Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Rid ers lau nch off the line and into the woods at the start of one of the final MX tests at the end of day two, Mark Ruple (122) and Young Namkoong (413) diced in the Open class' final moto. probl em w it h the test, said, "Hey, if you're not sure, or you're in doubt, just keep riding hard." The first da y ended with the results figuring in just one special test, and only a few riders dropped any route points. David Lykke held control of the 125cc class b y seve n po in ts ov er Pa trick Garrahan at the end of the first d a y; Smith le d Ham el b y 19 points in the 250cc class; Robert Johnson headed Josh Chandler by 20 points in the 500cc class; Harte was on top of Carlisle by one point in the 350cc Four-Stroke d ivision, and Roeseler was in front of Tommy Ady in the Open Four-Strok e class. Two route tests wer e used prior to the fina1 MX special test on the second da y. After com pleting the two tests , Rodney Smith con tinued to lead the wav, but Davis had raced ahead of Hamel for second overall by five seconds. While the two teammates relaxed in the pits waiting for the final MX test, Davis said, "I've never ridden out here and it's a lot slicker than I thought it would be. You've got to be on your toes." Hamel said, "Yesterday went really good, I was second behind Rodney, and for this being my 'first woods ride all _ year, I'm pretty happy with that. I rode with Steve Hatch and we had a lot of fun riding together. These enduros are just really fun to do ." Rodney Smith continued to click off . quick special test times, although Davis matched one of Smith's time in the first special test. In the second test, Smith gained eight seconds on Davis. RoeseIer, who has won this event many times, was 17 and 24 seconds slower than Smith in the two tests. It rained jus t before the final MX test, so the grass track was very slick for the firs t g ro u p of rid er s. Randy Dubois pulled the holeshot in th e 125cc class. Several tums later, though, Jason Edi e stormed by, but he then blew a tum and Dubois passed him back. Bill Rush then forced his w ay into the lea d but that didn't last for long as he hit a root and tipped over. Then Oveland jetted into the lead and went on to w in th e mo to by over 20 seconds and wrap up th e class win. Rush ended up second in the moto, with Jeff Odom and Dubois following in order. Rob Riley fini she d fou rt h w ith Lykke settling for fifth. Perhaps the most dram atic story of th e weeken d involved Garrahan, who .was in contention for the 12Scc class win. After clicking off .the fastest times in the class in th e second da y's two special tests, Garrahan's motorcycle seized a few miles short of the impo und area after the trail loop. He struggled into the pits and franticall y tried to repa ir the bike during the work period before the MX test. But when Garrahan removed the spark plug, he discovered that the electrode was covered with shards of m etal from the engine's internals. He eventually pushed the bike to the start line of the MX test hoping it would start - it didn't. As a result, he dropped from first to 10th in the 125cc class, salvaging his pride with a silver medal. Smith took the earl y lead in the first 250cc moto and led all the way to the finish, post ing the fast est time of the da y and easily wrapping up the overa ll victory. Rhod es finished second in the moto 35 seconds off Smith 's pace. McLaughlin dominated the second 250cc rnoto, posting a final time only 15 seconds off Smith's time to finish the event in eighth overall. Chris Smith launched his Suzuki into the lead shortly after the start of the th ird 250cc moto . " I was really surprised," said Smith. "I got a really good second-place start behind Danny Hamel. I mu st've psyched him out because he kn ew I was behind him and he overshot a tum and I dove underneath him and I led for a while. It was a choppy track and my shoulder is still hea ling from an earlier injury, so after a while it was hard to hold the throttle wi de open. I overshot a turn and Ty go t by me. I was ver y h appy with m y p erformance a n d it made the whole weekend worth it." Davis even tua lly slipped by Hamel and went on to win the moto and finish the event in second overall Third in the moto wen t to Chris Smith and fourth to Hatch. Ha tch recapped his weekend. '1 did a big flip in the first special test and lost about 20 seconds: said Hatch. 'That was too much time to make up today: Team Kawasaki's Paul Krause won the Open class moto, but not without some serious pressure from Scott Donough. Seconds later Robert Johnson crossed the line after a tough race with Aaron Croney. "I got a bad start," said Johnson. "It took six kicks to start my bike, but I worked up to here from dead last." The final two motos combined both fou r-stroke classes, the Seniors and the rem ai ni n g riders of the Open class. Silvestri holeshot the first moto followed by King, Roes eler, and Harte. Immediately, Roeseler blitzed h is big thumper into th e lead and Silvestri dropped back to face a moto-Iong battle with Harte for third. Onl y a lap before the finish did Harte make the pass. Harte's battle win over Silvestri rewarded him the 350cc Four-Stroke class victory over Chad Carlisle and John King, while Roeseler locked up the Open FourStroke class win over Tommy Ady and Curt Wilcox. Josh Chandler stormed to the lead of the final moto ahea d of Bob Bechtel, Young Namkoong and Senior riders Mark Ruple and Sta n Fye . Both Namkoong and Fye bailed on the same ditch, while Chandler raged in the lead to win the moto by a hu ge margin, winning the Open class. Greg Lykke beat Jim Walker and Ruple for the Senior class win. O'i Results OIk 1. Rodney Smi th (Suz ); 2. Ty Davis (l<.w); 3. Danny Hamel (l<.w); 4. Chris Sm ith (Suz); 5. (J1E) seev e Ha l<:h (Suz) /David Rhod es (Suz~ I . Phil Ov eland; 2. Bi Rush; 3. David Lykke; 4. n Kerry CLuk; 5. RobRiley. 25&. I . Rodney Smith; 2. Ty Davis; 3. Danny Hamel; 4. Qui. Smith; 5. (J1E) Steve H a l<:h/ Dav id Rhod es. 500: 1. Josh Chandler; 2. Steven Silves tri; 3. Robert johnson; 4. Scott Donough; 5. Paul Krau ... 3SO4-STRK; 1. Dan Harte; 2. Chad Ca rlisle; 3. Kelly Buder; 4. john Moody; 5. Bryon Merrill, SOO 4-STRK< I . Larry Roese ler: 2. Tommy Ady; 3. Curt Wilcox; 4. john Daeele, 5. Robert Stultz. SRi 1. Greg Lykkc; 2. jim Walker; 3. Mar k Ruple; 4. Stan Fye; 5. Harold Compton. AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP REUABILJ1Y ENDURO SERIES FINAL POINT STANDINGS, I . Rodney Smith (120); 2. S~ Ha l<:h (87); 3. David Rhodes (73); 4. Fred H eese (58); 5. jan Hrehor (56); 6. Ty Davis (SO); 7. Randy Hawkins (4ll); S. 5cctt McLa ughlin (39); 9. Steve Silves tri (36); 10. (TIE) Larry Roes cler/Patrick Ga rrah a n (35); 12. Dan H a rt e (33) ; 13. (TI E) Doug Dea ton/jon Kin g (31); 15. jeff Fredette (29); 16. David Lykke (28); 17. (J1E) jason Dahnen/Kevin BennetlIJosh Cha ndler (27); 20. josh Whitaker (23). = 23

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