Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127720
ENDURO ยท Daytona Beach, Florida ..45th Alligator Enduro ~ ~ aw lnS S lnS By Donn Maeda Photos by Kinney Jones DAYTON A BEAm FL. MAR. 9 t ma y not be a round of the AMA National Ch ampi onsh ip Enduro Series, but the Alligator Enduro is still looked upon by many of the sport's top riders as an important event to win. After all, the annual jaunt through the swamp lands of central Florida takes place smack-dab in the middle of Camel Motorcycle Week in Daytona Beach, and those on hand for the yearly celebration read like a who's who in the motor cycle raci ng indus try. Winning the Alligator in the presen ce of numer ou s manufacturer big wigs can 't hurt, can it? Th is year the long list of contenders was full of talent, and no one was surprised w he n Team Su zuki's fiv e-tim e Na tiona l En d u ro Champ ion Rand y Ha wkins eme rge d as the da y' s top rid er. Winner of the 1991 running of the Alliga tor, H awkins ha s al ways seeme d to fare pretty well at the eve nt: "I' ve always see med to g o pretty goo d at th is event," sa id 28-year-old Hawk ins. "I led it in '88 until I ran ou t of gas near th e en d, an d I also ha d it wo n in '90, but I go t a flat tire on the last loop. I wo n in '91, a n d I won agai n . tod ay, but this is by far the best Alligator Enduro that I've ever ridden." Many riders agreed with Hawkins, j a n d w ere quit e ple a s ed w ith thi s ye ar' s course layou t. The most not iceable difference was the lack of ex cess m o isture. The pa st two ye a rs h av e seen th e event held virtually en tire ly underwater, a s tropical s to r ms h a ve left th e rid e s igh t flooded. Thi s ye ar, th e Daytona Dirt R id ers lit erall y mov ed the enduro to h igh er ground returning the event to it s pre vious sigh t, just east of Dayton a Internation al Speedway. The course featured 98-ro u te miles, but onl y 56-riding miles, and nearly 500 riders did their best to stay on time in the tight and techn ical trails that la y ahead of them . The first loop rout ed rid ers throu gh the forest and though traction was ab u nda nt on th e black soil, speeds we re kept relative ly low by the tigh t confines of th e n u me ro u s pi ne trees. A g rass track a lso ke pt thi ngs interestin g before th e firs t gas stop. Loop two was described by riders as the toughest o f th e day . Palmett o b us hes kept visibility dow n to zero, as rid er s were forced to plow their way past -and th ro ugh - the large, lea fy foliage. H idden tree stu m ps kept rid ers on the ir toes, an d jus t as often - pu t the m on thei r h e ads . The last loop w a s compri sed mostly of whoops. "I came pr ep ared for a to tal survival ru n," sa id Team Suzuki' s Guy Cooper. "Bu t actually, the event wasn' t really tha t bad at all. There were only a few little puddl es - I w a s e xp ecting to be underwat er the whole time lik e it has bee n for the past tw o years." A " h a lf -d oze n sill y cr ashes" kept Coo pe r o u t of th e hunt, but the m oto cr o sser -turned -off-r oader s til l enjoyed himsel f. Th rough it all, Hawkins man aged to d rop a mere 12 points aboard his Dale Stegal-tu ned, Pro Circuit /Factory Conn e ction-spo nsored fa ctory Suzuki RMX250. Hawkins, wh o usually pilots a end u ro-con ve r te d RM125 motocross bike here , felt that although the course was incredibly tight, he could not have gone an y faster aboard his tidd ler. "It was just a tigh t th rash- through ride," said Hawkins. "This was tighter than a lo t of th e Na tion al s ge t, but I do n' t think my 125 wo uld have been an advantage. I go t hooked up with Rod ney Smit h right from the sta rt and we really help ed each other ou t. He wo uld push me, I wo uld push him:' A n d ge t ti ng h o oked up with th e eve nt winner can' t hurt, can it? Though the Alligator was only Smith' s secondev er en d uro, the d ef ending Nation al Hare Scra mbles an d Reliability End uro Cha mpion s ha dowed H a w kins w ell enough to score second overall and the win in the 250cc A class. Smith drop ped 13 points, only one more tha n his team mate Hawkins. a or (Above left) Team Suzuki's Randy Hawkins dropped jus t 12 points during the 45th Alligator Enduro for his second overall win at the event . Hawkins also won the Alligator in 1991. (Above Defending National Reliability ) Enduro and HareScrambles Champion Rodney Smith put in a strong ride for second overalland first in the 250cc Aclass. "My computer went out on the first loop , so from then on I based myself off Randy" sai d Smith. "He got away from me a bit whe n we got caught up in some slower riders. They flipped the card right before I go t to the next check, and that' s where he go t that point on me. It was hard to see the trail - I actually jus t closed my eyes a bit." Thi rd ov erall, but seco nd in the AA class went -to facto ry KTM rid er Ala n Gra vi tt , w h o dro pped six p oints per loop for a final score of 18. "The first sectio n went real good - I co u ld ac tua lly still see at tha t p oint," said Gravitt. "On the second loop I was go ing through the palm e ttos an d m y front wheel wen t in this tw o-foot wi de, two-foo t deep h ol e an d I went flyi n g over the bars. The guy be h in d me ran clear over my bike - it' s a goo d thing! fell on the side I did : ' Gravitt's KTM teammate Joey Hopkins was a favorite en tering the even t,