Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

GHARE &HOUND AMAlDistrict37 Desert Series: Round 5 . e Over 400 riders turned out for the 23rd running of the Invaders M.C 's Saucer Run Hare &: Hound in Lucerne. H ere, racers begin following the ribbons after the bomb run. National HSeH Champion Danny Hamel scored the overall win with room to spa re. Hamel soars at the Saucer Run By Ken Harvey J r. P hotos by H eath er McNabb LUCERNE VALLEY. CA, MAR. 8 a tiona l Hare &: Hound Champion Danny Hamel roo sted a field of National-caliber riders with an impressive six-minute m argin of victory at the Invaders M.C.'s 23rd running of th e Saucer Run Hare &: Hound. "I was first to the bomb, stretched out a lead. had no problems N 16 and was first to th e fini sh. I just roosted ," said the Kawasaki T eam Green racer short ly after taking th e checkered flag , At 9 a.m. the start banner dropped for a 90-mile. two- loop spin through Lucerne Valley. With Mother Nature providing perfect soil conditions, and a du st-free da y. it was a crazy sp rint to the bo mb . As the first wave of rid ers battled , it was still th e usua ls u p front. H am el flew past th e bo mb with T eam Green teammate Paul Krause scra tchin g a t hi s bac k. T ed Hunn icutt. Don G riewe, Dave Ondas a nd T y Da vis were seco nds down with fir st 250cc rid er J immy Lewi s right behind. First to th e bomb in th e Am at eur wave was Ron Peters followed by Da le T ru bby J r. a nd Mike Edm on es. Across the first va lley, H amel used th e speed that made him a Nati onal cha m p a nd qu ickly sta rted putting tim e on th e field . Krause was feeling th e effects of th e flu a nd maintained seco nd wit h Hunni cutt. Ondas a nd th e two ATKs o f Griewe and Davi s pushing him. Midway through th e loop Krause slip ped back to fourth p lace and soo n enco u ntered probl em s. '" flew into a dit ch and du g th e bik e into the grou nd," said Krause. " It pitch ed me off, so , ca lled it a da y." Hunnicu tt ran into problem s abo u t the sa me time. '" dug my Ioot into some deep sa nd a nd twi sted my kn ee, so I co uld n ' t go o n either ," sa id H unnicu tt. The ra ce was losi ng front-runners fast, as Griew e's ATK four-stroke seized a little later o n in th e loop. Durin g a ll of thi s, Davi s moved up to seco nd a nd Ondas held third. A battle for th e 250cc clas s start ed to heat u p, as th e number one a nd two riders, Lewi s a nd Dan Ri ch ardson. started to trade places-, '" was just ridin g a com for ta ble pa ce and Dan blew by me in som e sa nd whoops," said Lewi s. Lew is a nd Ri chardson traded pl aces five more times on th e first loo p till a bo u t a mi le from the pits when Ri chardson ran out of gas. "I had to push about 100 yards till som eone from my club ca me a nd gave me some gas. I had a blast racing with Jimmy, we were going rea l fast ," said Richardson. Jeff Capt had the l25cc class beat and was battling with Vet class leader Kenny Parry on a Kawasaki KX250. As Hamel rnade vh is wa y out from pit row . the next bike was still coming across the valley. It was still Davi s in seco nd follo wed by Ondas, Lewis, AT K's J ohn Rudd er, a nd a refu eled Ri ch ardson head in g ou t to a more technical second loop. As th e Amat eurs mad e it to th e pits. it was Dal e Trubby Jr. who had tak en th e lead with a cha rg ing Edm on es close beh ind. Wh il e H amel stre tched hi s lead , Rudder had other pl ans for th e 250cc class. H e was sta lking Lewis and fin all y ca ug ht h im halfway through th e loop wh en Lewis ran into trouble. " All my pipe sp ring s cam e o ff and the impact from jumping across a ditch finall y took it off.", said Lewis. Lewis kicked th e pipe back into place and got going righ t in front of Rudder. Rudder made his move and took over first 250. as Lewi s worked to keep hi s pipe o n th e bike. "About five miles from th e finish J ohn fell over a nd ' was abl e to get past," sa id Lewi s. " I just .kept riding till we were going across a dry lake and I thought th ey would bl ow right past me. , gu ess I mad e up some tim e in th e rocks," sa id Lewi s. Wh en th e chec kered £lag fell it was T eam Gr een l An sw er /M etzel er l Sh oei/F&:L FuellRK/Back Canteen l Maxima-sponsored Hamel fir st by sixminutes. " No problem , what ica n , say?" said H am el. '" liked the second loop." Next through th e finish shoot was Davis on his AT K 604 with a charg ing Ondas right behind. " I just rode and watched the others fall out," said Ondas. . His KTM so u nding like an old Bultaco, Lewis brought his 250 inio the finish with th e pipe hanging away from the cylinder. " Everyo ne just had bad luck and' came out a head," said Lewis. Abou t 30 seconds back Rudder crossed the line for second 250 and a . close third was Richardson. First Vet rider Pa rry made it into the finish followed close ly by first 125cc' . rider Capt. "I had to race with Capt all day. It was fun , though, with no dust," said Parry. Billy Fullmer and Brent Farrel rounded out the top 10.

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