Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

tion. I wanted to save the bike and get it in, but I was overly cautious and lost a little time," said Campbell, who followed the fonnat used by most of the teams 'and took ov er fro m his teammate a t EI Chinero. Ha mel had adopted a different race stra tegy and rode without a break all the way to the'Borr ego pit at the 115-mile mark. He ha nded over to Davis for the second half of the course in a rapid 26second pit sto p, and the n waited to see what sort of a lead he had built up . The KXSOO team ha d an eight-and-ahalf minute lead on adjus ted time when Campbell brought the Honda in to Borrego and handed off to Cap t. Heads turned when the third-placed bi ke - a Ho nd a CR250 piloted by Tim Morton and Brent Blount that was out in front in the Class 21 race - blasted by in a wash to the south of the Borrego pit 13 minutes behind the race leaders. "Coming in to that ch eckpoint, th e wash criss-crosses back and forth and Brent rnust've gone past the check," said Morton. "He was staying left following on e of the lines. He cost us so me time there, but he got the check." Blo u n t' s ri de wa s r eviewed b y SCORE's competition review board bu t no p enalty was assessed. The bo a rd found that, while Blount did go against traffic, he had not intended to break an y rules. ' Fourth overall was in the hands of Over-30 racers Rex Staten, Dan Worley and Earl Roberts, who were pushing their KX500 hard, despite knowing that their only Class 30 comp etition was well back after Ellice's crash. Kawasaki KX250 racers Jason Kawell and Steve Hengeveld brought the second 250cc entry through the Borrego pit in fifth overall, just five minutes behind class leaders Morton and Blount. Tex Mitchell's Yamaha entry was third in the 250cc division in sixth overall, and Brian Schmuckle battled too-stiff suspension all the wa y to seven th overall abo ard th e Flores / Schm uckle / Bloun t / Ph illips Honda. . The lone Class 40 entry of Bob Van Dyke, Mitch Hedrick and Rich Casilli reached Borrego safely and the KLX650 team of Skip Crew, Tom Dana and Joel Parker held the Over 50 lead ahead of Sam Bass and Art Knapp's When the Sportsman racers reached Borrego, they immediately turned south for the run across Diablo Dry Lake bed to the Morelia Road checkpoint and then turned west for the final run back to San Felipe. The rest ofthe field was headed for the same southerly loop, but first they had to complete a 6O-mile inner loop that led over the mini summit then back to Borrego for a second pass through the pit. "The mini summit is the only technical section of the course," said Da vis , whose number one position gave him clear air thro u g h the tr icky section . "There are boulders and rocks, and you have to pick your way through it. You can't ride over your head because you'll end up on your head, but it's a nice rest from all the high-speed stuff." Dav is com pl ete d the 60-mile in ner loop in an ho ur, and at the end of 174 miles and three-and-a-quarter hou rs of racing , the KX500 he shared with Hamel was a com fortable 13 minutes ahead on adjusted time. The Ca mpbell /Ca p t Honda was going strong in second as it left Borrego for the second time and head ed so u th towards the Morelia Road che ckpoint, but the Honda pilots had all but given up hope of a win. "It's hard to make up that much time in the last 75 miles, especiall y when it's wide open, so we just rode cautiously KX5OO: (Left) John Flores burns rubber off the start en route to a th ird-place fi nish with teammates Tom Morton, Brent Blount, Brian Schmuckle and Steve Phillips. (Below) Ty Davis took the checkered flag lead ing the way, while teammate Danny Hamel patienUy awaited his arr ival. and mad e su re the bike finis hed," said Campbell. "We knew it would be hard to catch them unless they ha d a problem," Back in third, Morton's pace slowed suddenly when he found himself stuck behind the leaders in the Sportsman's race, KX500 racers Jim Roewer and Tom Freimuth. "They didn't have to do the mid dle loop so they we re an hou r ahead of us, bu t he was taking forever and 1 couldn't get by him bec ause of the dust," said Morton, who was trapped in near zero visibility all the way to Morelia before he passed the Spo rtsman en try in the p it. Then the 250cc racer had to face SO miles of \gliamiliar ground. "Joh n Flores was su p posed to ride from Morelia to the finish, bu t he got hurt riding (a 500cc entry) this morning and I had to take it to the finish," said Morton. "I hadn't ridden that last part in over a year, but I still felt I d id pretty well in it." Cau tious riding was needed from Morelia all the way to the checkered flag. "When you get on the roads there are covered-up telephone poles and ho les dug in the sand. That was a little scary, so I backed off," said Kawell. Davis cleared Morelia with a m inimum of fuss, kept the pace fast all the way through the high-speed end section and never even look ed like being challenged for th e lead . H e brought the KX500 home, still on its original rear tire, to take the checkered flag at 10:40 a.m., giving the Kawasaki Team Green /BelRay / Pro Circuit /Dunlop / Renthal / T rick /T sub aki /NGK / LR Raci ng / Scotts / Acerbis/PIAA-backe d wi nning duo an impressive 14-minute wi nning . margin over some of the best tea ms in the desert racing business. "It was okay, bu t it's kind of dangerous," said Davis. "The downfall in this course is that there are lots of whoops and rocks sticking up that you can't see. I hit a rock and cartwheeled prerunning my first day. I was lyin g th ere on the ground thinking 'Holy Cow - this is tough: and the beating the course got from the trucks didn't help. But I kept the hammer down all the way and it was fun." The win was Hamel's thir d at the San Felipe 250. . " T m a little behind: ' said Davis, who now boasts a one-for-one win record in the shortest race in the SCORE series. Campbell was disappointed with the performance that put him and Capt in second overall with an average speed of 54.6 mph. '''We d idn't have any problems - we w ere just a little off the pace," said Campbell. "We should've picked it up, bu t I was too cautious. I thought the roughness of the course made it dangerous in the first section." Th ird-placed Morton's only disappointment was the condition of the team 's CR250, which took first plac e in 0ass 21. "I never fall - I don 't ride hard enough to fall, but Brent (Bloun t) pretty much destroyed the bike:' said Morton, pointing to a smashed radiator Shroud, a dented pipe and ben t bars. Bloun t admitti ng to cr ash ing th ree times. Ridi ng for the first time si nce kn ee surgery in January, Earl Robertsbrought the KX500 he shared with Rex Staten and Dan Worley home fou rth overall on adjus ted time, after battling it out in the final stages with the Kawell /Hengeveld 250cc entry. But fourth overall and the O ver -30 Class honors were stripped from th e KX500 team when they were disqualified after the event for "short coursing" near the first highway crossing at the 17-mile mark. Acco rding to Deke H o u lg ate, SCORE's med ia relations represen tative, the team was spo tted cutting the course by SCORE Vice President Paul Fish, who was flyi ng over the co urse in a helicopter. "A p pare ntly they totally took off across country and, while doing the short coursing, actually physically passed two motorc ycl es," sa id H olga te o "Fis h described it as flagrant short coursing. It wasn 't a ju d gme nt call; there was no question about it at all." ' The Over-30 team's di squalifica tion p u t Kawell and Hengeveld, who took second in th e 250cc division, into fifth overall, bu t just seeing the checkered flag was enough of a triumph for the KX250 duo. "This is ou r third Baja rac e and the firs t Baja event we 've finished withou t breaking any thing," said Kaw ell. "We lost time at Parker because we split our gas tank and we lost our igni tion at the 1000. Today went perfect." Fifth overa ll wen t to Tex Mitchell 's YZ250, w hich circled the course in the capa ble hands of Danny Anderson and Fred Willert. Th e Flo res / Sch m u ckle / Blount / Phillips team rescheduled its division of th e jou r n ey to accommodate Flores' in jured shoulder an d finished a respectable sixth overall. Jessie Ellico and Ken Tapert finished seven th on total elapsed time, but were bounced back into eighth by a one-place penalty for failing to stop at a checkpoint. This left Over-SO winners Skip Crew, Tom Dana and Joel Parker in seventh overall, 36 minutes ahead of their Over-50 rivals Sam Bass and Art Knapp, on a KX5OO. Jim Roewer and Tom Freimuth topped the Sportsman field with an average speed of 51.8 mph around the shortened course. "We blew a front wheel and seized the motor a couple of times, bu t we had fun: ' said Roewer. "This cJass is a good id ea. We do less mileage, but it doesn't matter when you're just here for fun." C'l san Felipe 250 san Felipe, B.C., Mexico Results: January 26, 1994 O/k 1. Danny Hamel / Ty Davis (Kaw); 2. Johnny Campbell/jeff Ca pt (Ha n); 3. TIm Morto n/Brent Blount (Ho n); 4. Jaso n Kawell/Steve Hengeveld (}(aw); 5. Tex Mitche ll/ Danny Anderson /Fred Willert (Yam); 6. John Flores / Brian Schmuck1e/ Brent Blount /Steve Phillips (Hon); 7. Skip Crew/Tom Dana /Joel Parke r (Kaw); B, Jessie EUico/Ken Taper! (l

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