Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.HARE &HOUND W Classic Hare &Hound ' inter By Anne Van Beveren Photos by Tom Van Beveren 10 LUCERNE, CA, JAN. 22 igh s of relief and stories abo ut racers wh o were so close they affected his conce ntration are not so me th ing y ou u su all y hea r f ro m Dann y H amel, but th e close racin g th at char acterized the first round of the 1995 National Hare & Hound Series wasn 't exa ctly run of the mill eith er. Fo r 80 long m il e s, the defending National Hare & Hound Champion was denied the comfo rtable lead that he has enjoyed in, almo st every series eve nt in the last four years. No matter wha t he d id, th rough fas t terrain and s low, at h ig h speed s and low sp eeds, almost every time Hamel turned his head, Kawa saki teamm ate Ty Dav is wa s breathing down his neck, threatening to spo il Hamel's bid to tie the five-in -a-row National Hare & Hound record held by mot orcycl e-ace-turned-lruck-rac er, Dan Smith. " (Da vis ) was right there with me, p us hing me th e whole way. II kind of blows your concen tration," said Ha mel. "He kep t catchi ng me in the tigh t stuff in th e las t loop and h e proba bly got wi thin 20 seco nds of me . Boy I' m glad tha t one's over." Wh en the ch ecke red flag fell a fter wh at felt like one of the long est races in Hamel's off-roa d caree r, the Kawasaki KX500 racer took the round-one hon ors with jus t over a minute to spare ove r the hard-chargin g Davis. "I got to stay with (Hamel) for once. I w as so close ou t ther e that in so me o f t h e ti ght sectio n s, I co u ld s mell hi s bik e," said Da vis. " It was a lot of fun ." Round-one ·a cti on was hos ted by AMA / District 37's Desert M.e., which has been pu ttin g on the Wint er Classic since just after the club w as fou nded in 1965. Desert M.C: s rep uta tion for challenging eve nts, coupl ed wit h rain in the w eek leading up to th e rac e, drew a healthy turnout of racers to the sta rting area at Bessem er Mine Roa d . Despite ankle- deep wa ter on Sog gy Dry Lake and p atches of m u d on th e entry road , there was still a light cloud .., of d ust over the start as the racers pr acticed the bomb early on Sunday morning , an d a ch illy br eeze coupled with cold temperatures tha t left frost on the sides of the road as late as 8:00 a.rn, had p it crews pu tting on layer after layer of cloth ing and dancing fro m one foot to the other to keep warm . The sky was overcas t and it was still see-you r-b reath cold whe n the banner dropped for the first wave sho rtly after 10:00 a.m . and Davis led the char ge up the wide-open bomb into the first of two 40-mile loops. Hamel was back in th e number-four spot, tucked in behind feJ- Lucerne Valley (Right) Danny Hamel had to hustle to win the first National Hare & Hound of '95. The defending champ is str iving for a fifth straight title. (Below) Ty Davis who finally gave Danny Hamel a run for his money' pins it down a sa nd wash on his way to a runner-up finish . low KX500 racers Ted Hunnicu tt and Paul Krause, and just one p lace ahead of Dave Ond as, but he d idn' t p lan on staying there long. "I knew I had to mo ve up fast before (Davis) could ge t away so I was pu shin g rea lly hard and I got the lead abo ut four miles out," said Ham el. But then another challenge began. On ce I go t aro und (Davis) my arms pumped up really bad," sa id Hamel. "I coul dn' t hang on. I was ridi ng like an idiot . My feet were off the pegs a n d every thing:' Despite hi s u nu su a l la ck of fo rm , H am el s tayed in front as th e co urse h ead ed into th e hill s, skirted arou nd Anderson Dry Lake and then dropped into a tight sa n d w ash tha t paralle ls Cam p Rock Road . "Th e co urse w a s exce lle nt" sa id Ham el, echoing the though ts of most of the racers in the field . "The club really laid ou t a go od course . It was rea lly cha llenging and mark ed really well, and even the first loop was great. It wasn' t jus t all vall eys - it was really technical and fun : ' Destry Abbott, who had traded last year's Open class ride for a KX250, did not ag ree . "It was way too fast. On the bomb I was wid e open and it stayed like th a t fo r the w h o le fir st loop, " sa id Abbo tt. "II w as an open-bike cou rse all the way:' And if a 250c c p ilo t th o u ght th e co u rs e was fa s t, 125cc ca p tai n s lik e Jim my Lewis kne w they had their work cut out. "I work ed my arse off all day," sai d Lew is , wh o was ca m pa ig ni ng a Yamaha YZl 25. "II was wa y too fast for a 125, plus I was abo ut like a million th to the bomb . I didn' t realize how borin g the first loop was beca use I was passin g peop le the wh ole time: ' A three- k ick star t, pl u s a b roken knuckle from a race the day before, put Ho nda-bac ked Joh nn y Cam pbell in the m idd le of th e p ack wh en hi s race go t under way, and Campbell's team mate, Je ff Ca pt, m ounted on a match in g XR600-based thum per, had his starting bu rst slowed by a fly ing ro ck th ai left him with a deep cut alongside his nose. Hu nnicu tt revised his ra ce st ra tegy about halfw ay through the uphill bomb. "I hurt my wri st going u p the bomb and then my arms kept falling asleep," said the Kawasak i Team Green 10<500 pilot. "I di dn't ride for the last two mon ths too mu ch lou nging over the winter, so I deci ded it wou ld be a good day to just try to ge t my body back in shape:' For KX125 hotsh ot Quin t Betts, ju st making it past the bomb was a d ream come tru e. "I rea lly have to than k Team G ree n," s a id Betts. "M y bik e seized pr acti cin g th e bomb. I took it over to them an d they totally rebuilt the top end before th e s tart. I got to th e lin e wi th three minutes to spare." The last-minute wrenching meant th at a s u r p rise presenta t ion that Kawasaki 's s ta ff had pl anned fo r just before the start of the race had to be put · o n h old, and it w as n ' t un til af te r th e event was over that Ham el learned that Kawasaki wa nted to present him with one of its top-of-the-line mountain bikes in recogn ition of his efforts and success in the National series over the last four years. But r ecog n itio n was th e furth e st thing fro m Hamel's mind as he powered th rough th e fina l stages o f loop one , wh ich ran th rough the Cougar Bu ttes area and skirted the east end of Soggy Dry Lake. Davis was hangin g tenaciou sly to his rear fende r and the race was too close to th in k about anything except a wid e-open throttle. "I pulled away in a valley after I first go t by h im, bu t he almost pa ssed m e back in a rocky canyo n," sa id Hamel. "Wh en we go t to the next valley, I held it on all the wa y across and d idn 't think I'd see him again, bu t he was right there when we cam e into the pits: ' Wh en Hamel cleared h is pit a t th e end of the first loop, Davis was onl y 17 seconds behind and from his hard -onthe-gas rid ing style, it was obvious that the number-two racer had no intent ion of handing Ham el an easy victory . Almost five minutes passed bef ore Capt and Krau se headed into pit row in

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