Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eOFF·ROAD e AMA National Championship Hare &Hound Series: Round 2 The combination of rain, near freezing temperatures and snow had many of the competitors longing for the finish. More than 230 riders started the race. Hamel turns up the heat in Utah By Anne Van Beveren Photos by Tom Van Beveren sr. GFDRGE, UT, FEB. 28 ake the bike-swallowing mud of the Blackwater 100, add 4O-degree temperatures, continual rain, and snow in the higher elevations, and you have one of the most challenging courses ever faced by National Hare & Hound racers. Throw in a rain-soaked access road that retired all but the hardiest fourwheel drive vehicles five miles from the starting line, and an almost 'two-hour delay in the banner drop, and you have what was perhaps the most miserable events the racers ever hope to see. But despite the conditions, round two of the seven-round series-was business as usual for Kawasaki's Danny Hamel. The two-time National Hare & Hound champ was out in front the moment the race began and despite being slowed by fogged goggles, stinging rain and nearly numb hands, he kept his Kawasaki KX500 in front all the way to the finish. "The conditions were so adverse - it was incredible out there," said Hamel, who was so cold when he finished the two-hour, 10 minute tide that he was unable to speak and had to be helped out of his soaked tiding gear. "It was pouring rain in some places, snowing in others. I've never been so cold in my whole life." The second round of this year's competition was presented by the Wizards M.e. of St. George, Utah, newcomers to the National series. The club scheduled the event to coincide with the 10th anniversary running of its Rhino Rally T 48 Hare & Hound, and turned the event into an old-timers day by inviting Malcolm Smith, who rode as the hare, and ex-BSA factory pilot Ken Guio, who competed in the first running of the event back in 1973 and was inducted into the Rhino Hall of Fame at this year's event. Smith said he didn't qualify for a hallof-fame honor in Utah; "I've never actually ridden a race in Utah - ever. And that's strange because all my relatives are from Provo (Utah)." When the day was over, Smith had still not ridden a race in Utah. The route to the starting line took the racers half an hour southeast of St. George, and by the time they reached pit row, they had crossed the state border and were, in fact, racing in Arizona. Most of the 230 riders had other things on their mind as they headed for the start of the two-loop Rhino course. The road into the starting area had fallen victim to heavy rain the week before the event and the red, sandy soil had turned to the consistency of chunky peanut butter. Slippery, knee-deep ruts coupled with even deeper waterholes forced the closure of the road to all but four-wheel drive vehicles and left box vans and valuable pit equipment stranded five miles from the pits. The condition of the road forced organizers to delay the start for an indefinite period and racers like Hamel, who had hit the bomb early to stake a claim to the best trail, began to get disgruntled as time wore on. The layout of the bomb run also caused some concern. '1t's the stupidest bomb run I've ever ridden in my life," said Hamel, after more than two hours of waiting. "It's the most dangerous one I've ever seen. There's a lot of lava rocks hidden behind every bush, and there's only one trailand it's still dangerous on that." Kawasaki KX250 pilot Jimmy Lewis, who had lined up beside Hamel for the start, agreed. "It's so technical, it's beyond dangerous," said Lewis. "There are about five drop-offs. You have to stop and roll off them. If you were going 10 miles per hour you could cartwheel and die." The racers heaved a sigh of relief when the riders' meeting was finally called at 12.30 p.m. - an hour and a half after the scheduled start, but it was closer to one p.rn. before Malcolm Smith set off from the start with a six-minute lead and $1000 worth of gold coins in his fannypack. "Whoever catches me gets the money," said Smith. "They might've to arm wrestle me for it. Or I might just change the arrows and head to Vegas," he joked. Hamel got the holeshot when the banner dropped for the first time and headed the Expert racers as they passed the old-style bomb, which was billowing black smoke, and set out in hot pursuit of the $1000 purse. Ty Davis' Kawasaki KX500 was right on Hamel's rear fender as he picked up the first of the ribbons. Vet contender Rex Staten was pushing his Open class Kawasaki hard in third and Team Green's Ted Hunnicutt was not far behind. Roeseler bumped handlebars with Zitterkopf and was off stride when the rush began, but the wily desert ace carved a trail off to the far right and tucked into fourth as he turned the corner after the bomb and jumped into the first sandwash. Zitterkopf did not come back quite as fast. "1 did okay on the bomb and I was doing really well in the wash, then somebody on a KX500 wheelied by me. I was right behind him when he cartwheeled over a drop-off. I rammed right into him and got stuck on his bike," said Zitterkopf. "I'm surprised I wa~ able to catch up after that." Don Griewe, who recently signed to ride factory ATKs for the company's new Utah-based owners, was bringing up the rear. "I got a six-kick start and was dead last off the line," said Griewe, who campaigned an ATK 605 in hopes of retaining the Four-Stroke class title he won last year. The temperature hovered around 44 degrees and rain was falling gently from a battleship-gray sky as the 25-mile first loop unfolded. Hamel made good time on the winding fire road that headed out to the base of Seegmiller Mountain, but Davis' reign in second was cut short by a broken fIy-wheel key near the five-mile mark. Davis repaired his bike back into working order using pieces cannibalized from a spare sparkplug and was about to head back to the pits when Terry Fowler came running towards him. "His motor had blown up," said Davis. "We didn't have a tow rope so I pushed him with my leg as far as I could, then luckily, right when I was going to give up, we found somebody who gave us a rope." While the ill-fated pair struggled back

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