Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

haU a minute apart at the head of the Over-38 Pro class as they entered pit row, and Scott Glimp was battling Thane Stanworth for the Sportsmen lead, just six minutes off Hamel's pace, 16th overall on adjusted time. A promising run by Jim Gray bit the dust just two miles into the second loop when the Colorado enduro expert crashed doing close to 60 miles per hour. "I hit a road that had been plowed and it threw me on the ground. Then 1 did about 50 flips, it seemed like," said Gray. "I was pretty much done for the rest of the race." A promising run by Mark Lundgreen tapered off when his KX500's clutch started going out in loop two, and Glimp's Husky began losing power when his header pipe came loose. By midway through the second loop, the course was getting mixed reviews. Hamel said, "It was the best Gold Strike I've ever ridden; the whole course was excellent." Ondas said the first loop was too fast, but gave an "awesome" rating to loops two and three, and Destry Abbott disagreed with both o'f them, saying the course was "...almost all fast." "It was just way too fast, 1 thought it was definitely a big bike course," said Abbott. "My (KTM) 300 just didn't manage to keep up." Hamel's lead went unchallenged throughout the 29-mile second loop. Ondas was still in second but, with the leader out of sight, he was setting his own pace and concentrating on staying out of trouble. The neck 'n' neck battle for the Over-3D Pro win kept Harden in third and put Staten through into fourth overall as he tried to run down the class leader. Morris got into stride and charged up from the rear of the Open class pack, and Sanford began flexing his muscles in the 250cc Pro class. With a 4O-mile third loop ahead and a badly worn sprocket, Hamel opted to change his rear wheel in the second pit. The race-long leader was one minute and 45 seconds ahead of Ondas when he left the pit, but a misunderstanding had him cranking as though his life depend-' ed on it. "Casey (Folks) told me 1 had 45 seconds. 1 didn't know what my lead was, so 1 thought M1at must be right and I rode really hard all through the third loop," said Hamel. Ondas had another minute and a half over Harden, who was third on adjusted time. Staten was a minute behind Harden in fourth, Open Pros Hoy and Morris were only four seconds apart for fifth, and Abbott, Daryl Folks, and Mark Lundgreen rounded ou t the top nine. The end of loop two saw Darren Sanford grab the time-adjusted lead in the 250cc Pro di vision to go with the physical lead he had held since the race began. Donatoni was haU a minute back in second, and Campbell and McQuiston were still in the hunt less than a minute behind him. The race-long battle between S"lXbery and Steve Pitts changed from a fight for first in the Over-38 Pros to a fight for second wli.en Maxim dodged by just before pit two. "He snuck past - we never saw him, so we thought we were still leading," said Sixbery. But Maxim knew exactly where his rivals were. "I was in the second gas when Sixbery came in," Maxim said. "1 turned around and went, 'Woah, wait a minute. This is my desert.' So I just got on the gas." Glimp reached pit two at the front of the Sportsmen pack, but repairs to his header pipe put Kurt Hintz in the number one spot as he headed into loop three just five seconds behind Maxim on adjusted time. Stanworth was trailing the Sportsmen leader by half a minute when he powered into loop three, and Tichenor's RMX250 was still going strong when it began its third and final loop. The last 40 miles of the course was unanimously voted the toughest and most technical terrain of the day. Parts of the last loop caugh.t even Hamel's attention. "It was definitely the best loop. Casey's 'Trail to Hell' was really something. It had a really gnarly downhill into a sandwash with a couple of inches of water running in it," said Hamel. The terrain was not all the racers had to contend with. Destry Abbott lost his rear brake 20 miles from the finish. Morri crashed on an uphill and had trouble starting his bike. Mark Lundgreen fried his already faded clutch and a recently broken foot had Staten backing off in the tight stuff. Kurt Hintz went down in a rocky section, twisted his bars and damaged his clutch lever, and Harden had some worrying moments as he neared the end of the 40mHe section. "[ rode really conservatively in the last loop. The bike was running rich and 1was scared of running out of gas," said Harden, whose KTM300 ran dry just before the finish of the Mesquite Gran Prix. "I had to switch onto reserve with about one and a haU miles to go." Even Hamel was not safe. His KXSOO began fouling a plug 10 miles from the finish. "The bike started missing. It wouldn't pull four or fifth gear. It would only pull third," said Hamel. But the KXSOO was still in front when the checkered £lag fell. After two hours and 39 minutes of racing, Hamel took the win with four minutes to spare and captured the $333 Open Pro purse. "Everything went perfectly. I got the holeshot and led aU the way," said the Kawasaki/ Answer/ Acerbis/Beam/ Bieffe/ Braking/ Dunlop/ Don Joy/F&L/RK/IMS/Maxima/Magnum/ N-style/Pro-Circuit/Powerbar/Scott's/ Scott/Sprocket Specialists/ Back Canteen/MXA-backed Hamel. "It was definitely one of the best races I've ever ridden. The course was so well laid out." Ondas reported an uneventful ride on his way to second overall. "I started out pretty much in second and 1 stayed there the whole time," said the Kawasaki/O'Neal/Pro-Circuit/ Power bar /Shoei/ Maxima / Dunlop / White Brother /Sprocket Specialists/ Tsubaki-backed Kawasaki KXSOO racer. "I didn't really see anyone all day. I just rode my own race." Ondas said he enjoyed the change of pace from the Southern California desert. "In California you have a big trail to follow. Nevada is all pretty much virgin. You have to read the trails more," said Ondas. Three Open Pros followed Ondas across the finish line, but when elapsed times were tallied, it was Scot Harden, who brought his Over-30 Pro entry home in seventh, who grabbed the third-place honors. "The last loop was probably the best - it was really well marked, and the dust factor made it nea t," said KTM/ Thor/Duralube/SIDI/ Acerbis/Sunoco/ Temp Guard/FMF-backed Harden. "The gas thing almost got me - I finished on reserve, but I made it. That's all that counts." A fast second lap and an equally fast third put the Kawasaki/Duralube/ Kawasaki of Riverside/Answer / Sprocket Specialists/Bell/Michelini Scott/LR Enterprises/Tsubaki/FMF -sponsored Scott Morris in the number four spot and gave him third Open Pro. "1 didn't like the first loop at all - it Todd Hoy (X08), who finished fourth in the Open Pro class, leads Paul Pitts. Team KIM's Scot Harden won the Over 30 Vet Pro class in third overall. was a lot of old buggy course, and I didn't think I rode that well in the third loop - when the course went left, I went right. But I finished okay," said Morris. Todd Hoy took fifth, 15 seconds behind Morris on adjusted time and only six seconds ahead of Destry Abbott. Rex Staten claimed second Over-3D Pro in seventh overall, Daryl Folks was eighth despite the handicap of a borrowed KTM 500. "That giant beast beat me and pulverized me to death, because it wasn't set up for me." Darren Sanford topped the 250cc Pros by one minute in ninth. "I felt good and 1 rode really strong from start to finish," said the America Suzuki/ Xtreme-backed Sanford. "The guys at Race Tech, FMF, Moose and Mikuni gave me some new products to test and they worked great. The bike was like a Cadillac, it was so smooth out there." Dave Donatoni finished 11 th overall, a minute ahead of George McQuiston to take second in the 250cc Pro class. "The terrain was good for me. It was single track almost the whole way, really choppy and very demanding. There was rea lly nowhere you could rest," said Donatoni. "You had to always be watching or something would reach out and grab you. I had several close calls." Kurt Hintz topped the Sportsmen in 17th overall in his first crack at the Gold Strike Hare & Hound. "There's a lot more loose rocks, but it's not that tough. I'm an enduro rider anyway," said the Southern Californian, who piloted a Race Tech/Malcolm Smith Racing/Maier-backed Kawasaki KXSOO.. Hintz carne out haU a minute ahead of MaXim, who topped the Over-38 Pros in 19th overall. Sixbery took second, four minutes behind Maxim, and Steve Pitts was another four minutes back in third. "Sixbery and I went back and forth almost the whole way," said Pitts. "He walked away from me in the fast stuff, but I'd catch him in the rocky stuff. We had a good race." Steve Tichenor finished his solo ride in the 125c Pro division in 41st overall. ~ eN Results 0/ A: 1. Danny Hamel (Kaw); 2. David Ondas (Kaw); 3. Scot Harden (J

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