Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ ENDU RO ..A N MA ational Championship E nduro Series . By Joel S mith Photos by Kinney Jones -~---- COALINGA, CA, FEB. 19 h ile millions of mo tor racing fans sat glued to th ei r television screens watching the Daytona 500 , one of th e least spectated forms of moto r racing kicked off its ser ies on the other side of the nation . In the low mou ntai ns ou tsi de Coalinga , California, the na tion's best end uro rid" ers assembled to contest the first round of the AMA Na tio n al Enduro Se ries. With su nny skies and a race filled with prot est s, mishaps, and heavy competi tion , Kawasaki Team Gr een rider Ty Davis took top hon ors wi th a sin glep oint victo ry ov er fiv e-time National End uro cha mp Rand y Hawkins . "T his is what I h ave to d o," Da vid reported happily . "To win the series I have to win races." In sp ite of the op timistic tone, things d idn't look good at race' s end, as Davis and Kaw asaki initially filed a protest of the 12th and final check. "On the third loop," Da vis said ab out the controv er sial che ck, " I w as out on a mesa with Kelby (Pepp er) and Joey (Hopkins) for five minutes looking for the trail. The m arkin g wa s b ad and w e ju st kept go ing straig ht up a hill w he n th e trail we nt the" other direction." Altho ugh it see ms unlik el y th at Davis lost a full five minutes on his hunt for mar kings and still beat the rest of the field , he in itia lly thought th e m ish ap ha d cost him the race w in. Ab ou t an hou r after the final ride r had crossed the finish line, Davi s and th e Rambl er' s head referee rod e a u t to the po int in qu estion. W Round 1: Quicksilver National Enduro , second-place finish pu ts him in a good position as the series makes its way back East. This is Davi s' firs t rea l assa ult on the title, and as of yet, his skills in the tight and m uck y Eastern terrain have yet to be adequately tested. "If I do good in the first three or four races, I will race the rest of the series," Davis said . "Although it' s n ot to my advantage to race back East, I feel like th e w hol e la st loop was rea lly tight, with ma nzanita'and rocks on the trail. If I can go fast there (in Coalinga), I can go fast back East." Rid ers like Hawkins, Stev e Hatch and Ke vin Hines, on the oth er h and , thrive in the exha us ting terrain typicall y found in races outside California. At last yea r's version of th e Q uicksilver, the trails rese m b led s ome th in g between Jupite r and the Arctic Circle as Mot her Nature a d ded g iant s nowdrifts and m uck to the already bru tal terrain. CRE priva teer Hines used the poor weather to h is advantage and p ost ed an earlyseason wi n. While the presen ting Ramblers had been caught off guard by the un usua l "weather, th is year th e club pla nned alterna te loo p s in ca se th e weather went awry. The course, wh ich consisted of th ree loops, ran a cu m u la tive total of 113 miles over the asbestos- laden foothills outside Coa linga. The first loop started with th e release of th e A-leve l riders, wh o wer e followed by the AA aces . In terms of over all difficulty, the first and seco nd lo op fe a tu re d m a n y of the chop ped-o u t w hoo ps that th e area is famou s for, an d it wasn' t until the third loop that things go t tight and the frontrunners began to d rop points. For many outsiders, the surp rise finish er o f the Qu ick sil ver En d u ro w as thi r d- p lace r a nd Natio na l H are & (Above) Ty Davis began his ques t for the National Enduro Championsh ip on a high note by winning the open ing round of the ser ies in California. (Right) Here, former champ Randy Hawkins drags his bike out of troub le. Despite how it might look, Hawkins had a good ride, finish ing second overall, just one point behind winner Davis. "Although 1 lost a lot of min utes an d th e club agreed th e r oute was m is marked," the Kawa saki rider claime d, "I knew I already had the win, so I d idn' t pu sh the issue . I still wo uld have liked to have the check dropped. " In defense of thei r p rotest, Kawa sa ki's off-roa d tea m manager Jose Gonzales said later, "Ty wasn' t the only reason we we re tryin g to protest the 12th chec k. A lot of guys were affected by the check . Take Kelby (Pep per) - he accumulated a total of 12 poi nts and a lot of riders got lost in the same section." Hawkins also criticized course markings: "I th ink the course was okay, but the marking was really poo r, especially wi th how dusty it was...Back East the y use arrows a lot mor e than ribbon, so it was a little hard er for me to follow ." In typical Sou thern hospitalit y, the nati ve So ut h Carolinian so un ded a po logetic abo ut voicing his concerns. "T hey (the Salinas Rambler s ) did a good job wit h the race," he d rawled. "I look for ward to next week end (ro u n d two in Wickenburg, Arizona )." Wh ile no s u rp rise, Ha w kins' close Hound C ha m p io n D anny H amel. Altho ug h the Kaw asaki pil ot is not best kriown for hi s en d u ro speed, he h a s shown similar capa bilities in races like the Tecate Enduro, where he ha s finished as high as second . " Las t year I ro de three o r fo ur end uros including Coalinga, Lucern e (in Southern California ) and the Alligat or (in Flo rid a)," Ham elsaid . "Th is is my bes t finish so far. I'mreally happy with how I rod e. Overall , I had a good weekend." Like Hawkins, Ham el had dropped a

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