Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

cutt, who came away with a bloody cut across .the brid ge of his nose. "I finally &ot gomg and got back by him, but hit ting a bump or anything wou ld really hurt. My whole face hurt." Richar d son was ha rd on the gas all the way to the end of the loop trying to ho ld on to fou rth, bu t Roeseler came on strong just as the CRSOO pilot started to fade. "I held him off for a while, but a few m ile s from th e finish I kind o f di ed " said Richardson . "I haven 't rid den fOr'a while." The ti ght terrain ma d e a we lcome ' change for out-of-state rid ers like Curtis Dice, wh o admitted that he was way out of his depth in loop one. "I'm defmitely out of my elem ent in the fast stuff - it's no t my kind of terr ainand I got a th ree-kick start so the dust made it even worse," said Dice, who need ed only a finish to wrap up the Over-30 series title after year -long riva l Jeff Boyd broke his collarbo ne at a local race in Utah. . The tigh t terrain also gave the less fortunate racers a chance to do some catching up. Steve Ogren made up some of the places he had lost in loop one when he missed the course near Galway Dry Lake, and Robert Baehr was trying to recover from doubling ba ck to find his crew on pit row and stopping once on each loop to dump extra gas into the small tank on his 1994 KX250. . But the loop b r ou ght its share o f tr.ouble, too. Mark Haugen was wearing !Us clutch ou t on the hills trying to stay In front of the Vet 2S0cc class with a blown power-valve, and Utah hopeful Jeff Lundgreen crashed hard and hurt his shoulder. With a three-minute margin and the end of the seri es just over the horizon, Hamel was enjoying every inch of the tight terrain. "The whole second loop was really challenging; there were very few whoops, lots of new trails, lots of rocks, a nd so me neat rocky ri d g es," sai d Ham el. Back in fourth, Roeseler was also starting to relax. His nearest 250cc rival, Greg Zitterkop f, who had already sew n up the quarter-liter series w in, was nine places back in 13th ove rall and, rid ing wi th three broken ribs after a crash the weekend before, was unlikely to launch a late charge. Rex Staten, who had led the Over-30 race rs all the way from the bomb, was also taking it easy, and spent more time c?ncentrating. on his KXSOO's suspension than on his closest rivals, Donatoni and Ashcraft. "I got new forks and it was like riding a board," said Staten, "bu t I had no problems apart from that." A last-minute ch a rge b y Dona toni put H intz' s seven th overall in doubt· w ith. five miles to go and up in second: DavISwas also sta rting to sweat. "I got a (front) flat five miles from the ~h, " said Davis. "It was a good thin g It was close to the end or 1 might've lost some places." Ou t in front, Hamel rode trouble-free all the way to the checkered flag and the history books. He completed the 38-mile second loop in just over an ho u r, an impressive four min utes and 22 seconds ahead of Davis' rival KXSOO, and gave the sa me report that followed his othe r six wins in the series: "I got the holesh ot and d idn't ha ve any proble ms at all. 1 never got lost and never fell down, and the bike ran fine all the way." The Kawasaki / A nswer/ Ace rb ts / Beam /Bieffe /Bra kin g / Dunlop /Don Joy / F& L/ RK/I MS/Maxima/Mag n um /N-Style / Pro Circuit/ Powerbar / Sco tt's Perfo rm ance / Scott /Sprocket Specialist /Back Canteen/MXA-backed racer, Hamel, rated th e 100s M.C.'s event as a "really good nati onal - really challenging," and admitted th at d ust played a big role in his large lead. . "Being ou t of the dust really helped a lot. Every time 1 looked back, it was just un believable dust," said Hamel. But the key to winning the se ries, accord ing to Hamel, was his Kawasaki K.XSOO. " I had no 'p ro blems w ith my bike the whole senes. I th ink tha t was the ke y to w inn in g a ll seven o f th e races," said the three- tim e champ. "If you have one tiny problem, that's it, but I had a perfect ride every time ." Davis brou ght h is Kawasaki/Race Tech /Ma xima /Tsuba ki / FMF/ BLT / Acerb is / MMF/ N-Style/Endura/Marzocchi / GP Stab ilizer / Varner / Rocket Rex Racing-backed KXSOO home in second d espi te the last-mi nute fla t, and Hu nnicut t's KLX6S0R crossed the line e ight minu tes beh in d Hamel to clai m th ird . Roesele r was the nex t racer to cross the line, ta king the 250cc wi n in fo u r th, a n d Ric ha r d so n broke th e Kawasaki line-up when his Mid Cities Ho nda-backed CRSOO galloped home in fifth. Rex Staten grabbed the Over-30 win in sixth, ahead of District 37 en d u ro c~amp, Kurt Hintz, who recently took his second number one enduro plate in a row , and Dona toni and Ashcraft brought their Hondas home in eighth and ninth overall to round out the top three in the Vet division. " I didn't get a very good sta rt and it was so dusty I d idn 't see the first·half of the race, but it was a great course - very d emanding," said Donatoni. Johnny Campbell' s H on da edged Paul Krause's battered KXSOO out of lOth overall; Todd Hoy nursed his misfiring KTM hom e in 12th, and Zitterkopf took second in the 250cc Expert behind Roeseler in 13th. Bill Maxim finished at the head of the Over-40 pack in 18th overall; Curtis Dice was al~ smiles after 20th place gave him the finish he needed to take the National title in the Over-30 class, and a slow but sure approach gave H usaberg pilo t Scott Meye r th e Four Stroke series win in 27th. "There were only six points be twee n me and Dan Good (for the series win)," said H usaberg America/Truckee Cycle/ Carson KTM-Husqvarna/Race Tec hbacked Meyer. "I couldn't get my bike started this morning and he towed me for 20 minutes. His Dad even offered to pit for me. You d on't find better sportsmanship than that." The 125cc class winner, Quin t Betts, appealed for more competition after he led hi s d ivision fro m sta rt to fin is h; Sup er Senior winner Dave Kersting said th e cou rse w as poorly m arked , and Ch ristine Ogren quietly took her third Nati ona l title in a row in the Women's di visi on w ith six class wins in the si x races she atten ded. C'l Results (unoffi cial) 0 /'" I. Danny Hamel (Kaw); 2. Tr. Davis (Kaw); 3. Ted Hunnicutt (Ka w): 4. Larry Roese er (Kaw); 5. Da n Richardson (Ho n); 6. Rex Sta ten (Kaw); 7. Kurt Hintz (Kaw) ; 8. Dav e Donatoni (Han); 9. Dan Ashcraft (Ho n); 10. Johnny Campbell (H on); 11. Paul Krause (Kaw); 12. Todd Ho y (KTM); 13. Greg Zitterkopf (KTM); 14. Steve ORren (Kaw ); 15. Mark H augen (Kaw) ; 16. Robert Baehr ,:); (1<:"" 1? Jon Parks (Ho n); 18. Bill Maxim (Kaw); 19. Curtis Dice (KTM); 20. Ron Bragdon (Hon); 21. Steve Thompson (Ka w)i 22. T od d Co lley; 23 . Erik W olfe (Ya m); 24. Ga ry Dudley (Kaw ); 25. Chris Stewart (Yam ); 26. Jeff Lund ~ree n (KTM); 27. Scott Meye r (Hbg); 28. Ga ry La Charite. 29. Steve Smith; 30. Gary Sche id ler. O PEN EX: 1. Da nn y H amel (Ka w ): 2. Ty Da vi s (K.1w); 3. Ted. Hunnicutt (Kaw ). 250 EX: 1. Larry Roesel er (Kaw ); 2. Greg Zitt erkopf (KTM); 3. Steve Ogren (Kaw). 125 EX: 1. Quin t Betts (Kaw ). 0-30 O PEN EX: 1. Rex Stat en (Ka w ); 2. Dav e Donatoni (Hon); 3. Dan Ashcraft (Ho n). 0-30 2S0 EX: 1. Ma rk Haugen (Kaw ); 2. Ron Lawson; 3. Scott Anderson (Yam ). 0-40 EX: 1. Bill Maxim (Kaw); 2. Steve Thompson (Kaw) ; 3. Gary Garland (Yam) . ~50 EX: 1. Dave Kersting {Kaw] . 4-STK EX: 1. Scott Meyer (Hb g); 2. Gerald Leighton (Hon). OPEN AM : 1. Donny Monison. Ty Davis overcame a flat front tire late in the race, and fin ished in second overall. Ted Hunnicutt was hit in the nose by a rock, but still finished third aboard his KLX650. 13

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