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/127541
eENDUR O e Tecate250 " I go t stuck o n a tree roo t o n th e seco nd lo op a nd los t a coup le o f mi n utes and carried it for a whil e," said Pep per, who resid es in Colorado . " I had a hard tim e making th at back up ." Tommy Clowers (184); Marc Phares (183), Larry Roeseler (182) and Pa ul Kra use (181) lea ve the sta rt line. Roeseler was the overall winner with an ll-point score. Kelby Pepper was th e runner-u p with 18 points dropped. R scores again at Tecate oeseler By Ken Harvey Jr. Photos by Kinney Jones 12 ELTESTERAZO, B , MEXICO, M 14 .C. AR. a wa sa ki T eam Green' s L arry Roeseler scored his third-straig ht overall victory at th e T ecat e 250K Enduro , an enduro for A class riders K only, one th at is considered by ma ny as th e most presti g io us non-Na tio nal event o f th e year. Roeseler dropped a tot al o f II po ints in .the th ree-loop co ntes t, seven points better than his closes t ri va ls Ke lby P ep p e r. w h o dropped 18 poin ts, and Jim my Lewis 20 po ints. Pep per a nd Lewi s finish ed seco nd and th ird , respecti vely. . " I was p retty psyc hed u p and I wa nted to do good," sai d Nation al Reliability Enduro Ch am p ion Roeseler, " I' ve don e a few enduros lat ely a nd I'm getti ng used to a ll th e clo cks a nd things. T oday j us t went go od. " Pepper had a few problems but mad e the best o f hi s rid e to ho ld o n to second overall. . Thisyear 's end uro starte d at a new locat ion so u th of th e border town of Teca te, instead o f the usu al Santa Veron ica R an ch o si te . The lo cal people were very hospitable and ca me o u t in d rov es to watch th e riders practice in th e pit area on Friday afternoon. T hey caugh t o n quickly a nd had taco sta nds set up in th e backs o f trucks befor e the day was over. The race starte d a t seven o 'clock with th e fog still clea ring from th e a ir. The schedu le was a stra ig h t 24 mph average w i t h a break for gas a n d lun ch. Quickl y th e rid ers were on th e gas and findin g th em selves losing time on th e entirely new cou rse. Runnin g on lot s of side hill s, ridges, h ill s laced with loos e ro u nd roc ks, a nd a lon g river ca nyo n wh ere it was impossible to find a ny thi ng so li d to rid e on , it was sha pi ng up to be a gr ue ling even t. Na tional End uro Champ ion J eff Russell , Roeseler, ATK 's Ty Davis and KTM's Pep per a ll ca me off the firs t loop down o nly two. Lewis was back with a dis appointi n g four m in ute drop. " I was j ust slow to wa rm up," said Lew is. A regula r, Suzuki's Da ve Bert ram , had a su rp rise for everyo ne. H e was rid in g a DR fou r-strok e in stead of th e usu a l RMX two-stroke. " I'm still new to this thing, too ," sai d Bertram, " I put abo u t 30 mil es o n it yesterday a nd here I a m. I'm having fun ." H e was just a little o ff th e lead er' s pace as was Husqv arna 's Kevin Hines, also on a 350cc four-stroke . The second loo p ran th rough more trad itional decomposed gran ite rocks and sand wit h th e course now on the east sid e of th e highway. T he hid den rocks and relentless pace starred to ta ke its tol l. The first cas ua lty was KT M's Russell. H e smas hed his foo t o n a roc k an d reti red du e to what was initiall y th ough t a broken foot, bu t lat er p ro ved to be a bad bruise. Kawasak i' s Paul Kra use was a front-runner until losin g a battle to th e stomac h grem lins . Other rid ers wi th problem s incl ud ed Na tional H a re & H ound C hampion Dan ny Ham el. " I was doing good after th e firs t loop a nd th e club made a mistake p~t in g m y sco re," said Ham el. a freT th e club mi st a kenl y logged a 13 for his first loop. " It was funn y, (T ea m G reen 's) J ames DeGa in d idn 't seem surp rised. I guess th ey ex pect th a t desert racers ca n ' t time keep ." H am el' s score fro m th e firs t loo p was fi xed , t h o u g h seco n d- lo o p b urns (a rr i vi n g ea r ly a t' checks) d ue to co mp uter p ro b lem s cos t hi m posi tions. Pep per 's bid for the overa ll wi n came to a n end du e to bo ttl ene cks. " I wen t to go around some gu ys that were hung up on a root on the edge of a cl iff. It en de d up bein g a tw o minute ordeal ," said Pepper. Kevin H ines was also at the same spo t just a li ttle fart her down th e tra il when his Husky calle d it q uits for th e da y, due to electrica l p ro blem s. Somehow, Roeseler ma naged to slip th rough the second loop with o nly a one-m in ute dro p , bringing hi s tot a l to th ree. Lew is was next in lin e with a two-minute second loop, bringing his to ta l to six. Fo llowi ng closely in a heap were Pep per , Da vis. Bertram, Ham el , T om .Webb , Sco t Harden , Darren St anford, a n d Hu saburgs Da vid Rhodes. Now rider s wer e tr eated to the