Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~_ tweaked m y bars and broke my drink system, I'd lost two to three extra points in this section, SO I was behind the game plan to begin with . I told myself to settle down, 'You do good in these situations: It all clicked in my m ind , I calmed down. I knew I coul d win this thing. I smoked the second loo p, dropping one point, I knew now that I ha d one poi nt on Kelby and the overall lea d ." The third loop, for A a nd B ri ders only, took away the most points of the day. Ha tch's lu ck wo uld cha nge for the wo rse . At a deep watercrossing three m iles in to the six-mile section, Hatch watere d out. "Halfway into this section, I came to a huge water crossing, it actu ally had a stream flowin g throu gh the mid d le of it. I slowed down, p icked my line an d went in easy. My fro n t wheel caught a la rge rut, I tri ed to dab and save it, but my bi ke and m yse lf went under. It filled the engi ne fu ll of wate r. ( guess I was too cautious and it work ed ag ainst me. You know th e old cliche ... whe n it rains it pou rs and when it's dry, it's as h ot as the Sahara desert ," said .H atch of his misfortune. The third loop en ded Hatch's chance for th e overall. He p umped th e water out of the engine and got his Suzuki running again but not before losing 15 mi nutes at check 14. He carried seven of those 15 points to the finish line to end up with a final score of 28 on his card for ninth overall. The best of Hawkins came out in this mudd y a nd ugly third loop. Hawkins, who only gets better when the trails get worse, had the fastest time in this section, carding a six. Davis rode only 10 seconds off the former cha mp's pace to co llect a six as well. Pepper ex per tly blazed this points-robbing section, com ing in only seconds off Hawkins and Davis' pace and was the only other rider with a low score of six . Picking u p an addi tiona l o ne at the finis h, Pepper .. ~- --- - (Above) Series rookie Mike Lafferty used the wet cond itions to his advantage. Lafferty, who halls from NewJersey, claimed fourth overall. (Below) Five-time National Enduro Champion Randy Hawkins gollosl early in the event and dropped many points. He still finished sixth . (Above) Kevin Bennett rode a Honda XR250 fourstroke 10 fifth overa ll. (Left) Defending champ SIeve Hatch was leading Ihe enduro before lipping over in a water crossing and drowning out his Suzuki. The flooding dropped him to ninth. earned high point honors with a twopoint cushion, having the (ow score of . 13 for the day. Having four hot poi nts, Davis' winning streak came to an end in Lou isiana, bu t still finished second on the day. SERA AA rider Waller finished third overall wi th 15 points after losing out on the tie breakers to Davi s. KTMbacked two- tim e ECE A cha m p M ike Lafferty of the infamou s Lafferty Family ra n up a total of 18 p oints for fo urth overall. "I' m a roo kie big-time," sai d Lafferty . " I've rode a few N ati on a ls h ere and . the re but th is is th e first time I' ve followed the series. I'm having a lot of fun . I rea lly e njoyed thi s even t. T he Louisia n a trails were very fa milia r to me, alm ost exactly like h ome, unlike Ca lifornia and out West where the terrain is so d ifferent. I had a problem -free run. I rod e sm art . I didn't ride crazy, so many were ru shing into the water holes, I slowed down and took my time to pick better lines around the obs tacles. It was a great day." High point A class winner Bennett turned in a score of 21 for a well-earned fifth overall. Hawkins took himself out of contention carrying seven hot points to finish sixth o verall with 23 points. Seventh overall went to SERA AA rider Gib son after losing the tie breakers to Hawkins. KTM's Matt Stavish picked up eigh th overall. Hatch finis hed up in ninth; while SERA's Jody Patterson finished 10th overall with 29 points. The co urse was reminiscent of en d uro even ts of days go ne by. Ma ny veteran enduro riders who ven tu red out on th e w et muddy tr a ils of Louisiana found themselves ridi ng a tru e survival run. I~ Arcadian Dirt Riders National Forest Hill, Louisiana Resu lts: April 23, 1995 O/A: 1. Kelby Pepper (Kaw) 13.715; 2. Ty Da vis (Kaw) 15.647; 3. George Waller (Kaw) 15.891; 4. Michael La fferty (KTM) 18.916; 5. Kevin Bennet (Ha n) 21.44; 6. Randy Hawkins (Suz ) 23.886; 1 . Je rry Gi bso n (Kaw ). 23.914; 8. Ma tt Stavish (KTM) 2B.tlB4; 9. Steve Ha tch (Suz) 28.1309; 10. Iod y Patterson (Han) 29.686; 11. Allan Randt (KTM); 12 . Craig Kennedy (Hon); 13 . G le n Holingsh ead (Kaw); 14. Sle ve n Reed (Kaw), 15. Brad Sells (KTM); 16. Wyles Griffith (KTM); 17. Mack Hyde (Suz); 18. Nolan Knight (Hu s); 19. Cary Coff (Suz ); 20. Benn y Waldrop (Kew ). A MA N ATIONAL CHAMPIONSHI P EN DU RO SERIES POINT STANDINGS (After 5 of 9 ro unds) : 1. Ty Davis (145 / 4 w ins ); 2. Rand y Hawki':ls (102); 3. Steve Ha tc h ( 10 1); 4. Ke lby Pe pper (96/1 win); 5. Mi k e Lafferty (72); 6. Dann y Hamel (60); 7. James Gray (42); 8. Matt Slavish (33); 9. Larry Rocseler (29) ; 10. Do nnie Book (24). '

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