Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Far left) Mike Lafferty turned a lot of heads with a third-place finis h. (Left) The trad itional slu ice section provided penty of entertainment for the spectators. Here, a The event featured three challenging "loo ps," in clud in g three ga s sto ps and 15 che ck s , o ne of w h ic h wa s later thro wn o u t a fte r a n ea rly numbered rider b lew a tum and knocked d ow n b anners that m arked the turn . As a result, m any riders missed the tum and rej oined another se ction of the trail. Total ground miles added u p to 127.1. Last year, rain and snow were some of the m a jor n atural fac t o rs at the Delaware Na tional, but this year d ense m orning fog caused grief for m any riders . In fact, the fog was a major contribu t o r to Ha tch's s uccess a n d H ine s ' do wnfall. " You cou ld n' t see a thin g, but yo u ha d to h ammer it beca use of the special tes ts," sai d Moose O ffroad -spo nso red Hat ch. During th e firs t three cri tical special te s ts, mu ch o f wh ich too k th e ri ders through the un ique phragmites field s, many riders, incl udi n g Hatch, decided .to pull off their fogged goggles in ord er c to see better. Hines op ted not to ris k an _ eye inju ry and chose not to pull off his gogg les . " I wo u ld n ' t d o tha t, " s a id Hines. "That's too d an ger ou s. To m ak e matters a little worse, a guy at one of th e checks wi ped m y gogg les b ut a lso wiped off my Rain-X. It wasn ' t his fau lt, he t h ou gh t h e was h elpin g . I jus t couldn 't see ." While Hat ch and Hi nes had dropped -a to ta l of seven an d 10 p oints, res pectively, after the firs t three checks, Hawkins had racked u p a su rprisingly high ' 14: goi ng 2-6-6 . This effectively ended any chance Haw kin s had of winning the event. , "That was p re tty much the story of my whole year: ' joked H awkins. "My co m p u ter w as off . I th ou g ht I was on time but my mileage was a full mile off. At th e first checlc I we nt 2:58 - alm ost a three! - and then I carried that th e next two checlcs. Th at was my day." Fro m that po int on, things we n t well for Hawkins, but he could n't regain any of tho se lost points. He ma tched Hatch's and H in es ' s cores at th e three o ther point-ro bbi ng checks (3-3-3). Mik e Lafferty m ade it th rough th e first th ree checlcs quite well. In fact, he had a one-point advantag e over H ines, dropping a to tal of nine poi nts. "I usually d o good in the m ornings: ' sai d Lafferty, " then try to s ave m yself in th e afternoon. You cou ld n' t see th at well in the fog, so I pulled m y goggles d ow n too. Th at' s reall y not a good idea bu t I'd rather put up with th e fog and phrags than not see at all ." Hines wo uld later in the da y gain tw o points on Lafferty through the next tw o special tests, Hines going 3-3 and lafferty 4-4 . A t the fina lspecia l test, both Hi nes and Lafferty dropped th ree points each, resultin g in Hines edging Lafferty for second overall by on e point, 19-20. La fferty, who fin ished fourth las t year, now third, was p leased w ith hi s p erform ance . " Th a t was th e be s t I cou ld've d one," said Lafferty. "I gave it my all and cou ld n' t have don e an y bet ter. I h ad a good m ornin g an d ke pt it together till the end . It (the trail) was not as hard as last ye ar; it w as d ryer and th at was to my advan tage ." KTM rider Ma tt Stavish also h ad a decen t morning. He dropped 11 points th rough the first three special tests, but rec o rd ed th ree '4s' later o n to m atch , Hawkins' 23 poi n ts at th e en d of th e day. A look at the tie-breakers revealed a .342 (seconds) for Haw kins and a .442 for Stavish. Joey H opkins, now riding a KTM, d ropped a grand tot al of 25 p oin ts to nab sixth ahea d of a d isappointed Fred Hoess, who was riding a 1995 250WXC Husqvarna. "Every th ing we nt wrong," sa id Hoes s. "I go t a hu ge sticlc w rapped up in the rear w heel, I ran o ut of gas and I fouled a plug." Finishi ng seventh overall with a '30' was High Poin t A rider Mont Fairfax, while Suzuki's Ma rk Hyd e (32) and Jack Lafferty Jr. (32) rounded out the top 10, ahea d of Drew Sm ith and Alan Randt. When it was all over, all eyes focused on the new champ, Hatch. "I just can't believe it:' sa id a very h app y Hatch. " Every o ne said I h ad it (the titl e) last year but that d idn't work out. This yea r my goal was to win every race and be m ore cons isten t. I jus t ha d a great day." And season. t~ Delaware State Championship Enduro Bear, Delaware Results: October 30 O/A; 1. Steve Hatch (Suz); 2. Kevin Hines (e RE); 3. Mike Laf ferty (Kaw), 4. Randy Hawkins (Suz); 5. Matt Stav ish (KTM); 6. Joey Hopk ins (KTM); 7. Fred Hoe s s (H us) ; 8. Mon t Fai rfa x (Suz); 9. Ma rk H yd e (32); 10. Jack La ffer ty Ir . (KTM ); 11. Dre w Smith (CRE) ; 12, Alan Rand . (KTM); 13, Richa rd Lafferty (KTM); 14. Robe rt Benn ett (H on ); 15. Da le Hil es (Yam); 16 . Charles Co ssaboon (Kaw); 17. Mike Moo re (KTM); 18. Bria n Blan cha rd (Ya.m); 19. Chris She n igo (Yam) ; 20. Rick Oaxton (Kaw). A MA NATI ONAL CHAMP IONSH IP ENDU RO SERIES o z 19

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