Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eOFF·ROAD I AMA National Championship _E_nd_ur_o--,- rie_ Ro__ 7 S~_ s :_ und_ Ste ve Hatch recorded his third National win in a row at the Jack Pine Enduro in the woods of Michigan. Hatch rings the JackP ecowell in b lANSING, MI, AUG. 8 r 22 eam Suzuki's Steve Hatch recorded his th ird-straight National ove rall victory of the season and the fourth of his career at the 67th running of the Jack Pine National Enduro in the woods of central Michigan. By winning Hatch reeled in teammate and defending champ Randy Hawkins in the poin t standings, setting the stage for a two-round showdown for the 1993 title. Just two Nationals remain in the nine-round, best-of-seven, se ries - one in Texas and th e othe r in Delaware - and the two Suzuki riders are tied for the points lead . " I 'm really happ y," said Hatch, who rode a Team Suzuki/Moose Racing/ MSR/Trellebor /Bieffe/Smith/FMF / Powerbar / Cycle Gear/Gold Sport Cycle/Braking/RK Chain Works Enduro Racing-sponsored RMX250. "For the last few years I've always come on strong late in the season; everything is just going my way right now." This year's Jack Pine Enduro was decided at the tie-breakers, as the top four overall riders all d ropped on e full point each. Hatch turned in a winning score of 1.70, and Hawkins a 1.92 Finishing third overall with a 1.107 point total was Kevin Bennett, rid in g a Kawasaki KXl 25, and fourth ove rall wen t to KTM rider Jack Laffe rty , who was rid ing on th e sa me minute as Bennett. Lafferty's scorecard read 1.172. Rounding out the top five was 1987 Na tion al Enduro Cha mpion Kevin H in es, who dropped tw o p oints while piloting a factory-backed Husqvarna. In ligh t of the low scores at the Lansing M.C-hosted event, the enduro wasn't one of the more demanding rou nds. Only one check - check five - took full poin ts away from most of the AA riders. There wer e mixed feelings from the riders abou t the low-scoring event. One ride r who liked it was Lafferty . "I th ou gh t it wa s ex ce llen t," said Lafferty. " It might not have looked like.it by all the scores, but we had to ride our asses off. We rod e ha rd and you had to . kee p on your toes. We might've zeroed most of the checks, but you still had to hustle. " "It was good," agreed Bennett. 'There were some close ch ecks, b u t it really wasn't all that tight. Mostly whooped-out sand trails and some logs." "It just wasn't challenging, " said Hawkins. "Basically only one check decided the whole thi n g. One fall and th at wo uld be it You're out." "I didn't really think it was a good test of th e rider's ab ili ty," said Hines. "I would've liked to have seen more creativity in laying out the trail, which were actually fun trails, but they just weren't a true test" A total of eight checks, including three tie-breaker checks, were used in the 93mile enduro, but it was the special test secti on between th e fo u rt h and fifth checks that did most of the damage. But for Hatch, the very first check nearly cost him the overall victory. He came around a corner an d saw the check , noticed that it was a tie-breaker, and realized that he was running approxima tely 10 seconds hot. Desp ite the sandy tra il, Hatch swi tched to "trials" mode and actually crossed the green flags with a perfect score of 30. "Usually the first checks are 'gimmi es,' so this one caught me by surprise:' said Hatch. 'The green flag marking that this was an emergency (tie-breaker) check was behind a green bush and didn't reall y stand out. I was really glad I saw it in time and was able to trials-it in. I was ecstatic when I saw that I hit it on 30, because I knew a lot of guys would check in early." The next tie-break er was check fou r, the check leading into the one and on ly special test section. Hatch clocked in with a 0.7 and spent the next 12 miles of virgin trail rid ing as hard as he could . Despite bein g bo gged down at times by slower riders and tipping over a couple of times, Ha tch s till managed to drop the least am ount of points and had a 1.18 score at check fi ve . In co mparison, Haw kins clocked-in at check four with an 0.8 and clocked-out with a 1.30. "I jus t pinned it:' said Hatch. "I fell over a couple of times because of slower guys on the trail . If I hadn't fallen, I think I could've zeroed it." "I should 've had a 0.22 at the fourth check," said th e Bieffe / MSR / Sco tt / Metzeler/Braking/RK Chain / Bel-Ray / Technosel/lOO%/Exceed/Pro-Taper / ICO/Moose Racing/Factory Connection Suspension-sponsored Haw kins. "I was balancing, and my front wheel locked up for a secon d, an d tha t's when the check worker took my time. If I had known he'd taken my time a t 0:8, I would 've go ne through the check right then and gotten a head start in the special test." "Th e exact same thing happened to me:' said Hatch. "I thought I had a 20 or 22, but when I looked down at my card, they'd given me a seven. Technically, you can dab your foot going intoa check as long as you don't stop forward momentum. I dabbed at 0.7 and that's what they gave me. After that 1 just pinned it 'to the next check." Bennet and Laferty were the only other riders to reach check five only a minute late. Hines was one of three riders to drop tw o full points. "It was ze roabl e," sa id Hines. "But 1 got a big 01' stick caught in my shift lever. Nothing 1 d id could get that th ing out of th e re; 1 kick ed and kicked, and pulled it, an d then I fell d own and bent up my bike. 1 eventually had to stop and s trai gh ten ev erything out. I checked in at 2 03." Alan Rand t also didn't fare well in the special test, dr opping two poin ts as well. "I didn't have the best da y," said Randt. "I fell a couple of times on m y he ad . We basically knew this woul d be the only real section and I guess I tried to be a little too aggressive. There was also a lot of stump s and logs, and 1 thought it was a little dangerous." Jeff Russell, the 1991 Na tional Enduro Champion, was one of man y casu al ties . Russell hit a stump, crashed and broke his collarbone. _ " Everythi ng w as goi ng g rea t," sa id Russell "I was right there with a (score of) on e after check five, a nd about a mile before check six, 1 was timekeeping, look" ing down at my equipmen t, and 1 looked up and saw a little stu mp. 1 swe rved to avoid it and my rear wh eel hit it and just pitched me off. It wasn't that hard of a fall or anything, bu t 1 landed on my shoulder and the mouthguard of my helmet caught my collarbon e and snapped it." Dwight Rudder, who was competing in the Four-Stroke class, hit a stum p and broke his wrist. KTM's Allen Gravitt, Russell's teammate, also slammed into a hidden stump, resulting in the loss of valuable time. He ended up finishing 13th overall with 4.176 points dropped. Three more checks followed the fifth points-robbing check but they were all zeroed by the National contenders, so, as it turned out, check five did decide the outcome of the enduro, and when it was all over, Ha tch had edged his team mate and closest rival by just a few seconds, 1.70-1.92. Bennet was third with a 1.107 and Lafferty fourth with 1.172. "I'm just glad to be a pa rt of the title chase:' sai d Ha tch. "I've go t to take the next tw o Nation als one event a t a time. Rand y and I are good friends, but we are going to go for it . I'm goi ng to give it every thing 1got; if 1go down, I'll go down shoo ting." "It's going to be a battle down to the finish for the championship:' said fourtime National cham p Hawkins. "Usuall y I've had a big po ints lead late in the series, but th is tim e it' s close. Steve and I ar e basically tied with two rounds left. 1gu ess I'm a little nervous; there's pressure. 1 just have to hope for the best and go for the overalls. Steve is rid ing real good right now, and the biggest thing for him is that he's not hitting the ground. I've always known all along that he's fast, but now he's not crashing." "I fe lt really good today, " said Dunlop / Arai/Montgomeryville Cycle Center / Actio n Cycle-sponsored Bennet, who hails from Millville, New Jersey. "I'm pleased abo ut what 1 did on a 125. This was my kind of terrain - lots of sand and whoops. Lafferty, who lives only a few blocks away from Bennet in Port Elizabeth, New Jersey, was hap py with his fourth-place performance as well. "We really hustled to day, " said th e Dunlop/ Answ er / FMF/Slambeau Toolboxes/RK Cha in/ Duralube/ Arai/Scotl/ Acerb is-backed Lafferty . "This is the best I've ever done out of the state; once 1 got second overall in a National in my district, but this makes me feel real good. " "I'm a little disappointed:' said Hines. "They (th e cl u b) d idn't take enough po ints away to be a tru e National. Plus, they used black on wh ite arrows - they .migh t've well used camouflage! The trails were fun, but not a true test." Randt wasn ' t too happy w it h the check placement. "Of the three tie-breaker checks, two of them were check-ins!" said Rand t. "I though t that was a lit tle goofy." " I hope to rid e th e n ext rou nd in Texas:' said Russell. "Bu t I don't know if my collarbo ne will be ready or not. I' m su re I'll be there, but as far as ridin g, I don't know ." ~ Results Ol k I. Steve Ha tch (Suz) 1.10 pIS;2. Rand y Haw kins (Suz) 1.92; 3. Kevin Bennett (Kaw) 1.107; 4. lack Lafferty (KTM) 1.172; 5. Kevin H ines (H us) 2.115; 6. Alan Rand t (KTM) 2.139 7. Kelby Pepper (KTM) 2.147; 8. jen Hrehor (Yam) 3.144; 9. Kelly Ge tz (H us) 3.234; 10. jeff Fredette (!

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