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/127547
Rick Daffern balanced his Fantic well enough to finish second in the Expert class. sive. It's nice to come out and ride a tough event." Fo ur riders wh o usuall y ride the Champions hip class a t local events o p ted to ride less strict lin es and made up th e Expe rt class . Kevin Norton, riding a Montesa 311, rode to an easy victory. All three of No rton's loop scores beat the competi tion handily. Fantic K-Roo rider R ick Daffern came from behind to grab second place away from Jared Mal mquist who was riding his new Beta Zero for the first time in competition. Daffern , trailing Norton by 10 after the opening loop, led Mal mquist by a point. Daffern slipped to his worst loop on the second lap and fell three points behind the charging teenager from Lakeside, California. Daffern pointed out that the heat, loop and section a lso effected the lower class riders. ' 'I'm feeli ng the heat al rig ht. The sections are a little on th e harder side for the experts. The loop is fu n. It's g reat," said Da ffern . " T h is tria l rem inds me of the (1990) Arizona. T hey ha d a very ro ug h loop there." Daffern recovered to post his best loop score on the final loop as he moved four dab s ahea d of Malmquist at th e finish. The seco nd place slot in th e Support class was th e most hotly contested of the day . Yamah a-mounted New Zealand expatriate Pete Croft rode to a comfortable 10 point lead when he dabbed only three times on his last lap to overtake Fantic rider Duane Feland Jr. ~ Felan d 's inco ns istent 11 -6-14 loo p score did allo w him to stay just ahead of Thomas En glehard t who, riding hi s Yam ah a in his first event since breakin g a foot, rode smooth ly to turn in loop cards with 10-11-11 scores. Kent Graham faded to a 15-point last loop o n h is Aprilia and dropped into fourth. Perhap s th e most predictable ride for the day was turned in by Mark Oldar. Ol dar, us ua lly a Ch am p io nsh ip class rider, decided to have fun and ride a 1982340 Bul taco in the Support class. According to Oldar, " T he lack of brakes on the do wn hills," forced him to DNF. "A modem bike would have been no problem ," he said. T h e Inter m ed ia te class was hit hardest by the conditions. Even though the riders had to contend with only two loops, compared to the three the other classes rode, half of the field DNF; an unusually high number fo r a trial. J im Co llins rode his Beta T R34C to an easy wi n against the remain ing In term ediates. Int ermediate ru nner-up Bill Merri tt sai d, "T he loop took everyone for a loop." CN , Local Championship-class contender Kevin Norton opted to co m p ete as an Expert, and sco red a resounding victo ry aboard his Montesa 31 I. Three-time National Observed Trials Champion SCOII Head came out of semiretirement and finished second in the Championship class behind Manniko. Results C'SHtP: I. Mark Manniko (Fan) 22 pts: 2. Scott Head (Bet) 28; 3. Kenny Leduc (G·G ) 38; 4. Tom Hamann (Bel) 43. EX: I. Kevin Norton (Mon) 46; 2. Rick Daffern (Fan) 76; 3. J ared Malm quist (Bet) 80; 4. David Webster (Mon) 93. SUP: I. Pele Croft (Yam) 21; 2. Duan e Felan d Jr . (Fan) 31; 3. Thoma s Enge lhard t (Yam) 32; 4. Kent Graham (Apr) 35; 5. Bruce Davis (Yam) 37. INT: I. J im Collins (Bet ) 27; 2. Bill Merritt (Yam) 51; 3. T ed Feland (Fan) 53; 4. Rog er G ua rd (Bet) 58.. • 27