Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.HARE.&.HQUND.:. :··. .'...... .Round 4"" Wells• •Wendover ·· · " :. to : A Natic:lfl8l H l Houild C MA are hilmpionship',.. - - - - - - -- -- - - - -- - -- - - -- -- - - - - - - - - - - amel's streak eods, DlIl'is wios By Anne Van Beveren Photos by Tom Van Beveren WENOOVER, UT, APR. 30 it h the ex cep tio n of its rare point-to-point layout, round four of the National Hare & Hound Series looked much the same as any of the other events on this year's si x-race calendar, as 180 racers lined up for the start on the outskirts of Wells, Nevada. But when the lOO-mile dash across northern Nevada to the Utah border was over, it had seen the closest racing and the biggest upset in more than two years of National competition. After a neck-and-neck battle with Kawasaki teammate Ty Davis and . Honda privateer Dan Richardson that put h im only 42 seconds ahead at the end of the first 30 miles, prerace favorite Danny Hamel suffered his first mechanical problem in as long as most desert racers can remember. The determined rider changed a plug and fought back to the lead, but his come-back effort bit the dust 15 miles from the finish when he lost his ignition and was forced to watch the others riders power by. . When the checkered flag fell, it was W Davis by two minutes over Richardson, and Hamel's unpreced ented se ri es streak, which saw him tak e 15 ov erall wins in succession, was at an end. "I can 't believe what a da y we had. We were so close the whole way," said Davis, who was all smiles after exchanging a string of second place National finishes for the number-one spot. "When I saw Hamel working on his bike the second time I said, 'This is it . If I'm ever going to do it, it has to be now: and I went for it." Hamel was philosophical about his first failure to overall a series event since he DNF'd due to mechanical problems at Jerico, Utah in April, 1992. "It would've been really nice to get the cl ean sweep again like I did la st year, but it's all part of racing; I'm glad to see my teammate win, so Kawasaki's still on top, and I'd rather DNF like this than DNF because I crashed and got hurt:' said Hamel. The Wells-to-Wendover "She's a Screamer" Hare & Hound, which has been part of the National Hare & Hound Series for four of the last six years, began from its usual starting lin e just sou th of 1-80 on the au tskirts of the small town of Wells. The three-wave start, which went off in an impressive (Above) Ty Davis (2) recorded the first National Hare Be Hound win 01 his career at the Wells-toWendover race, endi ng Danny Hamel's win strea k at 15. Appr oximately 180 riders turned out l or the only polnt-to-polnt National on the calendar. (Right) Ty Davis' helmet and visor show wha t a beating he had taken in the trees during the 100mile race. cloud of dust just after 10 a.m ., slowed traffic on the Interstate and had so many motorists pulling over to catch a glimpse of the action that a local Highway Patrol officer was forced to stop and direct traffic for almost an hour. But de spite its impact on passersby, the lBO-strong field did not overwhelm race organizer Ron Dillon of USA Promotions, who was disappointed that some of Ca lifornia's top names were missing from the line-up. . "Som e of them called to say they weren't coming because they didn't want to ride in bad weather:' said DiI- Ion, shrugging his shoulders as he surveyed the clear sky and the light breeze that greeted the racers. "We've got 15 miles of virgin ground in this race that doesn't have a trail on it, while California's running out of ground. I would think they'd be excited, but they're not coming because it's too co ld . I think they're kind of spoiled and I'm not going to keep putting these things on if people aren't going to support it." The top names who were waiting on the start line .mad e short work of the dusty bomb run when the banner dropped. Hamel's Kawasaki KX500 was

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