Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.O F.International Desert Championship Series Round 1: San Felipe 250 F -R A OD SCORE mak es h im eligi ble to move up to the Ove r 40 di vi si on. "Di abl o lake was interesting bu t the rest was pr et ty mu ch . the same old stu ff - just lots of whoops ." Fred Co nover, who co- p ilo te d th e Kawasaki Tea m G reen-backed KX500, wa s p leased with th e ou tcome of hi s first Baja event. . "It was a long race for me - 100 or someth ing miles in my section," said the motocross / Grand Prix race r, "bu t I felt great the who le tim e. It was a fu n day an d [ might do this again." A close race, in th e 250cc divis io n ended when Tim Morton rockete d hom e the Kawasaki he sha red with John Flores. Th e wi nn ing 250cc entry claimed third overall, 38 minu tes behind Hamel an d Smith, and finished just seven minutes ahea d of KX250 pilots John Kawell a n d Roge r Hu rd , w ho be at Dewey Belew and Jason Corfman out of fourth ove rall by just 19 seconds. "We were a little slow off th e s ta rt but th in gs p icked u p a fter th at ," sai d (Left)Tom M orton (shown) teamed up with John Rores to grab 'top honors in Class 21. (Below) David Lapraik (shown) and Richard Jackson bagged the Class 40 . victory. water and wer e really slip pery. Wh en yo u hit those at 100, all you can think is, 'Oh no.' If you go down, you' ll be slid ing for 500 feet." . Ka w el l a n d H u r d h a d put th eir cras hing behind them in the first half of the race and we re making good time as they dashed ar ou nd the southe rly loop toward the finish . "Both of U S had a goo d rid e the seco n d tim e w e go t on th e bike ," sa id H urd . " We 'd d ented th e p ip e prett y goo d wh en we crashe d in the first half and that took away some of our horsepo w er, we ' d los t tim e a dj u sti n g th e bars, and the d ampener came loose. It's h ard to make up time in a race like this, b ut yo u ne ver know w hat' s go ing to hap pen so you jus t keep trying." The duo's never -say-d ie attitud e had Kaw ell battli ng e lbow to elbow w it h Bel e w as th ey m ad e th e fin al turn toward San Felipe. ' No t fa r b eh ind, Ja ckson was still wearing an ea r-to-ear smile under his helmet. "The suspe nsi on w as so good . Th e fron t fo rks a re a dream, " h e r a ve d . " Look at me - I' m not even pu m ped . That's how easy a goo d bike can make this race." Ou t in front, Smi th was rea lizin g a dream of his ow n. He reached the pavement on the outskirts of San Felipe just a fte r 10:20 a.m . an d spri nte d th e final qu arter-mile to the checkered flag. After fou r hou rs and 22 min utes of ra cin g, the Hamel /Sm ith KX500 took the overa ll mot or cycle ho no rs wit h an ave rage spee d of 57.11 mph. The even t's overa ll wi n w a s cla im ed b y Tro p h y Tru ck racer Larry Ragland , who shaved nearly hal f an hour off the top motor cycle tim e when he hit the course in his . Chevy tru ck a little later in the d ay. "We had a clean run the whole wa y," sai d Ha mel. "I got the lea d abo u t five m iles in to the course and I neve r saw . an yb od y after that." Smith was happy with th e wi n and almost as happy to have the race behind him. Hurd mount, whic h lef t the duo do wn on power, while silencer pr obl ems left firs t-time Baja racers Dewey Belew and Jaso n Co rfma n wit h massive head aches. "We'd never raced in Baja befo re. It's rou gh bu t it's fun," said Belew. "It need ed to be abo ut 500 miles longer. No, I'm only joking. It was long eno ugh, trust me." Sixth ove rall and first in the Over 40 d iv is ion wen t to Da v e La prai k a n d Richard Jackson. The KX500 pilots finish ed just over an hour ahead o f their nearest rivals, Jim Moo re a n d Gen e Dem p se y, wh o b rought th e ir XR630 hom e in 14th overall . ' Jackson r ep o rt e d th at th e team ' s ,biggest battles were with local tra ffic and Diablo dry lake. "Dry lake? What dry lake?" he joked . "I pu t the chok e on and put it on the pin going across th er e. Th at wor ked really well. The only thing I didn't like was the traff ic. I passe d th ree veh icle s on th e cou rse an d sa w abou t 20 that ha d just pulled off. It' s typ ical bizarre Mexico. They just get in their cars and run backw ards on the course until they find a goo d pl ac e to wa tch. W h en you get close to a town, yo u have to start rolling off the throttle or yo u' ll be in trouble." Victo r Luja n a n d Da ve Don at oni brou gh t the first non-Kawasaki home in seven th overa ll to claim second in the Over 30 class and the pu rse for the first Me xican ent ry to cross th e li ne . The $1000 w as badl y need ed. "We come from very poor families," said Don atoni, who rep orted a troublefree rid e. "No, serious ly. We didn't even ha ve th e en try fee th e d ay before th e race. Lujan had to go out and wo rk his Mexican magic to ra ise eno ugh mon ey to let us start." Th e Pad a e z /O rti z /V ega KX250 team, w hich s u ffe re d cri p p li ng fro n t br ake problem s in the early go ing, finis h e d ni nth o v e rall a n d mi ssed th e $1000 pu rse by just 14 minu tes. "We rea lly wa nted to win the Mexi'can class and be third ,or maybe second 250cc. It was a reac hable go al u nt il we had ou r b rak e problem s," sai d Ortiz. "We did p ret ty well , I gues s. We were back behin d all the spo rtsma n racers at o ne s ta ge an d w e were h alf an hour be hind (Luj an an d Don a to n i) a t EI Chinero. We mad e u p a lot of time." The 125cc Pro d uo of Tim Staab and Mik e H inri chsen fin ished nin th overall o n th e ir H onda CRl25 with a total elapsed time of five ho urs and 43 minu tes. "We were running a lot h igh er than this but everyb od y pa ssed us near the end - in th e d ry lake secti on and after that," said Staa b. "The bike's p retty slow com pa red to th e 250cc th at [ usuall y r ide. It' s a p ain ch a sin g th is thi ng aro und ." O ve r all h·ono rs in the Sp orts ma n Division we nt to Over-30 rac ers Jaim e Roberts' an d Earl Roberts, who com pe ted the course in five hou rs 49 minutes. n San Felipe 250 San Felipe, B.C., Mexico Results: March 11, 1995 "Now that it' s over, it fee ls good to ge t it off my sho ulders," he said . "It's an impo rtant wi n for me. Along with winn ing the King of the Desert in '9 4 and '95, this is probably the biggest wi n I've had ." . Sta te n brou ght Ka w asaki ' s secon d factory-backed en try home wit h a time of four hours an d .54 minutes to cla im second overa ll and a runaw ay w in in the Ove r 30 div ision . "Pre tty good for an old fa rt, huh?" s ai d Sta te n , wh os e recen t b ir th d a y Morton. "Flores d id a great inner loop and I survived the d ry lake. I ha d the poor little .b ike pinned in fou rth across th ere a n d I w as a little nerv ou s, bu t every thi ng w or ked ou t. Thi s race w as really fun . Normally, San Felipe is just hot and dusty and sandy and whoo ped out bu t the rain and the cours e changes mad e this one great." Pipe problems had made the race ted ious for both of the KX250s that followed Morto n in. A crash h ad d en ted th e pipe on th e John Kawell /Ro ger O/A: 1. Da nny Ham el / Cr aig Sm ith (Kaw) ; 2. Rex Staten / Fred Co nover (Kaw ), 3. Tim Mort on / John Flores {Kaw ): 4. John Kaw ell /Roger Hu rd (Kaw) ; S. Dew ey Belew/ Jaso n Co rfma n (Ka w ); 6. David Lap raik / Richa rd Jackso n (Kaw); 7. Victor Lujan /Dave Do nato ni (Ha n); 8. Ca briel Padaez /J ua n O rtiz/Sergio Vega {Kaw]: 9. TIm Staab / Mike Hinrichsen (Hon) ; 10. Beto Vc rbc r / Rogelio Brambila (Kaw). CLASS 22: 1. Dan ny Ha mel /Craig Smith (Kaw); 2 Ar turo Salas /Jorge Garcia (Kaw). CLASS 21: 1. Tom Morton lJ oh n Flores (Kaw ): 2. John Kawell / Roger Hur d (Kaw); 3. Dewe y Belew / Jason Co rfma n (Kaw ). CLASS 20: 1. Tim Sta

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