Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 4:Masterlinks National I lit ate I filills • PERKINGSfON. MS. MAYI earn Suzuki's Steve Hatch took a commanding lead in th e chase for the 1994 AMA Endu ro Nati onal Championship by winning the Mast erlinks Enduro in Mississi ppi, pos ting his third natio nal victory in fo ur rounds to d ate. Hatch narr ow ly beat CRE pilot Kevin H ines and Geo r ge Waller Jr. to extend his lead over Hines in the current rankings. "That's three out of four, but I'm still just tak ing it one round at a time," said Hatch. "Everything is going super good right now. 1 have to admit I'm pleasantly surprised. 1 think 90% of this fas t start has to do with training all winter with (Suzuki teamma te) Rodney Smith. It used to be halfway through the year before 1 would start riding well. This year I've felt 100% from the start ." The course and the weather for the event, which was organized by the Masterlinks Enduro Team, were, by almost all accounts, perfect. A la te Saturday aftern oon rain shower turned the potentially dusty trails into a tacky sand path; there were three special tests with restarts. The only complaints concerned the length of the course. Total mileage measured close to 120 miles, but the actual course, not including resets, was approximately 80 m iles in length, jus t short of the AMA 's distance requirement for a National enduro. Evidently, land was taken away from the club just before the end uro, and in light of the circumstances, the AMA gave the event the green light. "Everyone was so close at the beginning because it wa s so short," sai d KTM's Jeff Russell, who had a miserable day in Missi ssippi. "It was under the minimum and the three special test sec- . tions were only eigh t miles long. Tha t meant that it was really just a 24-mile-: long race. The scoring was so close that o ne m is take w o u ld th r o w yo u way back, and tha t's exactly what happened tome." "My day went pretty good; no major p roblem s or anythi ng," sa id H ines. "I sort of go t trapped between my bike and a tree in one of the special test sections but tha t was the m ost even tf ul th ing that happened to me. There was a little bit of traffic out there that made it hard to pass, but everything else went really smooth. 1 thought it was a real good enduro and the organizers did a real good job. We were lucky with the cool temperatures." "The first loop was just bas ically time-keeping," said Hatch. "I knew that with just three special tests 1 didn't want to bum any checks. The whole race was going to come down to the special tests, . so it was important to ride smooth and fast. 1 concentrated on just getting to the checks on time and then making up time in the special tests." When Ha tch did take off in the first special test, it mad e all the difference in the final tally. He picked up a 25-second advantage over his closest competitors Hines and Waller - in what was just an eight -mile-long test. " I felt kind of slow and my arms pumped through there, so 1 figured with that good time, in the next two tests 1 would calm it down and ride smooth and consistent since I had that cushion." Even in cruise mode, Hatch extended his time advantage to close to 50 seconds by the time the run was completed. "I thought it was a great enduro," said former multitime champion Terry Cunningham. "The dust looked like it was going to be a problem until tha t ra in came along on Sa t urday n ig h t and m ad e the trail conditions perfect. The club did a good job laying out th e endu ro a nd 1 th in k it was a good day of rid ing." Cu nningham lost valuable time w he n he was caught behind a fallen rider in one timed section and had to follow a s lo w e r rider through another te st. "There just wasn't any place to pass and it cost me a lot," said the eventual seventhplace finisher. Cunningham's day was still much better than that of his KTM-mounted counterparts Russell and Kelby Pepper. Russell struggled to 11th overall, while Pepper was a DNF early in the day after the lower coil went out on his machine. NI just wasn 't sharp today and Kelby had some bad luck," said Russell on behalf of the team. NI wasn't focused and it showed. Th is was about going fast when you had to and 1 wa sn 't ready. 1 really have no other excuse." Rand y Hawkins, the defending enduro series champion, had some tr ouble with his hands going to s le e p i n the fi rs t speci al test. "I'm not sure what really ha ppe ned bu y my ha n d s ki nd of fell asleep, " sa id H awkins, who makes his home in Sou th Ca rolina. "I was ha vin g troub le with th at ea rly on, but then it wen t away. Still, the time 1 lost there made all the difference when th e day was done." Hawkins dropped one point in that early section, which turned out to be the difference between he and his teammate Hatch. Hatch had one close call of his own that could have been disastrous. After a handlebar bolt snapped on Hatch's Suzuki before the first reset, Moose Racing Pete Denison and Hatch's mechanic Joe Shedron noticed the potentially destructive snafu. "They made the change when 1 got to th e rese t a nd saved my day," sai d Ha tch, who also gets mechanical assistance fro m Dan Fu ller. "If 1 had gone mu ch furth er 1 would've been in big trouble. 1 also fell in the second special test when 1 hit a stump with the rear wheel. I did a 180-degree high-side going wide open in fourth gea r. It had to be a pretty entertaining crash for the people who saw it. I was lucky that 1 probably only lost 15 seconds and there was no real damage to my bike or body." • • 1111551118 "I'm just taking this one enduro at a time, doing the best 1 can at each one," added Hatch. "I know that Hines and Hawkins and Pepper and Russell are all right there. It's been a matter of seconds for each enduro and the points are fun right now, but the only time the points really matter is at the end of the season. I'm having a good time and I'm having fun winning. That's always been my attitude because you live once and then you 're dead forever." "S teve's definitely come ou t of the gate pretty fast but 1 anticipated tha t," sa id Hines of his championship rival. "It's definitely nota shock to anyone, but there're still a lot of events left to be run. The next one is up in my neck of the woods (Massachusetts). I'm happy abou t that but I definitely have my work cut out for me." Hatch 's win pushed his lead on Hines in the National series to 20 points with five rounds remaining. (Riders will be able to drop their two lowest scores lilill Suzuki's Steve Hatch posted his third NatlOflllI Enduro win of the -.on In Mississippi. The series points leader edged out Kevin Hines end George Waller Jr. on the tIe-bnlekers.. in the final ta ll y). Russell's bad day caused him to lose 10 championship points on Hatch, b u t he retained his third-place ranking. 0'1 Maslarllnks NatlOflllI Perkinston, Mississippi Results: May 1,1994 (After 4 of 9 rounds) 01'" I . s..... Hatch (Su%); 2. Kevin Hines (eRE); 3. Georg. Wall.r Jr. (!(aw); 4. RandyHawkins (Suz); 5. J Lafferty Jr. (ICfM) ; 6. Mall SU.Illh (I

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