Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127604
UOFF-ROAD ~ SCORE International Off-road Series: Final Round thought th e race was over. 1 got kno cked a little dingy and had do uble vision. The wind was knocked ou t of me and 1 had tire tracks on my helmet an d back. 1 even tually found the bike, and it started on the first kick, but the light was ben t down and the subframe was broken." Hamel limped into the n ext pit at Oasis, where Roeseler took over and started the ride to the finish. "We didn't have a su bfra me at Oasis, so we hose-clamped a tire iron on and 1 rode to the next stop," said Roeseler . "We changed it there and we . still had a good lead, so we took our time and checked things over. The pipe was broken and the airbox was melted, so exha ust was shooting in and making before it was time to mount up the lights, which his pit crew qui ckly d id before sending him on his way to the Oasis Ro a d junction. Bef o re he go t there, however, near-disaster str uck. "I ca ught a car and was trying to pass in the dust when 1 hit a rock and w ent over th e bars big time," s a id Hamel, who very rarely crashes. "I've ne ver gone ove r the ba rs like tha t. 1 it run rich." (Above) At the Zoo Road crossing, spectators got the chance to watch Rex Staten fly. He team ed with Earl Roberts and . Dan Worley to win Class 30. (Below) Baja is famous for be ing hard on b ikes . (Bottom) Former National Hare & Hound Champion Dan Smith won Class 3 in a Ford truck. Ho nda 's combined team had now worked their way up to second; thanks in part to a hard cras h by Morris. The Hunni cutt / Krause/Sweetland KLX650 was fou rth. Roeseler arrived at the Tecate Depot, the actual finish of the race, at 9:01 p.m., then con tinued on to the ceremonial finish at Aven ue de los Heroes, where a huge cro w d of lo cal s w ait ed and ch eered. Th e Team Green /Bel-Ra y/ NGK/ Dunlop/ Ace rbis/ Ren thaIlTsubakilTrick / Xtreme / Ans wer / Shoei / Bieffe /Oakley /Sco tt/ Smit h/ Pr o Circuit /Sidi/ Alpinestars / Scott' s / PIAA/ LR Enterprises-sponsored KX500's time was 13 hours, 57 minutes, 23 seconds. "This feels pretty good," said Davis of his first-ever Baja 1000 win. "I don't really notice it now, bu t it' s qu ite an accom p lis h me nt . We h ad a co u p le sca ry moments, but w e p ulled it off again." 8 Ashcra ft bro u ght th e American H o n da/Yoko/ A XO / Fo x/ Al pi ne -. stars/Bieffe/Bell/ AGV/Smith/Scott/ Acerbis /Dun lop/ San ta Cru z Concepts/Fah-Q Racing-backed XR628 into the finis h second overall and second in Class 22 (O p en) . The As hc raft/Halcom b / Sanborn / Ru ttert / Dona toni / Miller team was 23 min utes off the pace of the winning Kawasaki. "This happens to me all the time," said Ashcraft. "I never get a chance to race them head -to-head. We'll get them next time, though." "That bike worked phenomenally ," said Halcomb of the factory Honda. "I expected the suspens ion to be like a regular XR, but you cou ld hit things do ing a million and it would n't even flinch. We 're pretty happ y. Our goal was to beat Kawasaki's four-stroke, and then to be there if their top guys stubbed their toes. We can't complain." Swee tla nd was the next. rid er in, securing third overall on the Hunnicutt /Krause /Sweetlan d KLX650. "I wan ted a challenge, and the four-stroke is definitely a challenge," said Hunnicutt. "We' re really happy with how we did, though. This is a brand-new bike for us , so we're s till learning, bu t it wo rked good . It's nothing like winni ng, but I'm happy." Fi rst in Cla ss 30 (30+) a n d an imp ressive fourth overall was the Rex Staten/Earl Robe rts/Dan Worley KX500. "We wer e third physically, but three seconds behind the lead when 1 took the bike over at Borrego," said Wo rley. " Rex got on and put a good le ad on the field. We were figh ting with the Kawasaki four-stroke and had a good race with it. Our bike ran well. It looks li ke we also won the class championship for the year:' Tim Morton, John Flores and Freddy Willert screamed their black and white Honda CR250 to fifth overall and first in Class 21 (250cc). "From the start, we basically put time on everybody," said Morton. "We had a good race wit h a