Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

to the pits, the front-runners were tackling a hastily designed detour that the organizers had laid out after they bogged down trying to ribbon the course. The wet ground had taken some adjusting to, but after the first few miles, some of the racers were using it to their advantage. '1 just waited until everyone overshot the turns," said Lewis, whose technique rocketed him up from 10th at the bomb to third overall behind Roeseler in no time flat. "Everything was really slippery and people just didn't leave enough time to slow down." The wet conditions left Hunnicutt bruised and battered. "The first part was crazy. With no dust, people were right on each other," said HuruUcutt. "1 got roosted really bad by some big rocks and it broke my visor. I've got sore spots all over me. As the trail hit the furthest point of the 25-mile loop and turned back towards the pits, a treacherous eightmile section known as Dutchman Draw began. The solid rock canyon, littered with three-to-four-foot boulders, 'challenged even the most experienced racers. Griewe described the section as "challenging, real National caliber." But Utah's Kelly Stewart, who was campaigning a Kawasaki KX500 in the Over30 Expert division disagreed. "I just hate Dutchman Draw," said Kelly. "I've been down it before - about three years ago. It's huge rocks - rocks as big as houses. It's almost impassable in places and it kind of beats up your bike. You're just banging off things all the way down it." Destry Abbott banged off one rock too many and split the cases on his KIM just three miles from the end of the loop. "I thought I had a pretty good chance not to win it, but to finish it in the top five," said Abbott, who had run as high as second during the early part of the loop. Hamel hit pay dirt soon after the canyon section began. He caught and passed the ha re, laying claim to the $1000 in gold, but bobbled just a few seconds later and found himself back in second. "Right after I passed Smith I stalled my bike and he passed me back. I think he enjoyed doing it. I was laughirlg," said Hamel. The first 25 miles took Hamel more than 50 minutes to complete. Lewis was running a minute and a half back in second overall (first 250cc Expert), just ahead of Roeseler, and Zitterkopf had leap-frogged up through the pack to claim fourth. The hare brought his Yamaha .out of the loop in fifth place and surprised the Wizards M.e. by heading out into the second loop. "Smith said if he got passed, he was going to stop at the end of the first loop," a club member explained. I guess he must be having too much fun." Hunnicutt brought his Kawasaki KX500 though the pits in sixth, ahead of fellow KX500 racer Jim Gray and Honda CRSOO-mounted Dan Richardson; Paul Pitts' Suiuki RMX250 was in ninth and Vet class racer Curtis Dice rounded out the top 10. Staten charged through in 11th, Jeff Capt brought his Kawasaki KXl25 through in 14th, and Griewe had elbowed his way through to the head of the four-stroke pack in 15th. Hamel described the first 25-mile loop as "...pretty fun because I was still sort of dry." But everyone agreed the race went downhill the moment the 50mile second loop got underway. Loop two followed loop one's course for the first 13 miles, turning off right before Dutchman Draw. The wear and tear caused by more than 200 riders made the going tough. Greg Zitterkopf was in lead contention for most of the race but ended up second. "The course was so chewed up it was unbelievable," said HameL. "The ruts were unbelievably deep and there were novices stuck all over the place. I just started going way off the course and way round them. It took me a lot of time but it was worth not getting stuck." To make things worse, the temperature dropped and the steady rain that had plagued the riders since the banner dropped turned 'to snow. Goggles fogged so badly they could no longer be worn and Hamel, like most of the racers, jettisoned his before the 10-mile mark. Despite the heavy going, the order turned over fast in the early stages of loop two. Roeseler grabbed second from Lewis heading out of the pits, and before Lewis had time to recover, Zitterkopf had stormed by to take the 250cc lead despite suffering a front flat the moment the second loop began. Hamel was still at the head of the pack when he swept through the alternate gas pit at the 22 mile mark, but the cold was starting to take its toll. "I got a new pair of goggles but those only lasted two miles. I had No Fog on them and everything," said Hamel. "It was snowing so hard and hitting my face, it hurt. I was going in third when I should've been wide open in fifth. And my hands were totally numb. I had no feeling in them whatsoever." The cold that slowed Hamel prompted Hunnicutt to ride faster and faster. "The only thing that kept me going was thinking that the faster I rode, the faster I would be back," said Hunnicutt. But the frigia conditions had the opposite effect on Suzuki siblings Corky and Chance Maughan. "We quit," said older brother Corky, who lost his brake after denting his front disk in loop one. "We were all standing around a fire at the alternate gas - about 30 of us. People were still pulling in and stopping when we left. It was the only smart thing to do. There were bikes stuck out there, standing straight up on the mountain roads, and all the roads were about six different ruts 2- or 3-feet deep." The pace got slower and slower as the loop wore on and the casualties started to mount. Roeseler fell and hurt his wrist, and also suffered a rear flat. Fourstroke leader Griewe stopped to thaw his hands at the alternate gas and had to watch three class rivals power by before he was ready to continue. Staten went down running wide open in a fast section. "I couldn't see and I caught somebody's rut. I slid about 100 feet on my head. I was so cold by then, I was hating life," said Staten. Winner Danny Hamel, the defending champ, was almost too cold to talk after the race. The trail turned to fire roads for the last 15 miles, but Hamel did not have the strength to run at top speed in the adverse conditions - until he hit the 40mile mark and looked back to see Zitterkopf only 30 feet behind him. "My heart just sank," said Hamel. "I was so cold and I had no more energy left. I just wanted to cruise in but that (seeing Zitterkopf) rejuvenated me really quick. I knew I only had 10 miles and I went for it I just toughed it out" Utah's Brandon Gerber was also toughing it out - and turning heads while he did it. "Gerber passed me out across some of the big flats. He was wide open with no goggles on. That guy gets the tough award," said Lewis, who tucked in behind Gerber and was rewarded three miles later when the hard-charging Kawasaki KX500 privateer from Utah led him past Roeseler. By the time the racers reached the finish, the charge was all but gone. Most of the finishers looked like a sack of potatoes propped up on a bike and the only sign of life was in the 125cc Expert class, where the battle between Jason Kawell and Jeff Capt went handlebar-to-handlebar all the way into the finish chute and ended up with Kawell taking the 125cc Expert win in seventh overall by no more than a whisker. Hamel completed the course in two hours and 10 minutes - one of only 89 total finishers from a field of 232. He was shaking so badly he oould not speak and couldn't move his hands to take off his wet riding gear. When his boots were finally removed, they had to be turned upside down to let the water run out. There was little sign of the jubilance that normally accompanies a National victory. "This is the worst race I've ever ridden as far as weather," said the Kawasaki/ Answer / Acerbis/Beam/ Bie He / Braking / Du nlop / Don Joy/F&L/RK/IMS/Maxima/Magnum/ N-Style/Pro-Circuit/Powerbar/Scotts Performa nce / Scott / Sp rocke t Specialists/Back Canteen/MXA-sponsored Hamel. "I didn't like the course that much, either. There were some really fun places out there, but then they would take us right back on a road. This would be a good race to practice for Baja." Zitterkopf, who took 250cc honors in second overall, just two minutes behind Hamel, said the rough terrain at the beginning of loop-two worked to his advantage. "That's where I caught up and passed everyone. It was more motocross-ish. You had to pick your lines and stuff," said the KIM/White Brothers/Dunlop/ Smith/Shoei/GP Stabilizer/ Acerbis/ Tsubaki/Renthal/IMS/ FMF /F&Lbacked racer. "I think the course would've been a lot of fun if it wasn't so muddy, and the Flub can't do anything about the weather. n Third overall was claimed by a very surprised Gerber, who had no idea he was running that high. "I noticed that there were only two tracks but it was raining so hard, 1 didn't know whether the other tracks had been washed away. When I came into the finish and asked them how I did, I couldn't believe it when they said third," said Gerber. The privateer Kawasaki KX500 racer had high praise for the course. "I probably liked it because I did well - you never really like a race until you do well, but if it wasn't for the rain, 1 think it would've been excellent," he said. "I got cold just like everybody else. I got wet and muddy and frozen, but I enjoyed the race." Jimmy Lewis arrived seven minutes behind Hamel to claim fourth overall, Ted Hunnicutt hugged his exhaust to keep warm on his way to a fifth-place finish. and Colorado's Jim Gray toughed it out all the way to sixth. The hardcharging 125cc duo of Kawell and Capt dashed home to claim seventh and eighth, respectively, ahead of Curtis Dice, who topped the Over 30 Experts. Don Griewe, on an Arai/Dunlop/Roost America/Smith Goggles/Tsubaki/ 5101/ Acerbis-sponsored A TK, repassed the three rivals that had passed him at the alternate gas and took the fourstroke win in 19th overall. Malcolm Smith completed the course a respectable 10th overall, give or take his six minute "hare allowance," and said he enjoyed his first desert race since 1971 all the way through. Neat, Malcolm. (l' Results OIk 1. Danny Hamel (Kaw); 2. Grog Z;tterkopl (KTM); 3. Brondon Gorl>or (!Cow); 4.IUnmy l.owis (!Cow); 5. Ted Hunnicutt (!Caw); 6. ';m Guy (Kaw); 7. loson !or (!Cow); 3. Ted Hunnicutt (!Cow). . 250 EX: 1. Grog Z;_kopl (ICTM); 2. IUnmY l.owis (!Cow); 3. Allan Donaldson (!Cow~ 125 EX: I. Jason !

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