Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

GOFF·ROAD Hare &Hound Series: Round 3 e Danny Hamel continued his win streak, scoring his third overall victory of the season. Hamel snares Rabbit Creek win By Mike Thuleen MURPHY, 10, MAR 21 he question wasn't so much as to who would win the Dirt M.C.'s Rabbit Creek National Hare & Hound, but who would come in second. It was no surprise when defending National Champion Danny Hamel took the checkered flag - just look at his recent racing record. The Team Green rider has won nearly every National round over the past two years. Hamel's win added to his thus-far perfect tally in the eight-race series. .Hamel led from start to finish, but second place was certainly not decided at the start. Hamel's teammate Larry Roeseler "settled" for runner-up honors, despite getting off to a mediocre start. Completing Kawasaki's 1-2-3 sweep was Utah's Brandon Gerber. Rain prior to race day made conditions nearly perfect. When the banner dropped signalling the start of the twoloop race, Hamel powered his T 20 Kawasaki KX500 to the front of the pack. Ty Davis and Rex Staten, competing in the Vet class, held on to the second and third positions, ahead of David Ondas, Greg Zitterkopf, Brandon Gerber, Ted Hunnicutt, Tom Ady, Mark Lundgreen and Dan Richardson. O¢er riders in close pursuit were Paul Pitts, who eventually hit a rock and dropped back, Aaron Huntington, 125cc racer Jeff Capt and local favorites Todd Peugh, Ron Wehr and Curtis Dice. The riders jumped off the fast section into a tight wash and began stacking up while the top-positioned riders started their big getaway. In the wash, Jeff Capt moved up on his 125, putting the pass on Huntington, while Dice nabbed a few positions. Roeseler and Vet rider Joe McCormick were catching some passes on their way towards the front. At the first gas, Hamel held over a minute lead on Davis and Staten. Ondas, Hunnicutt and Roeseler followed, with Zitterkopf, Gerber, Jim Gray and Richardson battling behind them. Shortly after the gas, Staten bailed. "Everything was going good, but my bike started to seize. While 1 reached down to use the choke, 1 hit a rock and went down and got back up in fifth." After Staten crashed, Hunnicutt dropped out. "A radiator hose clamp broke and the hose came off. My bike got hot, was pinging, and losing power, so 1 pulled off. 1 fixed it, but by that time the second wave was going by," said Hunnicutt. But now chaos engulfed the event, as Davis explained: "I was in second and 1 came into a check. The course dropped off into a big 'U'. 1 thought 1 saw Hamel up on the ridge and saw his dust, so 1 took off up the trail. But sure enough, it was the wrong way and 1 had to come all the way back." The course then zipped up into a series of washes' leading into the mountains. "I was going up the wash," related Mark Lundgren. "Then the next thing 1 knew, there were no markers. There were about 30 of us just hunting around for the course. It got kind of hairy - there were people riding backwards on the course - it was really confusing. Finally, 1 got back on the course, but it was really dangerous in spots, which made it tough to pass slower riders." Many of the top riders got lost at this point, prompting a post-race protest by Greg Zitterkopf. The protest was filed because Zilterkopf belieued some of the riders missed a check. After an extensive discussion, the organizers decided to allow the results to stond, but forwarded details ofthe situation to the AMA for further, if necessary, consideration. On Friday, March 26, the AMA announced that several riders had been disqualified. While Thuleen's report, which was filed earlier in the week, does not reflect it, the following riders were disqualified for missing a check that 75% or more of the entrants did not miss: Brandon Gerber, Curtis Dice, Todd Peugh, Aaron Huntington and Rex Staten . .. Editor. Hamel then cruised into the pits with a several-minute lead on Roeseler, who hadn't gotten lost. "I didn't get a good start, so 1 just hammered my way through traffic. 1 finally got into second about three-quarters of the way around the first loop," explained Roeseler. Right on Roeseler's heels off the twisty, whooped trail was Gerber. "1 figured Larry knew how to ride this stuff, so 1 made sure to get right behind him and do what he did," related Gerber. Dice was held fourth overall, with Staten and Peugh right behind him. Richardson showed up in seventh, followed by Huntington, Wehr, and McCormick. Davis, who once held second, came through in the 205. Out on the second loop, Hamel retained his lead and enjoyed the mountain trails of the course. Roeseler, several minutes back, held off Gerber. "1 finally got into second," said Roeseler, "And at that point Danny was pretty far gone, so 1 just hung onto second and rode my race." Richardson kept up his strong pace and picked off some riders. "It was rough out there," exclaimed Dice. "Richardson caught up to me going down through the fast cowtrail stuff, and 1 let him by, then 1 started racing with him. 1 was doing well until he wore me out and 1 started making mistakes...then away he went." Dice also had a good race with Peugh, but managed to hold him off. Staten dropped back, victim.of a flat tire. "1 got a rear flat two miles out in a sandwash and 1 rode the rest of the race with it. Six guys got by me then and 1 was hating life. 1 couldn't ride those ridges very fast with it." Wehr, who is getting married next week, dropped back as well. "1 got tired! 1 got passed by three or four guys in the last 10 miles." In some of the washes, people began to get stacked up. Ady explained, "I got stuck in a bottleneck with about eight people going up one of the creeks when . one guy couldn't get up the hill." Hamel nose-wheelied into the finish chute, scoring yet another overall victory. "I couldn't ask for a more perfect race," Hamel said. "Everything went picture perfect. 1 wanted to get a really big lead at the start and sit on it from there and not take any chances. And that's what happened." Roesi!ler finished second, with Gerber third, about a half-minute back. Richardson came in next, with Dice, who won the Vet class, and Peugh, the 250cc class winner, showing up shortly afterward. "I caught up to Dice, but he looked back and gassed it. Then 1 had to stop for gas and he got away. Then Richardson and 1 battled. He's got a wide-ratio gearbox in his CR500R Honda - scary. 1 was getting pretty pooped, then he was gone." Huntington finished next to gamer the runner-up position in the 250cc class. Zitterkopf grabbed eighth overall, third in the 250cc class, with Ondas and Staten rounding out the top 10. Early leader Davis finished 15th. "I just kept passing and passing people, but 1 ran out of time." With a 16th overall placing, Capt won the 125cc class over Ed Price and Rob Flagler. In 20th overall, Dan Harte won the Four-stroke A class on a Husqvarna over Michael Protzman and Tim Mount. Charlie Spellman took the Over 40 class win with his 30th overall finish, while class runner-up Tom Holmes came in four places back in the overall tally. Preston Gerber, Brandon's father, rode yet another good race and grabbed the Over 50 class victory over Carl Weskamp. c:N Results O/A: 1. Danny Hamel (Kaw); 2. Larry Roeseler (Kaw); 3. Dan Richardson (Hon); 4. Greg Zilterkopf (KTM); 5. David Onda. (Kaw); 6. joe Kopp (Kaw); 7. james Gray (!

• Cover