Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eEVENTS e Chuck Miller (857) led Johnny Campbell in the Unclassified race at the Hilltoppers GP. David Pingree (32) reeled in and passed Allen Crick (123) in Texas Stadium. AMA District 37 Best of the West Series: Round 5 Zitterkopf, Young thump competition at Hilltoppers GP By ELanor Harney By Heather McNabb CARLSBAD, CA., APR. 4 erfect California weather greeted the nearly 350 riders who turned out for the Hilltoppe.rs' annual event at Carlsbad Raceway. The threat of rain earlier in the week was only that, and dry conditions made a slick and dusty track. Four-strokes seemed to be the preferred mount of the day, as both Unclassified division win- P 24 ner Greg Zitterkopf and Expert class winner Mike Young were mounted on big thumpers. The first race of the day launched off the Carlsbad dragstrip with the Open class leaving first. Zitterkopf suffered a little on the wide-open pavement section, but wasted little lime in putling his KTM out in front. Kawasaki's Paul Krause and Honda riders Johnny Campbell and Dave Donatoni were all left to scrap over second. Last off the line was Cycle World magazine's Jimmy Lewis, riding a KTM 400 four-stroke. As the pack roosted around the fresh grass of the GP course, slippery conditions allowed Lewis to stuff his way into second. Near the halfway point of the first lap, Lewis caught a surprised Zitterkopf. Lewis attempted to pass Zitterkopf, but the smaller bike was no match. As the duo hit the motocross section, Lewis swapped and took an off-' the-track excursion, costing him valuable lime. Pushing up through the pack was Craig Adams, who hooked up with Campbell and moved up on Donatoni. Donatoni fell to the charge, and soon retired with a flat front tire. Campbell made short work of Lewis, out-powering him on the back pavement se.clion, and Adams did the same on the drag strip. The duo pulled away, but were too late to catch Zitterkopf. The positions remained nearly unchanged for the last two laps, with the exception of Kevin Geyer, who made a respectable charge through the pack to finish second overall. The Senior, Magnum and Super Senior classes combined to do battle in the second race, and Danny Sanchez put his Honda out to a short-lived le.ad. Mike Keen motored his father's CRSOO around Sanchez and started to pull away. On the back section of the track, Keen lost traction in a turn and slid out. Sanchez took back the lead as Keen remounted in fifth. Keen pushed to slowly catch Sanchez through the hourand-a-half race, and lapped traffic on only the second lap made things that much tougher. The two were within.seconds as the white flag flew, and Keen gassed it up enough to make his move for the lead. Able to hold on this time, Keen took the checkered flag, with Sanchez right behind. T.V. Holmes kept plugging along to take the third spot on his Husky 360. Racing with the Senior class, the Women's division was a wire-to-wire win for Susan McWilliams. She took off ·as soon as they hit the dirt and never looked back, taking more of a chaJlenge from the men. Vicki HowelI was in second for most of the race, close enough to keep McWilliams honest. Kelly Bergen ran a strong third, with Stephanie Letzkus right behind. Donatoni was back out with a fresh front lire for the Vet race, and quickly put himself out in front of Adams and Pete Murray. The trio took off from the pack, leaving pre-race favorite Rex Staten w;th a seized bike at the end of the drag strip. Murray made the necessary moves to grab th lead, only to stall and get passed. The La Habra SuzukiHusqvarna-backed Murray worked back through the dust to secure the lead position for good. Donatoni held on for second and Adams took third. Scott Stearns rode a smooth race to take the early lead from Brian SchmuckJe for the 250cc Vet class win. John Braasch held on to take third in the class after a race-long battle with Grant Palenske. The final race of the day was the Expert event, and the course was getting slicker and more dusty. Danny Hamel jumped out to an early lead, with Young slicing through the dust to make a dash for the lead. Terry Fowler started welI and instantly put pressure on Hamel. Young found a hot line and swooped into the lead. He slowly started putting lime on Hamel and Fowler, until he had built a 20-second advantage. Fowler finally got by Hamel on the uphill jump, only to stop for a pit stop a couple of laps later. Hamel was close enough to make it back into second, forcing Fowler to work for the position. Fowler again jumped past Hamel to secure second, with no hope of catching Young. Hamel held on to third. As in the Unclassified race, Geyer moved up in a spirited ride to fourth overall, corning from the second wave. Early 12Sec class leader Jason Kawell had a heart-breaking ride when a flat rear lire eliminated a 4D-second class lead and put him back to third in class. This allowed Steve Hengeveld- to take the win and put Jeff Capt in second. c:N Results BEG 80: 1. Mike McDougal (Hon); 2. Lance Stiffler (Kaw); 3. Tim Merritt (!haw (Hon); 3. Sue Shepherd (Kaw). tNT 175, I. Quint Betts (Kaw); 2. David Wentz (Yam); 3. Drustin Bailey (Kaw); 4. Tommy Roberts (Yam); 5. John Minnock (Hon). tNT 250: 1. Duane Potts (Kaw); 2. Mat Bateman (Yam); 3. Dol Truby Jr. (Yam); 4. Mark Eckmann (Yam); 5. Eric Hanks (yam). INT VET 250, I. Doug Varnell (Vam); 2. Dave Wentz (Yam); 3. Larry Atnip (!

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