Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 6:LittleBurr Qualifier Return of the Hawk By Steve Berkner MCARTIfUR, OH, MAY28-29 ea m Su zu ki's Randy H a wkins found the wi nning combination for the first time since the openin g round in Arkansas, emerging victorious from the Enduro Riders Association of Ohio's 37th Annual Little Burr Two-Da y National Reliability Enduro over Memorial Weekend. Th e five -ti me Nationa l En d uro Champion won after rebounding from a fourth-place Day-One finish, turning in a stellar ride on Day Two. Yamah a riders Du an e Conner and Fred Andrews finished third and fourth, resp ectively, in th e o vera ll results , whil e p oints lead er Smi th - winner of the previous two rounds - settled for fifth place. " All of m y times w e re r ea l good tod ay (Day Two)," said the American Suz uki/ MSR/ Met zeler / Sco tt/ Bieffe/ Pro Circuit/Factory Connection /RK/ Braking/ l 00"lo/ Pro Tape r /Motion Pro / A c e r b is / Be I- Ray / Sp r o c k e t Specialists/Troy Lee / Boyesen /Uni/ Roc ky /WER-s po nsored Ha wkin s. "I started (the day) 11 se co nds behind Guy. All I had to do was find 12." Rid ing an RMX250 ra ther than the RMI 25 tha t he had used for the first part of the series, Hawkins foun d the 12 secondsand more, winning Sunday's competition by 15 seconds over Coop er. He topped the former motocrosser in two of the day's th ree special tests. The duo had identical scores in the third test. In the points chase, Hawkins' finish moved him to within nine points of Smith, who was fifth at McArthur after a poor rid e on Day One. T DAY 1 Saturday's trail was run over two 70mile loops that detoured to meet three special-test ar eas. The start was at the Vinton County Fairgrounds and th e (Above left) Randy Hawkins won a Qualifier for the fi rst time since the opening round, and pulled to within nine points of Rodney Smith In the point standings. (Above ) Guy Cooper washes his bike after winning the first day. Cooper faded slightly on Day Two, fin ishing second overall. course circled north. The rout e included single-track trails, seco ndary graveled township ro ads and pa ved highways, and each test was run only one time. The first terrain test - a two-mile, hardpacked, slippery section along a sma ll creek - came just five miles out, and the second was run down a semi-dry creek bed just before the end of the loop. Both terrain test s were on existing tra il that was overgrown with brush a nd tr ee branches. The final test of the day was a 2.5-mile long grass track that was laid ou t on a hilly pasture. "All of (Day On e's) tests were real short and real fast, at times:' said Cooper. " If you made on e little mistake it would cost you." Cooper sta rted about 15 seco nd s ahead of Hawkins in the first test, bu t fell and was passed. Cooper remounted and passed Hawkins back, bu t was still four seconds slower. Cooper finis hed the second test with a third-place time, sev en secon ds behind test-wi n ne r Andrews. Conner wa s one second off Andrews' pace, in second . " If yo u we re going too fas t, it was going to cost yo u," said Cooper. " I backed off a little in the second test so that I wouldn't overshoot the comers. It probably cost me, but sometimes it pays to go slow." _ Hawkins took himself ou t of contention for the Day-One win during the second test, when he finished ei ghth after hitting a tree. "I tried going underneath this tree bran ch, when the rear wheel got kicked up by a root:' he said. "I bounced off (the branch ) pretty good, and it hit me hard. It slowed me up for a me," sa id Coo p er. "I fi n ally had it together today. During the day's final work peri od, I changed the rear tire and the air filter. I even had time to remove the seat and tank, so tha t I could get at the carb ure tor and change the pilot jet. I've really com e a lon g wa y sinc e my first Qua lifier in Arkansas." Andrews and Con ne r finishe d th e day tied for se co nd , eigh t seco n ds behind Cooper. "I d ropped back a few minutes a nd rod e w it h G uy a n d Rand y:' said Andrews. " It was kind of fun, because we could keep an eye on one another. I caught Guy in the second test, and Randy fell, so I did better than both of them . But in the final grass track, I overshot a comer an d they both d id better than me." Smith was a su rprise, posting scores well off the ma rk th roughout the first day. "I had a misera ble da y: ' said Smith - 19th overall at the end of the day. "I crashed three times in the last two tests, and these tests are too short to crash in. I just couldn't ge t go ing; m y bike felt s t ra nge a nd I cou ldn 't get into the whil e." Sunda y was filled with controversy. The co urs e h ead ed so u th out of im pound ov e r two separate 65-mile loops, which or iginally included five special test s - two grass tracks (Day One's track in reverse); two new, overgrown terrain tests (each approxima tely Co oper a n d Hawkin s tied for the fa stest tim e on the day's on ly grass tra ck, and while it was Coop er 's only fast time of the da y, his consistency had him in the overall lead. " It seems like things are starting to come together for groove." Hitting a tree head-on in third gear during the second terra in test d idn't help Smith's score much, either. Jeff Frede tte led the Ligh tweig h t Fou r-Stroke class (0-350cc), using the tractability of his KLX250 to p ut him in seven th ov erall. Chris Smith led the Lightweigh t d ivision (0-125cc), while Jared Green was on top of the Heavyweight Fou r-Stroke class (351cc a nd above). DAY 2 four miles long); and a final motocross. However, the final motocross was cancelled d ue to a lack of club personnel, and the first terrain test was cancelled wh en the first rid er out - John Scheidhauer - was injured. Kerry Clark was the second rider out, and he cam e u pon the falle n Scheidhauer , who was co mp laining of nec k and bac k pains . Clark stayed with the injured rider, w hile Chris Smi th returned to the sta rt of the test to inform officials. Fred Hoess went ahead to tell the finish timers, who wen t to Scheidha uer 's aid and cancelled the test. An ambulance was called, and Scheidha uer was taken to the hospital. He was diagnosed as having four compression fractures to his lower vertebrae, then medicated and released . Or ganizers decided to ru n the test again in the afternoon, effectively replacing the other terrain test. "We felt that re-running the cancelled test was a better test for the riders: ' sai d Clerk of the Course Vic Ely. "The second test was a lot tighter and wo und its way throu gh some pretty overgro wn terrain." The move wasn 't popular with alI the riders. " I wa s psyched about runnin g the second (terrain) test," 'said Haw kins. "The y said it was really tight, something that I was really looking forward to. The re-test we nt all right, bu t I wish they would ha ve let u s know a bo u t th e change so we could have prepared for it." Anoth er m ix-up occurred during the second loop's' grass track, whi ch was rerouted when a mudhole dev eloped at a creek crossing . Rid in g on one of the ' front row s, H oess m istakenl y w ent through the ribbon and took the original route. The ribbon was never replaced, so the following riders effectively had two choices - through the mudhole, or 60 yards around it. The mudhole was faster - unl ess you happened to get stuck.

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