Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

. ENDURO '.' ,.. .. AM ANational Championship E!lduro Series . By Joel Sm ith Photos by Mark KaryialDirt Rider WICKENBURG, AZ, FEB. 26 n the steamy, cactu s-ridden -d esert of southwestern Ari zona, Kawa saki Team Gre en ' s Ty Davis put the prickle to the com pe tition by wi nn ing the second round of th e AMA Nat iona l Enduro Se ries. Davis, w ho best ed the all-star field by impressive margin of two poi n ts, continued h is streak which started w ith a win at th e series opene r Quicksil ver Na tional End uro in California, th e week before. "I wa nted to wi n in Arizo na because I lost by a small margin (to Steve Ha tch) last year," said Davis. " If [ can win in Georgia next w eek an d fo llow th at u p w ith a win once w e come back to Californi a, I w ill be in good form to have the series wrapped up ." In spite of Davis' im pressive victory, the Moose -backed rider had a few prob lems th at cost him valuabl e point s. "On the firs t loop I burned a che ck after coming into a reset," Davis sa id . "I was n' t th ink ing a n d was riding in late/ early modeIon h is ICO compu ter) and I sh ou ld've been in seconds. As I came into the check and flipped it ove r to seconds , I knew I blew it." Later, Davis also noticed what coul d ha ve been an erro r on th e club's part . "I w as ch eck ing the re sults w ith . Larry (Roesele r) and D anny (Ha mel) and they (the club) marked me two minu tes late at a che ck th at ev er yo ne else zeroed." With out the burned check and a club correction Da vis could have had an even more astoundi ng six point win over the field . Davis' m ain compe tition, Su zuki pil o t and de fen d in g Nat iona l End uro Cham pion Stev e H atch finished a close second , mi ssing tw o che cks by only a few seconds each. "Up to the second gas stop, Ty and I were tied for first wi th five po ints lost," sa id the Team Suzuki rid er . "Bu t in the third loop, I m issed one check by tw o secon ds and , on anot he r, they flipped the card and didn't give it to me." H atch finished the race w ith a 17, one point up on third and fourth pla ce finishers Danny H amel an d Kelby Pepper, but a full two poin ts behind Da vis' 15. A lthou gh Hatch ' s h ope s of a nothe r champi o n s hip h a v e obv io u s ly b een im peded by Davis' speed, Ha tch w el comes the compet itio n. " I' rn fi red up, " H a tch s a id afterword s . " H a vi n g Ty ra cing th e en tire series boosts us u p to another level, one that we h ave to m eet an d it' s a good challenge." The develo ping batt le between th e Ka w asaki and Suzuki rival s is su re to increase next week as the series makes a stop in Georgia. Wher e Davis, hailing from the arid Californ ia hi gh desert of Hesp eria, m aintains a sligh t advantage o ver Hatch in ra ces li ke Arizona and Californi a, th e Georgia end uro, es pecial- I A la ~ a Round.2: Arizona Trail Riders Iy if co m b ined with rain fall, w ill be more ad vantageo us for Hatch . "I look forward to Geor gia. It will be a good race," Ha tch said . Another competi tor w ho ant icipa tes a tough battle at the Georgia Nation al is five- time Na tional End uro Cha m pion Randy Hawkins. H aw kins finished fifth in Arizo na and d ro pped in the ov era ll points series from second to thi rd . " I ro de w ell in Ari zona but [ ma de mist ak es too," the Suzuk i rid er ad m itted . " O ne time I overshot a turn an d d ropped down off the side of a hill. It was loose, sca ly rocks and I los t tw o m inutes trying to get back on the trail." With rumors floating abou t a po ssible retiremen t, some critics have d isco u n te d Hawki ns fo r th e series w in . Randy on the other hand sees thin gs d iffere ntly . " I' m as mu ch or m o re fi red a bo u t racing as ever," sai d H awkins . "I' m ha vin g fun and I'm ca pable of w inni ng any race I enter, any scrambles, an y end uro, anything. [ am looking fo rwa rd to the next two years." . Danny H am el a lso im pressed the ra nk s of pure enduro rid ers by follow ing up h is o peni ng round third w it h ano ther third in Wickenburg . Bes id es marking anoth er h ighligh t in H amel's racing career, th e Ar izon a end uro also m arks th e end to H amel' s s tin t in th e 1995 end uro series. As the series m akes it's way to the red clay hills of Greensbo ro fo r round th ree, H ame l w ill be (Above) Kawasak i's Ty Davis won his second National Enduro in as many weeks . In Arizona, Davis scored the win with two po ints to spare. (Below) Suzuk i's Steve Hatch , the defending National champ, rebo unded from last week's fourth to finish second.

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