Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eOFF·ROAD Enduro Series: Round 2 ~ The win -was Eri ksson's second in a row, as he also topped th e Tulsa 4. Day. David Rhodes (134), Kevin H in es (102) and Jan Hrehor (p art iall y hidden) chased after winner Jimmie Eri ksson (135). H ines (102) smoked past slower rid ers in th e final mot o 's grass tra ck section. Suzuki's Steve Ha tch was sec o n d overall, and first in the 250cc class. Eriksson mugs 'em in New York problems. H ough ran o u t o f gas on th e fin al grass tra ck sectio n o f th e da y. H o u gh di d g e t gas fr om a club member , b u t not before he lost 106 seco nds. Husab erg's David R hod es was yet a no ther rider w ho h ad probl em s duri ng day o ne. Problem s ca used him not 10 finish. "The shift pin fell o u t a nd went into th e ca m chain. It brok e th e cha in in half, and I was done for th e day ," said a disappointed Rhodes. Although hi s second day was better, d a y o ne left him o u t o f ih e co m pe titio n. " I rode o kay, bu t I cou ldn 't quite ge l go ing. NOI riding Sa tu rday mad e it tough 10 be into th e race," he added. Ov erall, most o f th e rid ers really enjoyed the hilly and rock y terrain . Many of th e experienced Six Day riders said th e grass trac k was one of the best o nes they had ever raced o n. The track was set in a valley on n icely mowed g rass w it h sw eeping o ff-ca m b er corners th at led 10 Unadilla-style u p a nd do wnhills. The track was rib bo ned with yellow rib bon on th e left and red ribbon on th e righ I. T he grass trac k was 30-80 feel wide, so good lin e se lecti o n aro u n d th e 1.9 m il e By Audrea R usso SPEEDSV ILLE, NY, MAY 16-17 wede Jimmie Eriksson earned hi s seco nd overall wi n in as many tri es at round two o f th e National Cham pi onship Rel ia bil i ty Enduro Series. After scoring the win at th e series-o pe n ing T u lsa 4-Day ISDE Qual ifier , Eri ksson aga in piloted h is Husab erg FE50 1 to the overa ll win at th e Ithaca Din Rid ers Club-p romot ed ISD E qualifier, that wound th rough th e hilly farmland just o u tside o f Ithaca. T eam Suzuki's SIeve H a tch , th e to p-placi ng Am eri ca n at las t year's ISD E in Czech o , finish ed a close seco nd, just a head of H usq varna 's Kevin H in es. Day one consisted of a 65-m ile loop th a t th e riders rod e twice . The loo p co nsisted of two terrain tests a nd two grass tracks. At th e end of day one, Team Suzuki 's Randy H a wkins had"a big lead o f 35 seco nds, with Husq varna 's Kevin Hines in second. " I just tried 10 ride at a good, fast S 18 pace, " sa id H a w kins . " Every th in g went well, and I cam e out ahead." " Day one was good, time schedules were good, and th e te s ts were very good," said Hines. T ra il in g close beh ind H ines were Eri ksso n and Hat ch . The fir st day left man y o f th e top riders with worries about day two. Eriksso n had a ro ugh firs t da y, du ring th e firs t terrain test he broke h is rear br ake pedal, a nd th ere wasn 't a nywhere 10 gel a new pedal befo re th e second terrain lest. H a tch had p roblems of hi s own on the seco nd terrain test. " I felt I was ri ding pretty well , but in the test there were a few slip pery rock s a nd roots that p u t me o n m y head th ree lim es and reall y cos t me. I think it was a case of riding a li ttl e too aggressive in su ch sloppy conditions ," said th e persona ble H a tch. Kurt H ou gh was another rider with grass tra ck defini tely showed up in a rider's score. Da y lWO was ni ce, wi th th e sun shi ni ng OUI now and then , The second da y featu red a 45-mi le loop that was ru n twice, T he course was sched uled to cover the grass track twice, in the opposite directi on that it was ru n on day o ne, and o ne terra in test. The terrai n test was thrown out because th e top riders felt th a t it was 100 dangerous. T he lest ran do wn a creek bed tha t had sharp rock s h idd en under th e water. The riders felt that passing a slower rider in this o ne-line d test would be difficult a nd th at a cras h at speed cou ld result in serio us injury. The cl ub graciously took th e rid ers' feelings into co nsi deratio n a nd threw o u t th e test. T he fin al rnoto was o n a fast, sweep ing track that was approximately one mi le in len gt h. The track was pl o wed up, so th ere was loo se soil a nd m aximum tracti on, T he fina l mot o in th e I25cc class sa w Fred H oess leave the rest of th e pack in hi s d ust. The 250cc rnot o featured a vicious battle betw een Ho ugh a nd H atch, as th e two battled head to head [or five laps with not more tha n a co uple of seco nds betw een the m the whole lime. The cro wd en joyed th e battle a nd it ca me down to the, fin al j u mp , and Hough edg ed OUI Hatch by abo u t th ree [eel. . In th e Open -Two Stroke rnoto , Husq va rna m ounted Chris Smith p ulled the holesho t had a fierce battle with Steven Smi th . Paul Kra use came fro m a bad start 10 chase the two, bu t co uldn ' t qui te get 10 them . The FourStroke class proved 10 be an exci ting class to wa tch , as Eric kso n p ulled an ea rly lead over Suzuki's Jan H rehor, H usaberg- rnou nted David R hod es and H in es. Eri ckson and H rehor pulled a way from th e pack , a nd Hrehor loo ked as if he were ri nging every o u nce of power out of his Suzuki DR 350 as he tried 10 ca tch th e bigger H usa berg 501. The finish saw Erickson in first, followed closely by Hrehor, then H ines and R hod es. During da y lWO, H awkins' bik e su ffered mech anical problem s a nd left him out of the co m pe titio n. Erickson earn ed th e o vera ll by 14 seconds over H atch. Only 9 seco nds separa ted Hatch a n d Hi n es, wh o fini sh ed third overa ll. C'f Resu l ts 0 1A: I. J immy Eri cksson (H bg) . 125: I. G uy G irou x (SUl ); 2. Alan Ra ndt (KT M); 3. Ha nk T arr (Kaw): 4. Douglas Wd Sl (Ka w ); 5. Brad low e (Ka w). 250: I. Steve Hat ch (Su e); 2. Kurt Ho ug h (Kaw); 3. Je ll Fredette (Ka w) ; 4. Drew Sm ith (Sue); 5. T odd Mathwig (Kaw). OPEN: 1. Christopher Smi th (H us); 2. Steven Sm ith (S uz); 3. Paul Krau se (Ka w); 4. Randy Hawkin s (Sue); 5. J o hn ny McCo y {Sur}, 350 4·STK: 1. Kevin Hines (Hus); 2. Jan Hreror (Sue); 3. Kerry Clark (Ho n ); 4. David Rh od a (Hbg); 5. Ronald Cadwell (S ill). 500 4·STK: I. Step hen Chapkovich (Hw). SR: I. Tom Eber so le {H us): 2. Bob Thompson (Kaw); 3. Ha rold Co mpton (Yam); 4. Fred Wicklin e (S ill); 5. Gary Doer (H us).

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