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;'OFF~ROAD.... ': ' . . " 'A AN M ational C hampionship.Enduro·Series · Round 1: Desert Mountain National Enduro e seas By Chris Jonnum Photos by Steve Berkner WICKENBURG, AZ, FEB. 13 . t the o p ening round o f the National Enduro circuit, Team Suzuki's Steve Hatch proved tha t last year's lat e-season su rge was no flash in the pan, as he scored the overall win with two points to spare. Last year, Hatch won three of the last five rounds, finishing a close second to teammate Randy Hawkins. Judging by his performance in the Arizona desert, Hatch is not about to settle for second in '94. "This is definitely a great way to start off the season," said the Suzuki I Moose/Cycle Gear I Alpinestars/Unil Bad Betty Squadron/Sunoco/l00%1 Ceet/Motion Pro /Trelleborg /Bieffel Thor IFMF I Acerbis /RK/Bel-Ray/Jerry Bemardo/ J.T./Pro TaperI Smi th-sponsored Ha tch . "If I can keep this up, I should ha ve a good shot at the title. The other guys rode good too, though, and it's going to be a long year, because I'm also riding the GNCC Series and some of the qualifiers." The "other guys" Hatch was referring to were Kelb y Pepper, Rand y Hawkins and Jeff Russell, who figure to be the New Yorker's primary competi- A (Above) After a strong finish last year, Steve Hatch began the '94 season with a win In Arizona. (Left) Ty Davis negotiates a technical section en route to sec ond overall. tion thi s yea r. In Arizona, that group was broken up by Kawasaki's Ty Davis and Danny Hamel, who finished second and fifth , respectively; neither intends to contest the entire series. Pepper was third, with Hawkins fourth and Russell sixth. The MSR/Metzeler I FM FI O ' N eal1 Acerb is I Smi th I Sidi I Dunlop-sponsored enduro also served as the opening round of the popular ROCky Mounta in Enduro Circuit, and a healthy turnout of nearly 400 riders was on hand. The pits were very near to those of last year's National Hare Scrambles finale, which featured a particularly fast course. In contrast, the enduro was quite technica l, run at a straight-24 mph schedule; it included such obstacles as rocks, wh ooped-out sand washes, offcamber hills and granite waterfalls, not to mention plenty of prickly cactus. Rain the week before race day he lped keep the d us t down, but the powdery stuff was st ilI a facto r. The three-loop enduro totaled approximately 150 miles with resets , just under 100 without. It was the first-ever National for the hosting Arizona Trail Riders, but mos t agreed that the club did an admirable job. "I rode this enduro last year, when it wasn't a National," said KTM's Pepper. "Overall, I think they did a really good job. The mileage was a little weird on the firs t loop; it would be off one way and the n off the other way, bu t th ey always ha d a pie plate that was right on before a check, so they did their job. The mileage was perfect on the second an d third loops." Most of the top riders ze roe d the first two checks, but things tightened up and only Hatch and Davis had clea n cards after the entire first loop. Hatch dropped a point at the firs t check on loop two, while everyone else was at least two min u tes late. This pu t Davis one point down, and at the following check, his hopes at the overall were seriously jeopardized. "I was sitting at a reset, and you could see where the trail went up the hill," said Davis. "The riders would disappear for a second, but it didn't look like they were going fast when they came back around, so I didn't think there was a check there. I decided to get a little head start, but I couldn't believe it when I saw there was a check there. I was already 30 seconds into the minute ahead of me!" Several riders compla ined that the reset wasn't posted, prompting some discussion as to whether or not the check should be thrown out. In the end, the club decided to count the check. Had it b ee n eliminated, Davis and Hatch would have tied on points, but Hatch wo uld still have come out ahead on tie-breaker points-. "At the second gas, I told Steve that he had the enduro won, as long as he did n't make any stupid mistakes," said Mo ose Racin g ' s Pete Denn is on .