Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eOFF·ROAD AMA National Championship Reliability Enduro Series: Round 5 ~ The wet conditions tested the competitors' riding, as well as, maintenance skills. Rodney Smith scored his third win of the series at the Mount Baker 3-Day Qualifier. By Mike Thuleen BELLINGHAM, WA,]UNE 14-16 or the second week in a row, Team Suzuki's Rodney Smith scored the overall and 250cc class wins in an AMA National Reliability Enduro, this time at the Mount Baker Three-Day ISDE Qualfier in northern Washington. The FMF/Race Tech/RI< Chain/Unit Pro-Taper /Bel-Ray /Braking/Powerbar /Slaven's Racing Motors/DeVol/ 100%/Acerbis/Dunlop/ Asics/Dublin Kawasaki-Suzuki/Smith Gogglesbacked Smith headed the leaderboard at the end of each day and - taking "throw- . away" rounds into account - has all but clinched the series title going into the final round of the series in McMinnville, Oregon, June 26-27. Like the prior event in Idaho, Suzuki riders dominated the top three positions in Washington. Steve Hatch was second overall and the runner-up in the 250cc class, while David Rhodes, who traded his DR350 four-stroke in for a RMX250 two-stroke, rounded out the top three overall and in the 250cc class. Many local riders fared well, as David Lykke, Scott McLaughlin and Gary Furrenes finished up in the next three positions. Lykke nailed the 125cc class win, while Steve Silvestri rebounded from a tough first day to win the Open class. Dan Harte took advantage of Rhode's class switch to win the 350cc Four-Stroke division over Chad Carlisle, and Tommy Ady, riding the new Kawasaki KLX650, scored the Open Four-Stroke class win. Attrition took its F 26 toll in the Senior class - Mark Ruple was the only rider in the class to finish all three days, thus scoring the class win. This year's event featured many of the same trails used last year, and included some all-new trails. Since water levels in the area are very high, the host club, the Mount Baker M.e., could only utilize limited areas close to the Nooksack River. The first day's course led the riders about 20 miles out on a paved road to a 9.9-mile off-road section that the riders completed three torturous times, twice timed as terrain tests. A third but shorter test was utilized on the way back to the impound area, the Parc Ferme. The course on days two and three wound up and around the rain-soaked mountains, and obstacles included log piles and bottomless mudholes. Smith grabbed the early lead. "I won all three tests on the first day, so I can't complain too bad," said Smith. "In the last test I crashed between two trees and Hatch and Rhodes did the same thing. I came flying down a road between two . trees and couldn't stop. My bike went one way and I went the other. Steve· Hatch also crashed here and he said he got knocked a little silly." Hatch finished 57 seconds/points behind Smith at the end of the first day, with Rhodes 37 points behind Hatch. The only time during the event in which Smith's victory came into doubt was at the beginning of the second day. "When I got to this big log in the first terrain test there was no one there, so I didn't get any warning that it was coming up," said Smith. "Rhodes heard me revving my bike over the log as he came around the turn, so he got the momentum he needed to clear it. And, in the second terrain test, I got stuck in a big mudhole - just buried the whole bike. Hatch actually got off his bike and helped get my front end out - right in the middle of a special test! That was really nice of him." Since many riders got stuck in the same mudhole, the test was eventually thrown out. From that point on, Smith rode flawlessly and never looked back en route to the overall win. Jon King, another Team Suzuki rider, dropped out during the second day. "It's pretty ugly out there; I forgot how many tree roots there are here," said King. "In the first special test I hit a root at the end of the only long straightaway we had all day. It sent me into a tree and I went over the bars and hit another tree and my bike just did cartwheels. I bruised up my whole right side, so my bike's now in the impound." Brian Storrie also bailed out. "I twisted my back in that test pretty good, so I'm wearing a couple braces to support it. It feels pretty good today, much better than yesterday - I was just in survival mode after the crash." Conservative riding was the theme for many riders, including 12Sec class leader David Lykke. "I rode pretty smooth and consistent," said Lykke. "Rather than blaze, I figured I'd be better off to just cruise and not crash, though I crashed pretty hard in the second one anyway. But, I got up and rode pretty good in the rest:' Gary Furrenes held second in the 125cc class at the end of the first day, 61 seconds behind Lykke. In third place was Randy DuBois, who held just three seconds over Patrick Garrahan, but tenacious riding and Garrahan's inexperience with tight woods and deep mud kept DuBois ahead. When the sun had finall}! shown on the last day, DuBois said, "Today was the most fun, the other days were pretty grueling. The club spent a lot of time and effort to make today's trail. It was quite a work of art. I separated my ribs in Idaho so I just rode to finish. I'm not going to ride until Trask. I'm just going to take it easy and see if I can heal up a bit." The second loop on the third day featured a steep downhill. Tommy Ady described his experience on the descent, "I started going down the hill and I smashed my rear brake pedal, so I had no rear brake the entire way down that hill on my Kawasaki 650," said Ady. "I crashed three times end over end. Then I rode the rest of the way down the hill with the engine off. I got to the check and everybody was sitting there waiting to see what I thought - I didn't like it!" Ady went on to win the Open FourStroke class over Curt Wilcox, whose Honda was smoking badly on the third day. Back at the pits after the tough third loop, the riders learned that the club had canceled the fourth loop because of course deterioration on the downhill section. Texan Josh Whitaker explained why the club decided to cancel the fourth loop. "You rode along in really deep ruts with the pegs dragging and you could only dab on the right," said Whitaker. "The hill was long, with big off-eamber turns, and trees laying down across -the trail. You'd have to wheelie over the trees and just try to make it back into the rut. I sawall sorts of pe0ple scattered down off the trail. The B riders are still there so we don't get to go back - thank God for B riders!" Dan Harte maintained his strong pace throughout the event, winning the 350cc Four-Stroke class over Chad Carlisle and John Moody. Tom Ebersole was the Senior class leader after the first day, but had problems throughout the rest of the event, while Ruple rode well throughout "I blew up my bike the first day and put a new top end on it afterwards," said Ebersole. "I started out the second day and got lost. Then I got stuck in a mudhole in a special test, but I'm happy. If you can ride here, you can ride anywhere!" Ot Results O/A: 1. Rodney Smith; 2. Steve Hatch; 3. David Rhodes; 4. David Lykke; 5. Scott Mclaughlin; 6. Gary Furrenes; 7. Josh Whitaker; 8. Dan Harte; 9. Randy DuBois; 10. Rob Riley. OPEN: 1. Steve Silvestri; 2. Josh Chandler; 3. Bob 8echtel; 4. Robert Johnson; 5. Ken Leard. 250: 1. Rodney Smith; 2. Steve Hatch; 3. David Rhodes;4. Scott Mclaughlin; 5. Jooh Whitaker. 125: 1. David Lykke; 2. Gary Furrenes; 3. Randy Du~is; 4. Rob Riley; 5. Patrick Garrahan. 350 4-STRJ(, 1. Dan Harte; 2. Chad Carlisle; 3. John Moody; 4. Dale Walsh. OPEN 4-STllK: 1. Tom Ady; 2. Curt Wilcox. SR: 1. Mark Ruple. AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RELIABILITY ENDURO SERIES POINT STANDINGS (After 5 of 6 rounds): 1. Rodney Smith (108/3 wins); 2. Steve Hatch (103); 3. David Rhodes (70); 4. Fred Hoess (58/1); 5. Jan Hrehor (56/1); 6. Randy Hawkin. (40); 7. Patriclc Ganahan (35); 8. (TIE) Steve Silvestri/Doug Dealon (31); 10. Jeff Fredette (29); 11. (TIE) Kevin Bennett/Jason Dahner5 (27); 13. Scott Mclaughlin (26); 14. (TIE) Kmn Hines/Ty Davis/Tony Cunningham/David Lykke (25); 18. Josh Whitaker (23); 19. Jonathan IGng (22); 20. (TIE) Josh Chandler/Larry RoeseIer/Dan Harte (21).

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