Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cl ass 22 compe titor Grant Palenske takes on gas at one of the Team Green pits. Class 40s and the 125s," said Guzman. T he Ho nda XR600 's big tank was an ad van tage too, allowing the du o to com p lete the race wi th on ly three gas sto ps. The 125cc (Class 20) leaders weren 't passing anybody. "T here was only one o f us in th e class," said J ohn Braa sch , who shared a Kawasaki KXI25 with Jeff Kawell and J eff Ca pt. " There was another guy - he came all th e wa y from Canada, but he didn't show up for th e start, so I didn 't even push. I . co u ldn' t hav e cra shed becau se I did n' t go fast enough." For Over-30 co n te n de r Br ian Sch rnuckle, the probl em wasn 't pa ssin g - it was being passed. " I got passed by a (race) truck in th e twoway part near Borrego. I was ta pped o u t and I didn 't hear a th ing until he wa s righ t beside me. I tho ught I was going to die," said Schmuckl e. " I was o ff in the bu shes so fast. " T he course led sou th across Diablo Dry Lak e after the seco nd pass th rough Borrego . The H unnicu tt/Zitterk opf Kawasaki was sti ll in fro nt, but the race was far from decided. "It was really close all the way," said Swee tland. " Dow n at T hree Po les (before the 'second Bo rrego check) I think we were ahea d of them on ti me. It just went in sections - the y did a fast one, then we did a fast o ne." The du el con ti nued sou th past the Zoo Road cross ing, through one of the fa stest sections of th e course near checkpoint six and th en turned for home via the Huatamote Wash. Hunnicutt was amo ng the crowd that gathered on the start/finish to wait for the first bike and he wasn't taki ng anyt hing for granted. A problem with Kawasaki's gas d um p tank at the last pit might hav e left hi s bike short of fu el a n d h e wa sn 't sure whether Zitterkopf would be riding or pushing the bike in to th e finish . The engine was still running as Zitte rkopf clea red the dusty trai l and hit the highway for th e final sprint. H e crossed the finish just before II a.m., with a total elapsed time of four hours and 32 minutes. Stopwatches clicked on and th e co u nt do wn to the rival Kawasaki KX500 began. Ostbo rocketed home just over three minutes later, in second by just two-and-a-halfminutes on adjusted time. " It was push, push, push all day long - a really close race ," said the Kaw a sa kil JT10 ' Nea ll P ro-Ci rcu i tl Bel-R a y I R e n t ha l /Tri ck / N G K I Sco t t sZDu nl op /CT III MF I S m i t h G oggl es-b a ck Hunni cut t. " T h ese teammates of o urs are fast and they do th eir hom ework. It' s pus hi ng us harder and harder and we are getting better becau se of it. " Sweetland, who is backed by Kawasaki, Acerb is, Yoko, Smith , Sh oei , c, Sinoco, Max im a, FMF , T subaki, Ren thai , Pro-Circuit, NGK, Bel-Ray and T rick, called th e course o ne of the toughest he'd seen in Mexico. "T wo of you really have to work," sai d - Swee tlan d. " Yo u' ll ride a 45-mi le sectio n. It's not much in miles bu t it 's sta ndi ng up almos t all the way. I th ink it's rough er this year than it was previou sly, pl us it was a little longer.' The Da vis/D arl a n d Kawasaki KX500 was third across the line, bu t was relegated to fourt h in the timeadj us ted sta ndi ngs by the Donatoni / Campbell / Ca mpbell Honda CR250, which finished in four ho urs and 56 minut es despite two lost silencers and a crac ked rear rim. Do natoni reported the team 's biggest break was coming out o f ch eckpo int two , wh en he elbowed a rival 250cc team out of th e way. " I got in fro nt of th e du st. T hat was a bi g factor in the race today," said the America n H on da/Race Tech/ Bill Bor en Honda/Motospo rts/Flvl fv Wh ite Bros-backed team captain. • First-time San Felipe racers Davis and Darl and were ela ted with third in class and fourth overa ll. "Whe n I looked a t the mile-per-h our averages for Kawasaki, I expected fiat smooth roads," said Davis. "They were straig ht but they were full of whoops. There wereplaces wh ere you didn 't sit down for 30 minutes. I was pretty surprised and wish I was in better shape." Fifth overa ll was claimed by the 250cc en try of Sco tt Morris, Joey Lane and Craig Adams, whose Kawasaki KX250 was mi ssin g on the top end all day . " T he bike was ru nnin g really bad . ' Wh en you held it wid e open it would start cu tting ou t and in the last five miles it almost died o n me," sai d Morris. Th e Martinez/W illen/P earce Yamaha scored sixth overall, just 22 seconds behind their Class 21 Kawasaki rivals , and David Jones and Brian Schmuckle topped Class 30 in sevent h o vera ll, half an hour ahead of th eir nearest rivals, David Callaw ay, J im Eveland and J ohn Silva. Guzman and Ashcraft headed the The Garth SweetIandlPaul Ostbo team finished two minutes down in second 0 1A. The Dan AshcraftlBruce Miller duo burned rubber off the start but failed to finish. Over-50 racers in 14th overall, but thought the bigger accomplishment was toppin g all the 125cc and Over40 ri ders. " I used to rid e sol o but (the races) are gett ing a little faster and I'm getting little older now ," said the XR s Only/Ellis Fab .lCycle Concepts/AI G uzman Ra cing-sponsored Guzman . J ohn Braasch sai d there wasn 't an y glory in beat in g hi s Kawasak i KXI25 cc team. He had foun d teammates Kawell and Capt waiting by th e trail in the fin al stretch and sto pped for a beer. " It was abo u t three miles back and , with nobody else in our class, I th ough t why not . I didn 't sto p for very long," said Braasch, whose team averaged 44 mph on their way to 15th overall. San Felipe's heat and humidity, plus a crash that wadded the rear fender , took a toll on Class 40 winner Ch ris H aines. Haines had to be helped from the Kawasaki KX500 he shared with Canada's Bill T anner and received medi cal attention before he left the finis h . R icardo Malo of Mex icali, who soloed to 24th overall on a Honda CR250, also had to be helped off his bi ke. D" Results 0 / A: I. Tal H un niw tl/Greg Zittcrkopf (Ka w) : 2. Garth Sweetland/Paul Osibc {Ka w) : ,. Dave Dona toni/Johnny Campbell/ Jami< Campbell (Hon); 4. Scott D-dvis/Jdf Darla nd (!(aw); 5. Scott MorrislJ""Y La ne/Craig Adams (Kaw): 6. Jdf Marti nez/ Fred Willcrl/Troy Pearce (Yam ); 7. David j ones/B rian Schmuckle (Ka w); 8. Roger H urd/Dave Ondas (Ka w); 9. Brent Farrell/Steve Ogren (Ka w): 10. J im O 'N""I/ Gtant Palenske/Mike McDonald {Ka w ); I I. Masam i lsh ii/Toshio Yoshito mo (Raw ); 12. David Callawayl Ji.m Eveland/joh n Silva (Raw); 13. Ti m MononITim Funk/Jo hn Flores(Kaw); 14.AI Guunan/Bob Ashcraft (Hon): 15. John Braasch/j ell KawelllJdf Cap t (Kaw). CLASS 20: I. Jo hn Braasch/jell Kawdl/Jdf Capt (Ka w) . CLASS 21: I. Dave Donatoni /Johnny Campbell/ j ami e Campbell (Ho n); 2. Scot t Morris/J""Y Lan e! Craig Adams (Kaw); 3. Jeff Martin ez/Fred Willerv' Troy Pearce (Yam ). O-A.SS22: I . Ted Hunnicun/ GregZiuerkopl (Kaw); 2. Garth Sweetland/Paul Ostbo (Kaw): 3. Scou Davis/ Jeff Darland (Kaw). CLASS 30: I. David j on es/Brian Schmuck le (Ka w ): 2. David Callaw ay/Jim Eveland/john Silva (Ka w ): 3. Ken T apert/jesse Ellice (Ka w ). CLASs 40: 1. Chris Haines/B ill Tanner (Kaw); 2. Bob Van DykelRieh Caselli. CLASS 50: I. AI Guzman/Bob Ashcraft (H on ); 2. AI Perrett/Sam Bass (Ka w ); 3. Gene Dempsey/ Ch uck Koistra (Kaw). 17

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