Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Do n a ton i, w ho rod e 250 miles in th e rain 'a ll the way from San Felipe. "I had ha il coming across one of the lake beds . Th ere were big ch u nk s of h ail like ice cubes falli ng out of the sky." Desp ite heavy showe rs of rain, a chill in the air and the growing dark, the Baja 1000 was still a hit wit h the locals, and a crowd of spectators that would grow to more than 2000 as the evening wo re on had started to ga ther by the time the raeers n eared th e e n d of th eir 620-m ile advent u re. Fin ish tim es were recorded on th e outskirts of town a n d each rid er wa s then led thro ugh the dark, wet stree'ts to the ceremon ial finish ou tside the Holi day Inn Crown Plaza by a pol ice escort. A cheer went up as flashi ng police lights herald ed thearrival of the first bike and the ceremo nial checkered flag d ropped for Roeseler just before 5:00 p.m. "Co mi ng d own th a t las t roa d, it m ak es you feel pretty touched ins ide, know ing you're goin g to make it. It's an awesome feelin g and, even with all the years I've done this, it doesn't become run of the mill by any means," said Roeseler, who bro ugh t the Kawasaki KX500 h ome with a total e la p se d ti me o f 10 h ours and 20 minutes, and an average speed of 59.98 miles per hour. " Mex ico is a tough p lace to race. There are so many things out of our contro l - you can see tha t in the way (Ha lcomb ) got hu r t," said Roesel e r. "I've done th is for more than 20 years . I' m happy wi th ano the r win but at the same tim e I think it' s a bo ut ti me to slow d own a bit." Fo r Hamel, th e fi nish see med to co me almost too soon . "The d ay went by so quick , it was incredible. It was like, 'Boom: a n d it ' s over," h e s a id. "Normally you run in to the night and it ' s reall y, re ally long a nd stressful. Today was plenty stressful but it wasn't as long as a norm al Baja 1000." . The race was plenty long enough for Craig Smith, who brought the "B" team Kawasaki home in second, 21 minutes beh ind th e winners . "I' rn cold:' sa id Smith, whose riding ge ar was soaked th ro u gh . " It rained all th e w ay in my last section. The lake bed was way slippery and the sus pensi on was a little bit fa de d , but o the r th an th at the bike w orked good." Hunnicutt was philosophical abo u t h is team 's second -place finish, say ing. "I think they had the lead on time most of the way. We rnight 've h ad it at Morelia Junct ion an d w e h ad 20 secon ds on th em right off the start. It was close all day . They had their problems early and let us stay really close. We got ours late a nd we coul dn't make up the time ." LaPorte did so me impressive catching u p in the last section of the course an d passed the 250cc class leader, but w hen the finish times were tallied, the p ri va teer Kawasaki team of Kawell / Hengeveld /Braasch took third ov erall . three minut es ahead of the Tro lli /Morris/Oliv ier/ LaPorte factory race r. And second in the 2S0cc division - the CR2SO p ilo te d b y Morto n , Blo un t and Schmuckle - shunted the Trolli mou n t back in to fourth overall by '45 seconds. Kawell waited for his winning entry to cross the finish line and then we nt to get stitches in a bad cut above his eye . "I 9ot off near Oasis comi ng back to th e finish. I hit a rock and went over and cut m y eye reall y bad ," said Ka we ll. "I' ve been down twice today. I ha ven't had a good . d ay bu t it 's w orth it when yo u win." Braasch, who rode the final sec tio n fo r th e Kawell tea m, was h av in g eye problems of his own. "I took my goggles off five miles after I got on the bike for a 1 ISO -mil e section - it was raining so bad and there wa s so mu ch mud coming up fro m the front tire yo u coul dn't kee p them clean," said Braasch . "My eyes are burn in g so bad . I just knew I wasn ' t goin g to make it in. I wa s thinking. 'I'm going to d ie out here.?' T im Morton, w ho led th e C R250 te a m to se co nd in cla ss , wa s di sappo int ed that he d idn't get the full 1000mile version of the Baja 1000. "I wasn 't loo kin g forward to it being s o short, but the way we had the weathe r, tha t made it a real Baja race: ' sai d Morton . " It rained on us for the las t 140 mil es and th a t mad e it a little more mi serabl e, which is the w ay Baja's su pposed to be." Sixth overall was claimed by Over 40 racers Chri s Haines, Scott Forward and Jack Johnson on a four-stroke Kawa saki KLX, and th e Capt /Campbe ll /Dircks Hond a completed its one-disaster-afteranother trip to claim seventh. "We lost our ignition right off the start, wh ich left us way back in the dust behind all the quads, and we never really came ba ck from that," sa id Ca m p be ll. "We had minor pr ob lems thro ugh ou t the day as well. We went through tw o mufflers and had one cras h. And the rain mad e things interestin g. On th e roads - th e parts with day - it was like cake icing it was so slippery." The crowd got rowdy as it waited for the widely spaced finishers to arrive. By 8:00, with only seven bikes across the finish line in three hou rs, the spectators were singing like English soccer fans an d a ve ry soggy Tecate ch icken - the sponsoring beer's mascot - was organizing a ragged version of the wave up and down the rain-soa ked bleachers. The cro w d go t even m o r e li vely wh en th e fir st fou r- wh e el ed e n try . crossed the finish and motorcycle enth usias ts sho we d a spa rk of interest w hen ex-desert racer Dan Smith' s co-driver took the overa ll four-wheel win just before 9:00 p.m . The first Japanese racers to cross the finish were Masami Ish ii and Tomo masa Yoshiwara in seve n th overall, and th e Mexican en try of Beto Verber, Charles Bu sey, Rogelio BrambiIl a a n d Oscar Garcia finish ed a trouble-free circuit of the course in eigh th . S teve Cole b rou ght th e KX500 he sh a re d w it h Jeff Shee ts, Jim O' Neal, Keith O ' N eal a n d Ch u ck Dempse y across the cere monial finish line in the back of a pickup to claim ninth overall. " I have no idea who this guy is:' said Cole, pointing to the d river of the Mexican -regis tered tru ck. "I broke d own just after I crossed the (timed) finish and he just picked me up. All the teeth cam e off the rear sprocket and it gave up the ghost." Dave Donatoni brought the fi rs t Over-30 entry' - the Baja Bar / American Hond a-backed Honda he shared with Victor Lu jan a n d Mike McDonald home at 9:30 p.m. with a total elapsed time of jus t under 15 hours. Jim Moo re and Bill Nicho ls topped the competiti ve Over-SO racers by an hour in 17 hours and 12 minutes, and Jaso n Tuck an d Ma rk Green completed the course four and a half hou rs ahead of the only other competition in the 12Scc division, in 19 hou rs. The p rou d est finishers of th e nigh t were Mike Barnhill, Brian Free, Denn is Green and Tim Lawyer, who overa lled the Spo rtsma n's division in 19th overall in the ir first crack at the Baja 1000. "We ra n ou t of gas tw ice beca use the air fil ter was clogging up and we rod e in the dark for five hours, but we still beat a lot of the Pros. That's pretty good for a fi rst- time effort with n o big fa ct o ry (Above) For the se cond year in a row, Ty Davis was a member of the winning team. (Left) Davide Trolli desperately looks over his shoulder, trying to find teamma te Danny laPorte. The injured Trolli was supposed to ride just the first few miles the n hand off the bike to laPorte. The two neve r co nnected until 150 miles later. su p port. It fe e ls p r e tt y good," sai d Barnhill. 1"X FordlTecate SCOREInternational Baja 1000 M exicali, Baja California, Mexico Results: November 11-12, 1994 Q / A: 1. Da n ny Ha mel /Ty Da vis /Larry Roeseler (Ka w); 2. Pa ul Krause /Ted Hunnicutt / Cr a ig Smith (Kaw): 3. [eson Kawell /Steve He nge veld / John Braasch (Ka w ); 4. Tim Morton / Brent Blount /Brian Sch muckle (H on) ; 5. David e Tralli /Scott Morris / Alain Oli vier / Danny laPorte (Kaw ): 6. Chris Ha ines / Scott Forward / 'j a c k Johnson ( Ka w); 7. Je ff C apt I Johnny Ca mpbe ll / Drcy Dircks (Ha n); 8. Masa m r Ish ii / Tomoma sa Yosiwara; 9. Beto Yerber j Ca rlos Bucey /Rog eh o Brambill a / Osca r Carcia (Ka w); 10. Jeff Sh eetslJ irn O 'Nea l /Keit h O'N eal l Steve Co le /Chuck Dempsey (Kaw). C LASS 22: 1. Dann y. Hame l / Ty Davis / Larry Roe seler (Ka w ); 2. Pa ul Krause /Te- H unnicutt /C ra ig Sm ith d (Ka w ); 3. Da vide Trolli / Scott M orri ~ / Alain O livie-r / Danny Laf'orte (Kaw) . a..ASS 21: 1. Jason Kaw ell / Stev e Hengevel d / john Bra asch (Kaw ): 2. Tim Morton / Bre nt Blo u nt / Bria n Schm uckle (Ho n); 3. Beto Verbcr / Ca rlos Bucey / Rog elio Brambilla /Oscar Garcia (Kaw) . CLASS 30: 1. Victor Lujan /Dave Donatoni /Mike McDo nald (Hon); 2. Susu mu Ishii / Kiyoharu Ito (Ho n ); 3. Jesse Ellico/Ken Tapert (Kaw ). CLASS 40 : 1. Chris Haines / Sco tt Fo rwa rd lJack Johnson (Kaw) ; 2. Masami Ishii / Tom omasa Yohsiwara; 3. Mike Cuff/Carlos Kuriansk i (Hon ). CLASS 50: 1. Jim Moore / 8lll Nichols (Hon); 2. Ron Bish o p / Dick Vick (KTM). Shootout - Literall~ ver:40 KTM racer Bob Van Dyke got a litt~e mor~ excitement tha n he h~d bargained for when he headed down the Baja perunsula to start prerunmng for the Baja 1000. According to Van Dyke's racing partner, Rich Caseli , Van Dyke and his brotherin-law were pulled over by a vehicl e with a flashing light between Mexicali and San Felipe early on Tuesday morning. "They figured they were spee d ing and it was the police, but wh en the y rolled down the window . a .45 came through it," said Caseli . "They were held up by what the police called, 'Three hombres con pistoles.... The bandits took the pair 's jewel ry, identification and jackets, and the y were held at gunpo in t while one of the robbers drove Van Dyke's paper -plate-new Ch evy tru ck, with his KTM and seven whee ls aboard, away into the night. "We' re sure the whole ide a was to shoot them and leave them in the desert:' said Caseli . "They got luck y because the little truck they'd used to pull them over got stuck when the driver tried to pull back onto the road. He yelled at the guy who was holding the gun on them to help and when the guy turned around, Bob and his brother -in-law ran out into the desert." Van Dyk e reported th e hold -up to the Mexican authorities, who moun ted a sea rch that located both the truck and the bike. "The guys tha t robbed them shot it out with the poli ce. They shot one policeman and left him in crit ical condition," sai d Case li. "TIle police killed one of the three and captured the other two . Bob had to go back down to Mexico Frida y morning to ID the su spects, including the dead guy. " " It was a real nightmare, bu t we'll probably race there again," said Caseli, whose team took the 1994 SCORE Over 40 championsh ip on poin ts d espite sitting out the Baja 1000 round. "This sort of thing can happen an ywhere. It's the sort of thing that yo u read about - it never happens to you . Well, this time it happened to us." _ _...J O 9

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