Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

; OF~ROAD ~ N.~ Q~~~~_ m_ H_ ~_ ~_:_oo__ H_ &_ oo_ S_ ~ R_ ~ 4 m Danny Hamel blas ted through the sand and dust to score a start-to-fin ish win at the Shawn Gerber Memorial Hare Be Hound. Larry Roeseler finished second overall and scored the 250cc Expert class win. Hamel topples Jericho By Anne Van Beveren Photos by Tom Van Beveren 16 JERICHO, UT, APR. 1 2 efending National H are Be H ound Cham p ion Danny H amel endured a sand dune start and 110 mil es of th ick dust to score his second D Na tio nal win in a row at the Sha wn Gerber Memori al H are and Hound. After st u dy i n g the bo mb ru n through the du nes of th e Little Sahara Recreation Area, 120 mi les sou th of Salt La ke Cit y, and th e du sty terrain in the surrounding valleys, Ham el developed a plan to be first to th e checkered flag. Wi th hi s Kawasak i T eam Green teammate La rry Roeseler ahea d ' o n poi nt s an d only four ro unds left in the bes t-five-of-seven -race series, Ham el kn ew th at he had to make every mil e cou nt . "I knew I'd have the adva ntage over Roeseler's 250 in the sand and that havi ng no du st wou ld be a big adva ntage after tha t, so I went for the start," said Kawasak i/Answer/ Pro Circuit/N Style/Maxi ma /Scot ts/ FBe L/ Metzeler / Po wer Bar / Acer bis/Sco tt /Sprocket Specia lt ies/ R K/ Bac k Ca nteen- su pported Hamel. At th e dr op of the banner, Ham el bla sted off the line aboard his big Kawasaki KX500 and stayed out front all the way to the fin ish . H am el' s third overa ll win of the series cam e with a six-m in u te cushion over second-placed Roeseler. " I thin k he's still got the series lead by a few points , but I've had one DN F and he hasn't u sed any o f h is throwaways yet," sa id H am el. " It' s sti ll too ea rl y to wo rk o ut wha t 's rea lly hap p eni ng, bu t eve r y fin ish is important. " T he race, spo nsored by th e Sage Rid ers M.e. , dr ew a field of 250 riders that incl uded one rider all the way fro m Minnesota. The II a.m. start was delayed more th an 20 minutes but no time was lost once the banner fell. H am el made th e most of hi s 500's - po wer and pl owed through the deep sand in the openin g section. By the tim e he cleared the bomb, Hamel had five seconds on the rest of the field and raced across the grassy fla ts to wards the criss-cross cours e through th e first of the trees. T ed Hunnicutt had his T eam ~ Green-backed KX500 in second as he entered the trees, and loca l hotshot Ed Sore nso n blasted through in thi rd on a Yam aha WR250. Over-30 ho peful Paul Ostbo flashed by in fourth ahead of Roeseler and Col orad o ISDE rider Jim Gray, whi le Ka wa sak i KX250-m o u nted J imm y Lewis, Dan Ri chardson and Vet Expert Dave Don aldson rounded out the nine fastest starters. T h e sa ndy sta rt in g area ruined ho pes of a fast start for ma ny racers. " T he deep sand really slowed me do wn ," said ATK's J ohn Ru dder. " I just couldn't pull it on a 250." A slow start was also logged by Dan a Van Stee, whos e Kaw asaki KXI 25 balk ed on the first kick, and a midbomb cras h kept T eam Green 's Pau l Krau se out of a top spo t. " I go t an okay start but me and a guy coll ided and I cras hed," said 500 pi lo t Krau se. " I was abo ut a millionth after th at." Krau se's Kawasaki teammate Kenny Parry lost tim e in ano ther bomb-run tangle. " When I cras hed , the bike fell on my bad leg an d I couldn ' t get up," Parry explai ned. And things were n 't much better when he finally got goi ng . Workin g up from the middl e of the pack was a formidable task in the tight terrain of the 41-mile first loo p . " It was like riding in a freig ht train," said Parry. " It was tig h t and dusty and there weren 't tha t many chances to pass. " It 's pretty tigh t an d technical all the way thro ugh the first two loo ps," said Chris Orndorff , vice president of the Sage Rid ers M.e. " And it'll be du sty all the way, too. We haven 't had any rain in th e past two weeks." Billowing dust kept the riders in single file through mu ch of the first loop and the o nly respite came from a strong wind th at made life miserable in the pits. " Eigh ty percent of the way you couldn 't tell how you were doing, i t was so du sty," said Over-40 contender Bill Maxim. " I breathed so mu ch dust - now I know how my cat feels with fur balls." The first 41 mil es took almos t an hour and a half to com plete and there was a sudden cha nge from quiet to chaos as four of the top five bikes cha rged into the Kawasak i pit wi th less than three min u tes between them. Ham el' s KX500 led the way, with Hunnicutt's KX500 a mi nute back in seco nd. So renson 's Yam aha YZ250 clea red the first loo p in thi rd, bu t left the p it in fourth behi nd Roeseler, two and a ha lf min utes behind the leader. Ostbo headed into loo p two in fifth and Team Gree n had a min ute's rest befor e Lewi s pi ned for gas in sixth overa ll. J im Gray entered pi t row in seven th , ahead of T od d Peug h , Richardson, and Rudder. Paul Krause had overco me th e du st an d traffic to secure lIth overa ll at the pi t. Corky Maughan dropped out of the top 10 when he ran ou t of gas coming out of loop o ne, and had to be content with 15th overa ll. Chance Maughan 's Suzuki headed th e 125cc division in 18th overall, 12 places ah ead of reigning 125cc Nati onal Ch ampion J eff Capt. Over-40 titl e holder Maxim was starting to make hi s presence felt in 42nd overall. Hamel cont in ued to enjo y clear air as he .headed north into the 32-mil e second loop. The virgin terrain continued and so did the slalom course back and forth' betw een the trees. "I'd say abo ut 75 percent of the course was tight," said Hamel. " A lo t of it went up through the cedar trees.

• Cover