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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127547
eCROSS COUNTRY
AMA Wiseco/Yamaha/Yokohama Grand National Cross Country Series: Round 3
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Steve Ho lbert (149) fini shed seco nd to .
Mark H yde in the Four-Stroke A class.
T im Shephard emerged victorious in the highly co mpe titive Vet A division.
Runner-u p Scott Plessinger crossed the fin ish line three minutes behind Sum mers.
20
woods. After th at I j us t tried to avoi d
the traffi c and tie-ups on the creek
banks and keep a fast pa ce."
Summers' quick pit proved fatal for
Plessinger's hopes of winning as the
KTM /MS R I Ar a il Me tzeler- ba cke d
rider never go t the big Honda in hi s
sigh ts again . After a couple more
fruitl ess laps, Plessin ger put his 250cc
D/XC on cruise and coas ted across the
fin ish line more than three minutes shy
of Summers ' winning pace. Norton,
the event ua l third-p lace fin ish er, lost
too much time findin g the right gear
ea rly and wa s not a ble to a ttack
Plessinger' s runner-up pos ition o nce
he overtoo k Hrehor and Blackwell in
the latter stage s of the race.
' 'I'm real happy with th ird beca use
the two guys up front are beating
everybody every weekend," sai d No rton. ' 'I'm getting th e feel of th is new
bike and I thi n k that pretty soo n I'll
be able to ride with anyo ne."
Hrehor fini shed fourth at a deficit
of abou t two mi nu tes behind No rton.
Eriksson was another 20 seconds back
in fifth but his career-best GNCC
pe rfor mance saw him improve hi s
series ranking from eigh th to fourth,
six points shy of third-place orton.
Eriksson 's effort, along with that of
Summers, marked the first time in
series histo ry that two four-stroke
motorcycles have finished in the top
five overall. Eriksson, a Swede currently residi ng in Missouri, rides a
H usaberg 501 wi th support from
Husaberg America.
Roundi ng o ut the top 10 o verall
were Blackwell , who seemed to tire in
the la te stages, Roach , wh o was on yet
another four-ba nger, Ro bbins, an d
200cc A class leaders Froman and
Bran don .
Onail' s 250cc A class victor y came
a t the expe nse of New J ersey's Kevin
Bennett. Onail held a lead of more tha n
two and a half minutes at th e end of
th e run . West Virgi nia n Du a n e
Spro use placed th ird, trail ing O nail by
a further three minutes.
For th e seco nd race in a row , Robert
T om in ello appeared to have things in
cont rol in the 200cc A class, on ly to
have mechanical diff iculties knock him
from conte n tion. Indiana 's From an
was agai n there to take advantage and,
after battli ng with fellow Kawasaki
rider Kevin Brandon for mor e than two
hours, he was able to claim his second
series win in a row. Brandon slipped
45 seco nds back in th e late stages but
still scored the runner-up trophy ah ead
of H onda rider T odd Mor ain.
Y ok o l Arai / S m i t h l Alpin eSt ar backed Chris Smith piloted his Husq varn a 360 to hi s second Open A win
in three races. The 20-year-o ld New
J ersey resident bettered Pen nsylvan ian
Rop Palermo and Richard Moyer by
three minu tes. The class points leader,
Li neman Cycle's J ohn Vincent, could
on ly man age a fourth in the Carolina
heal.
KK / Sm ith/ PS II Ath ens and La ncaster Sportcycles-backed Tim Shephard
pi cked up the first Vet A class wi n of
hi s career whe n he o u tran fell ow
Yamaha a n d se ries fr ont-runn er
Tom my Harris fo r the victo ry.
Kawasak i-mounted J eff Murgel placed
third o n the da y with Virgin ian
Roland King holding fourth. Each of
th e first four Vet A riders finished in
th e top 20 overa ll.
H yde's Four-Stroke A class win came
a t the expense of Bob Sloan, th e
defending Open B class cha m p. Sloan
was the ear ly class leader bu t on the
second lap the Indian a Honda pilo t
suffered a complete electrica l failure
and dr opped out of th e event. Hyde
was left to battle with Pennsylvanian
Steve Holben , but the Suzuki pilot was
not to be denied of his first class win
of the season. H is lead on Holbert and
th ird-p lace Gallie Ward measured
more than eight m inutes at th e ch eckered flag .
. Loj aks -backed J oseph H ull scored a
narrow Senior (40) class victo ry over
South Carolinian Jimmy Lynch. H u ll
led by 14 seconds a t the checkered flag
after three hours of racing. Ten nessee's
Alle n Brutto was four mi n utes beh ind
in third.
T he top Senior (45) class rider was
o nce agai n J oe Lojak , but Dirt Wor ksl
Tem p -Guard/ KT M-su pported John
Ga llagher was with in a dozen seconds
of the Yam ah a rider at the fin ish.
D avid Dehner was th ird o n the day.
Fastest of the Su per Senior riders was
North Caroli nia n H arry Green lee,
whi le O hio's Ernest Huffman o ut- .
laste d West Virginia 's Bill Hartsell for
the top Masters (55) trophy.
Shawn Brell raced his Lojaks/WD40 / P J l /Side WinderI R K-sp o n so red
Yamaha 500 to the Open B class win
wi th a large lead o n Honda-mounted
Richard Lukaesko . North Carolinian
J oseph Lawson finished th ird.
In the 250cc B class a pair of local
favorites, David Kiser and Jody Main,
led everyo ne to the ch eckered flag with
Kiser picking up the win. Ohio's Joe
Han or proved to be th ird fastest.
Rodney J udso n narrowly edged
Ant ho ny Gl asso in the 200cc B class
wh ile West Virginian Kelvin Hull ran
th ird.
Pen nsylvanian Perry' Peters won the
Four-Stroke B class with a sizeable lead
over ru nner-up Chris Walton. Vance
Earl scored the Vet B win over Donald
Bigley.
CN
Resu lts
0 1A; I. Sco tt Summers (Ho n); 2. Sco u Plessenger
(KTM); 3. T o m Nor to n (H o n); 4. J an H rehor (Suz);
S. Jim Erik son (H sb); 6. Doug Blackwel l (Kaw);7.
Gi g Roach (H a n ); 8. Joh n ny Rob bins (KT M); 9.
Chad From a n (Ka w); 10. Kevin Brandon (K.:J.w ); 11.
Ti m Shephard (Yam) ; 12. Gene On a il ( Ka w): 13.
T o m Harris (Ya m) ; 14. Mark H yde (Suz]: IS. Chris
Sm ith (H us); 16. Jdl Mu rgrl {Ka w ): 17. Kevin
Benn ett {Suz); 18. T od d Mor a in (Hen ) 19. Ro n
Palerm o (Yam); 20. Roland King { Kaw).
PRO: 0 / A Summers; 1. Pl essinger: 2. Norton : 3.
Hr eho r: 4. Eriksson : 5. Blackwell.
O PEN A: I. Smith; 2. Pa lermo; 3. Richa rd M oy~
(AT K); 4. Davi d Sarni (Ya m); 5. j o hn Vincen t (Yam).
~ A: l. Onai l; 2. Benn et t: 3. Dua ne Sprouse (S Ul) ;
4. Dary l Co nner ( Kaw); S. j aso n Mood)' (SUl).
200 A: l. Froman; 2. Kevin Brando n (K.aw,; 3. Tod d
Mora in (Hon); 4. David Fal las (Ya m ); 5. Josh Lojak
(Kaw).
4·STR K A: I. H yde; 2. Steve Hol bert (He n); 3.
Ga lle Ward (Ha n ); 4. David Black (H an); S. Jar ed
G reen (Ho n ).
VET A (30+): 1. Sh... had; 2. Ha rri s; 3. Mur gel;
p
.1. King; 5. J o hn Tho mpson (H e n]. .
SR (40+): I. Joseph H ull (Ya m) : 2. Ji mmy Lynch
{Hus): 3. Ala n Bru no ( Ka w );" t. R ichard Soon (Ya m);
S. She lby Mu rra y (Ya m).
SR (45+): I. j osep h l.oja k (Yam ); 2.John Ga lla gber (KT M); 3. David Dehner ( Ka w ): 4. Dean Bud r
(Ya m ); S. Ji m my w e lters (KT:lI ).
S/S R (SO+ ): I. Ha rry Green lee (Yam ); 2. Dave
Goo mbs (Yam).
MST R (55+): I. Earn est Huffman (KT M); 2. Bill
Hart sell (Yam) .
OI'L'I B: I. Shawn 8r