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/127659
(Left) Scott
Morris
elbowsbya
cactus on his
way to 11th
overall. He
threw a cha in
on the first
loop. (Below)
The course
inclu ded an
abundance of
deep sand ,
caus ing hig h
fuel
consump tion
and other
problems.
Ray Jewett
demonstrates
petition when he raced through the pits
for th e second tim e. "1 hit a branch on
the second loop and it pulled my throttle o ut of the housin g . It s t uck wi de
open in a tigh t spot and 1 flip ped and
fell off the bike," said Zitterkop f.
A quick check of the stopwatches put
Hoy secon d on adjus te d ti me, and
Richa rd son was neck 'n neck for third
with 250cc hotsh ot Abbott, w ho was
almost th ree m inutes ah ead of Bryan
Folks, his nearest250cc Pro riva l.
"(Abbott) kind of got away from me
and 1 couldn't make it back," said Folks,
who recently grad ua ted from the 125cc
ranks . "This is different from all m y
times in the 12Sec class because 1 could
h a ve a ba d fi rs t loop ba ck then, b u t
when you' re riding with the big gu ys in
the 2505, you can't give them any slack
or they'll take it away."
Fifth in the time-adjus ted standings
was held by Krause, with a minu te back
to Bryan Folks in sixth. Harden was way
out in fron t in the three-entry Over 30
Pro d ivis ion, in se venth overall. The
Martinez/Willert battle for 125cc honors
was still too close to call, while Gerber
had m ade up another eight p laces to
grab 26th in the physical standings.
Zitlerkopf's luck held throughout the
opening stages of the 38-mile third loop,
but problems were stacking up behind
him.
After two trouble-free loops, Hoy
broke his ma ster link 15 miles into the
final loop and watched rider after rider
power by as he struggled to fix h is
chain. "Watching those guys go by was
pretty frustrating, but there was nothing
1could do . 1 just got back on and pinned
it. That's racing," said the disappointed
KTM 550 pilot.
Brad Christensen's race-long domination of the 250cc Experts started to
look shaky when his Yamaha WR250
suffered a re ar flat 13 miles into the
loop, and Over 25 Expert leader Glenn
Taylor had to battle a front flat for the
last 20 miles.
. Steve Pitts' hopes of catching Bill
Maxim for the O ver 38 Pro w in were
dashed when he crashed hard midwa y
ber' s advan tage because they allowed
him pass one more Expert class racer.
"1 was in front of (Gerber) and I hit a
wall in the wash and knocked mysel f
d own . H e got me in the last three
miles," said KX500racer Kurt Hintz.
Zit terkop f wru ng every ounce of
power ou t of his KTM550 in the fin al
m ile , trying to hold off his supposed
riva l, an d took the checkered flag just
befo re noon, af te r two hours and 48
minutes in the sadd le.
After a few .mi n u tes to ca tc h hi s
breath and check to see that there were
no rid ers in sigh t, Zitterkopf declared
the race a lot of fun.
"1 ha d some problems, but it went
pretty w e ll ov e ra ll ," sa id the KTM
USA/Z Racing /Dunlop /O'Neal /FMF/
Sid i/ Acerbis /EK /Bieffe /lOO % /IMS/
VP / Smith/Jerry Bernardo-spon sored
Z itterkopf, who ea rn ed $400 for th e
Open Pro win. "It wa s a lot more technica l tha n I expected; it di d a lot of
twisting bac k and forth . There were a
couple of cool first-gear downhills and
the second loo p had so me reall y fun
stuff - fast, good sand washes the whole
wa y."
.
Dan Richardson crossed the finish
three mi n utes and 17 seconds behin d
Zitterkopf to take seco nd overall, after
finish line 15th in the physical sta ndings
and grabbed fifth overall on adj usted
time. The H usky factory pilot top ped
the near est Exper t division finisher by
nearly seven minutes.
. "The fi rst loop was really rough
because 1 started way back and had to
go thro ugh the silt and pass a lot of people, but the second loop was really fun,"
said Gerber. "Overall, I liked it."
Over 30 Pro Scot Harden took one of
the easiest class wins of the day w hen
he finis hed sixth ove rall, 100 places
ahead of the only other finis he r in his
division.
"1 lost a lot of time this morning
behind the 125s. There we re quite a few
of them an d with the dust, trying to be
ca refu l, it took a lo t of time to get
around them," said Harden. "It was be tter last year when it was wet , but it was
a good race."
H arden was followed in by Tony
Bergman, who recovered from a lackluster first loop to take fourth Open Pro,
Bryan Folks, who took second 250cc Pro
jus t ahead of h is Open Pro brother,
Daryl Folks, and Jim Gray who hated
eve ry minute of his ride to 10th overall.
" It was terrible," said the 21-year-old
KTM 550 racer from Colorado. "1 jus t
didn't feel right all d ay. I never could
get in the groove. I wrecked twice, once
on the first loop and once on the second
loop; I just couldn't get it going.
I liked the course - it was a lot better
than last year, bu t it's still way too fast
for me . I d on't feel rea lly com fortable
with that fast stuff."
Scott Morris fin ished 11th ove ra ll
after he bobbled tr ying to pass Scot
Harden and killed his bike twice, while
Andy Nelson comple ted a blistering
run, that he had hoped would overall
the Expert division, in 12th.
The 125cc Pro race was a tight battle
all the way to the checkered flag, where
Fred Willert finished hard on Jeff Martinez's heels to grab the win by less than
a minute on adjusted time.
"Last time I rode it, I only made it a
mile before my crank went out. It was
nice to see the whole course, " said
Willert. "Right before the second pit, I
go t (Martinez) in sight. We've been
together for the whole third loop."
0
Vacati on Village Hare & Hound
Jean,Nevada
Results : March 12, 1994 (Round 2 of 7)
through the final loop and got the wind
knocked out of him.
And then, w ith the finish line almost
in sight, it was Zitt erkop f's tum to run
into trouble.
"1 ran out of gas twice in the last loop
a nd, the second time, 1 sat there and
kicked and kicked and kicked," said Zitterkopf. "1couldn't get it sta rted."
The frustrated ra cer finally go t his
bike ru n ni ng, bu t w as in for another
shock as he entered the bac k-and-forth
twists of the final section.
"1 was coming back and there was a
guy right there. 1 thought I had lost it in
the last fiv e miles and I kind o f panicked," said Zitterkopf.
Gerber described the d etour that
caused the confusion.
" It wa s th e ve ry la st section," sai d
Gerber. "1 thought we we re coming in
and then, all of a su dden, (Casey Folks)
turned us ou t ag ain . I was tired, and I
could've killed him. It probab ly ad d ed
one-and-a-half or two miles."
Still, the extra miles wo rked to Ger-
battling up from the back of the Open
Pro start.
N was the last Open Pro to take off
I
and I had to pass a bunch of guys. I got
tired of rocky sand washes, but other
than that, no problems," said the CRSOO
privateer fro m So u th ern Ca li fornia .
'There was a lot of cactus ou t here tha t
sticks in you - not like back home."
Third Open Pro was claimed by Paul
Kra use, in fourth overall.
Destry Abbott completed a w ire-to wire win in the 250cc Pro di vision , in
third overall, m ore than fiv e m inutes
ahead of second -placed Bryan Folks, in
eighth ove rall.
"It would've been better if I had won
it overa ll, but I ' really e njoye d it,"
quipped Abbott. "It was a good ra ce
and I ha d no p roblems what soev er. It
was an open bike course, but my 250 ran
right with most of the open guys. It just
kind of su cks starting beh ind all the
open riders."
. Brandon Gerber finally go t the recognition he deserved when he crossed the
0 / A: 1. Greg Zit1e'rkopf (KTM); 2 Dan Richardson
(H on); 3. Destry Abbott (JCTM) 4. Paul Krause (Kaw); 5.
;
Brandon Gerber (Hus); 6. $co. Harden (KTM) ; 7. Tony
Bergman (H a n); 8. Bryan Folks (KTM); 9. Dary l Folks
(KTM); 10. Jim Gray (J