Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

fall further behind . Ther e's mor e pressu re wit h every race I win, but all I can d o is keep trying my h ard es t; I' m not go ing to change my strategy . I'd like to clinch the title ea rly and ge t th is th ing wra pped up. .If I di d n' t have to rid e the last rounds, I cou ld move on to bigger and bet ter things." t~ Sawmill National Enduro Navarro, California Results: April 2, 1995 (Round 4 of 9) O/A: 1. Ty Davis (Kaw ) 25; 2, Steve Hat ch (Suz) 27; 3. Randy Haw kins (Suz) 30; 4. Danny Hamel (Kaw) 32; 5, Michael Laffe rty (KTM) 38; 6. Davide Trolli (Kaw) 39; 7. Jim G ray (KTM) 40; 8, Kelby Peppe r (Ka w } 42; 9, Davi d Lykk e (Hon) 47; 10, Duke Lambert {He n] 48; 11. ; Ala n Rand' (KTM) SO 12, Tom Webb (He n) 53; 13, Joh n King (Kaw ) 55; 14. John May (Hus) 55; 15. Dave Wood (Kaw ) 57; 16. Dcan Joyner (Yam) 58; 17. E. Ducra y (Suz) 61; 18, Scott Meyer (H us) 62; 19, Dave Booth (He n) 62; 20. Matt Cu llins (Suz) 64, AMA NATIONAL CHAMPION SHI P ENDURO SERIES rOINT STANDINGS (aest 7 rides count): 1. Ty Davis (120 / 4 w ins); 2, Ste ve H a tch (89); 3, Rand y Hawkins (87); 4, Kelby Pepper (61); 5, Da nny Ham el (60); 6, Michael Laff er ty (54); 7. Jam es Gray (42); 8, Larry Roescler (29); 9. Donni e Book (24); 10, Tom Webb (21), (Left) Danny Hamel is another surprise rider of the se ries , as he recor ded his third top-five finish of the series. The four-time hare and hound champ ended up fourth. (Below) Michael Lafferty completed the top five overall, a full 13 points behind winner Davis. bitchen' , If it wa s tight trees with mud and ruts and rocks and root s at all the endu ros it w o u ld n ' t be fai r for him, either. I think it's good . It's goin g to be a nation al season tha t' s going to h ave every thing in it." Hatch was the runner-up of the day, two points off the pace of Davis. Part of the difference came early on loop one, w hen Davis dropped a single point in the fir s t specia l test. He w as th e on ly rider to do so, a feat mad e all the more impressive when the sc oreca rd s were exam ined closely. The check-o ut to the test wa s a tie breaker, and Davis so undly defeated his rivals. "I w as actu all y a full minute ahead of th ose guys," sa id Davis. " It w asn ' t like I go t in there on :58 and they came in a few second s later on the n e xt minute or something. Our seconds were about th e s ame, but I was a minute ahead ." H at ch dropped two points a t th e check, while Ha wkin s ca rd ed a three. By then, however, his chances at victory had already been damaged. "I kind of zo ne d ou t and the y said I burned a ch ec k, but I really d id ht," Ha w k ins sa id . " If it wo u ld h a v e a ffe cte d m y result I w oul d h ave p ro tested, but it didn't really matter. We sta rted d own a h ill and I loc ked the fron t brake s up an d I was sliding. I took m y foo t o ff and w as drag gin g it, bu t I didn't stop. They said I dropped forwa rd momen tum. Then I too k off and I w as kind of p issed and I w a s riding an d I we n t down a hill. The rear of m y bik e kicked up on this water bar thing and th ere was a log there, and I did a big endo. At th e next check I d id a 3:10 and everyone el se was gett in g o ne s and tw os. Af ter that I got going and had a good ride." Th e trend continued on loop two, with Dav is zero ing a test where the othe r s dropped one , and things looked good goin g into the grueling 30-mile final loop. " I kind of kn ew what th e pace was like, and I kn ew what I had to do to win, " said Davis. "In a section like that you can h ammer down the w ho le w ay an d make up two minutes - I've done it before - but at least I knew I was ahead . I went fas t and w e a ll p retty much tied the whole way. It wa s so long and tight, and I didn't think it was eve r, going to end." Hawkins, however, didn't th in k it was tight en ough. "I had a good rid e in the afternoon," he said . "In the last section they had a tie breaker going in , I stalled ou t for it (to come in on :30), and no one else really d id . I stil l ca me in ahead of Ty at the next check, so I made up-,like 10 seconds on him right there. These guys (the club ) did a good job, but it co u ld ha v e b een mo r e te chnical. They'd run you in tight woods for just a li ttl e bit, but yo u jumped b ack on th e road - I'd be in fourth gear. They'd put yo u in th e bu shes, but eve n ther e, yo u go fast. We' ve had zero races this year w he re w e can brake-slide, a nd th at ' s wh er e me and Steve are the best. I hear that they're sayi ng th ere wo n' t be no complaining about ope n trails in Ohio, so I'm loo kin g forw ard to th at . I w as looking fo rw a rd to Geo rg ia, but that d idn't work out." "This one so far was the tightest, on th e th ird loop," sa id Hatch . " I think that's why Randy and I stayed so close to Ty. We were onl y about 10 seconds or so behind him the wh ole time. The other rounds were more wide open . This kind of lets you get a rhythm, and Randy and I can re ad it as fast as h e ca n , if n ot faster, so that's kind of go od for us . It had so me open stuff that he' s good in and some tight stuff that we're good in, so it kind of evened out. I think the club d id an ou ts ta n di ng job . I was really imp ressed ." Still, with only the AA .and A rid ers rid ing the las t loop, many riders complained that the weed -covered trail was d ifficult to follow. In particu lar, most riders missed an unarrowed right turn an d con tinued up a dead -end hill . Fortunately, the mi stake was quic kly co rrected, a n d was m ad e b y a ll th e top rid ers . Davis' agg ressive-bu t-ca refu l thi rdloop approach left him wit h hi s two point lead still intact, and win number four in the books. Hatch's 27 wa s three points better than Hawkins, w ith Hare & Hound Champi on Danny H amel anoth er two minute s b a ck with 32. Series rookie Mich ael Laffert y com pleted the top five, with Italian Davide TrolIi takin g a n impres si ve s ix th pl a ce aboard his big Honda XR600. Mor e im portan t than the win, however, was the fact that Dav is picked up even more of a cushi on on his rival s, as the seri es head s in to its latter half - all of which will take place in the eastern ha lf of the country. Dav is now enjoys a com fortable 31-point lead, a fa ct th at h ad him in good spirits. "Rand y and Stev e sho u ld si t down and have a talk, because they're kind of hurting each other," said Davis . " N ot only am I winning, but they keep beating each other, which makes them both ·Brieflv... Upcoming Rounds: Round5 - Forest Hill, LA. April 23 Round6 - Wellston, OH, May 7 Webb and (Dirt Rider magazine editor) Tom ' We bb. We're goin'g to have a "s upe rcross track with ali eight of us going. We'li have a point system and everything, so il'sgoing 'to Once one of the biggest fans of conventional be like a gameshow. We're goingjo race the ' forks, Ty Davis has been converted to invert- , go-karts, race the trials bikes and eve,rything,-, .' , ed. Davis used to run a ,works Kayaba con- " '.' , ventional 'fork, and last year raced with a Ty Davis had'no shortage of talent in his corMarzocchi conventional unit. This 'se ason, ner on his way to the win at Navarro. Team- ' however, he,has ,been riding with the stock mate and 'off-road legend Larry' Roeseler Kawasak i Kayabatork , modified by Terry made 'the trip north, but instead of racing, Davis of Terrycable and L.a:rry Prieur of Acme : provided technical ass istance and moral sup, Racing. "They were'telling me to try it,' and I port:for Davis 'and Danny Hamel. "Enduros said, 'I don't know, I'm pretty happy withmy are kind of weird, and there are ali kinds of lit,' conventionals." said Davis, "But Itried it'just ' tie things that 'can'go wrcing,~ said Roeseler, for the 'heck of ii, and I really liked it. I don' t who added that he had no plans of ado'pting , have a single complaint." Steve ,Hatch has , . the rolefull time, "I've been doing it fora long also swltched from Marzocchi forks to the , time, and .we figured I might be able to make ' stock Kayaba inverted unit, though Randy, ,thing's, run .smoother.": The plan appa rently Hawkins continues to use a conventional . workad, as neither Davis nor Hamel reported ' a single glitch'on the day.' ., ' ' Ohlins fork on his Suzuki RMX. .: " , " Following the enduro, Steve Hatch and Randy Hawkins' headed to, teammate Guy coeper's house in Oklahoma to film show , for ESPN2. "It'li be like the Suzuki Olympics ' or 'something," said Hatch. "II's going to be ' ,Randy Hawkins, Rodney Smith, Mark Hyde and (ESPN commentator) Jerry Bernardo on , one learn. The other team is going to be Guy ,:COOper: . . (Suzuki team , manager). Mike · ' . rnyselt, . . a ' " , " ', " . . " ,. Several riders ,had trouble' ada pting to the Dist rict 36 a llowance of unmarked spee d changes and 'resets.,"I'don't know why they do that,",sa id Ty Davis, "l'd be riding along a ' little bit late.'and the next thingyou know they , have a speed change to' 1Band yourcomput'er is flashing that you're early: If you're not . payingattention, it can sneak up on you."The ' ' ,. locals had no such '!'oUbles, " ..... I-< 0... < 21

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