. "T he 500 has a lot more power and it was hard to get u sed to. On the firs t lap everybody m issed a corner and I was the first person not to get lost. I was leading it for a little wh ile and then Karl sson caug h t up to me." Vin ce Throckm orton and Kei th Kibort cont inued th eir year-l ong battle in the Interm edi ate class. Throckm orton was abte to lose Kibort in traffi c and extend his lead to five minu tes by the end. T erry Gilliland led the Open class wire 10 wire , while Mike Turpin and Tim Gilliland moved up to claim second and thi rd when Steve Weedau dropped back with probl em s. Gary Adam s beat out Mike Harker for the number one slot in the 250cc class by 45 seconds, and they finished ninth and 10th overall, respectively, Sp encer Balentine aced th e 200cc div isi on, with Greg Stahlman th e runner-up. In the 125cc divi sion, Darell T ownsend untangled himself from hi s broken Roll-Offs and pressed ah ead to be the on ly rid er in th e clas s to comp lete all five lap s, while Mar k Kend all wor ked hi s wa y aro u nd J immy Dunn for second. Form er Six-Days rid er Ron Ribolz i, wh o is recuperating from a brok en wrist, led th e Four -Stroke class from start to finish , finish ing ahead of Mi¥ Heavens and Everett Sh ina ult. Dave Altmann scored th e Senior class win I In the po pular Vintage division , Al Hejlek scored the overa ll win on a Yamaha 360. " I was third at the start," said H ejlek. " I passed J eff Sm it h as he was goi ng th rou gh a ro ug h sectio n. I saw a smooth line off to the left and took it. About two m iles into the race, Chris Caplinge r pulled off with a seized engi ne, so th at put me out fron t, On the third lap , I lost third and fourt h gears, but I was ab le to keep going for th e win." , Sm ith , a two-time 500cc MX World Cha m pion ( 1964-' 65), was seco n d overa ll bu t scored the Plus 50 class wi n. Form er Gra nd National Ch ampion Dick Mann was third overall in the vintage ranks, seco nd in Plus 50. Fo rm er Nati on al Hare Scra m b les Cha mp ion J ohnny Martin gave up th'e chase wh en he hurt hi s foot on the ~ thi rd lap. , Results 0 / A: 1. Sco tt Plessinger (KTM ); 2. Ken t Kar lsson (Hbg); 3. Larry Roeseler (Kaw): 4. Ron Naylor (AT K); 5. Jerr y Hema nn (H bg); 6. David Rh odes (HbK); 7. Tom Eh mke (HbK); B. Leigh Letell ier (KT M); 9. Ga ry Adams (Suz); 10. Mike H arker (H on); 11. Steve Leiva n (Yam); 12. Vince Throckmorto n (H on); 13. Mike Charlevi lle (KT M); 14. Terry Gill iland (KT M); 15. Darr ell Townsend (H on); 16. AI H ejl ek (Kaw) : 17. Keith Kibort (ka w); l B. Dwi!!ht Maggard (Yam) ; 19. Tom Summers (Yam) : 20. Mike Turpin (AT K). EX AA: I. Kent Karlsson (H bgg); 2. Larry Roeseler (Ka w ): 3. Ron Na ylor (AT K); 4. Jerry Hemann (Hbg); 5. David Rhodes (Hb g). tNT: I. Vi n ce T hrock morton (H o n); 2. Kei th Kibon (Kaw ); 3. Bob Caplinger (AT K); 4. Chr is Nesbi tt (Ka w); 5. Eri n Ni els en (Ya m). OPEN: 1. T erry Gi lli la nd (KT M); 2. Mik e T urpi n (AT K); 3. Tim G illi la nd (AT K); 4. Rodney O her (H a n) ; 5. S teve Weeda u (Kaw ). 250: 1. Gary Ada ms (Su z); 2. Mik e H ar ker (Han) ; 3.Mike Char levi lle (KT M); 4. Dwight Maggard (Yam); 5. T om Summers (Yam). 200: 1. Spencer Balen t ine (Ya m ); 2. G reg Sta hl man (Ka w ): 3. Sid T urp in (Kaw ): 4. G reg Bean ( Ka w): 5. Terry w isecup (Kaw). 125: I. Darrell T ow nsend (H a n ); 2. Mark Kendall (Kaw) ; 3. Jim m y Dunn ( Ka w) : 4. Ma ll J am ieso n . (KT M); 5. Bria n Smith (Ya m). 4-STR.K: J. Ron R ibolz i (Han ); 2. Mike H ea vens (H a n) ; 3. Everett Sh inau lt (Han); 4. Everett Ratl iff (Hon) ; 5. Ra nd y Jones (Ho n ). SR : I. Dave' Altmann (Ya m); 2. Ch arles Thiele (Han); 3. R.J. Li vin gston (Yam) : 4. Roger Le-Reue (Ya m) ; 5. St eve Aber cromb ie (Kaw). S/SR: 1. Ron Ko hr ig (H us ); 2. Mi ke Edwards (H bg); 3. J ohn O ller (Ya m); 4. J im Letell ier (KT M); 5. Bob H a llen (KT M). TR: 1. Russ Limbaugh. (H a n); 2. Nick Cra wford (Yam); S. Mich ael Mersch (AT K); 4. j am es Hunct (Kaw ); 5. Ar t Simmonea u (Cag]. JR: 1. Davi d Wilfo ng (Han ); 2. R yan Pirtle ( H on ): 3. Les lie Buse n (H a n); 4. j o hn McDan iel ( Ka w): 5. Sha wn Bellevill e (Kaw) . VINT 0 / A: I. AI Hej lek; 2. J eff Smith (BSA); 3. Dick Ma nn (BSA); 4. Steve Crews (Kaw); 5. Gary Ma yfield (H us); 6. Adrian Mo ss (BSA): 7. We~ Ful fer (H us ): 8. Bob Capli nge r (BSA); 9. Dennis Eaton (BSA); 10. Pa ul Krewet (T ri). SPTSMN 500: I. AI H ejlek (Yam ); 2. Steve Crews (Kaw); 3. Den nis Eaton (BSA); 4. Mike T urp in (Ya m ); 5. Tom Leo [H us). SPTSMN 250: I. Gary Ma ylield (Hus ); 2. Gay la nd Bennett (Ya m); 3. Jim J on es (Bul ): 4. J ohn Hu sban d (Ric); 5. Gary Hollwich (Yam). +50: I. J elf Smith (BSA); 2. Dick Mann (BSA); 3. Victo r Hajos (C-A); 4. Har old Hazel (Bul): 5. Don Thomp son (Hen ). +40: I. Ad ria n Mo ss (BSA); 2. Bob Capli nger (BSA); 3. Larry Gilli land (Ho n ); 4. Lela nd Matthews (0,,); 5. Jesse Las well (H us). +30: I. Jeff Bar stow (H us) ; 2. Ron McKenz ie (H od); 3. Mi ke Bridget t (BSA); 4. J ohn Marli n (BSA); 5. Ga ry Poland (Bul). VINT 125: I. Wes Fuller (H us ); 2. Kenn y Bermin k (Ho n); 3. Budd y Browne (Hn n); 4. And y Long (Pe n); 5. Rick Jones (Pen ). VINT PREM OPEN TW: I. Beno Rodi (No r); 2. Marvin Krass inger (BSA). VINT PREM: I. Kurt Bave (BSA). VINT PREM LlW 2: I. Paul Krewet (Tri); 2. John Geer (BSA).

• Cover