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/127729
.E D R . N U O·· .. AMA National Championship Enduro Series . Round 6: 21 st Annual LittleR accoon Classic (Left) Team Suzuk i's Randy Hawk ins . earned his first win of the series . It was his thi rd- st raight Uttle Raccoon Classic win. (Below) Terry Cunningham piloted a Spanish -built Gas Gas 125 to th ird overall . The bike was sim ilar to the mount Paul Edmondson captured the last two 125cc World Championships on. ba r s d o w n like the club ha d reco mmended . "The courses this yea r have been fairly open and fast," said Hawkins. "Davis is a grea t motocrosser when it comes to dragging your bars in the comers, bu t this has been our firs t chance to keep him upright between the trees." True, this was Hawkins and Hatch's Ha"W"kins ~ee-peat:s T e a m Suzuki's four-time National Enduro Champion Randy Hawkins too k yet another bite out of Kawasaki Team Green rider Ty Davis' series point lead by scoring his third little Raccoon Classic Enduro win in a row. "I won in Ohio the past two years, and I carne to the event pumped," said Hawkins. "I figured if Mike Kiedrowski cou ld win the Daytona Supercross three . yea rs in a row, I co u ld make O hio a three-peat for me." Riders were greeted by clear skies and warm temperatures when the 8:00 a .m . start time rolled around , and the 145-mile course (with resets) that lay ahead would cover just about every type of terrain that there is to be found in southeast Ohio. The A and AA class riders would complete all three loops, while the Band C riders would only tackle two . A small pair of cutdown handlebars was on display in the pits, indicating how narrow the wood -lined trails would be. The bars looked small enough for a mini-bike. Most riders rode clean through the first four checks, but defending National Champion Steve Hatch and Colorado potato farmer Kelby Pepper bot h dropped a point a t the first check. As soo n as riders left the fifth check, they e ntered the tight Ohio woods. The first woods section was extremely tigh t, and many riders began to wish they had cut their (Right) Ty Davis was fourth overall, but continues to lead the series point standings. The exmot ocr os ser was Impressive In the trees. (Left) Defend ing Nat ional Champion Steve Hat ch was second overall. Th e New Yorker actu ally t ied Hawkins, but lost the tie breaker. (Right) Run ner-up Steve Hatch (left) and winner Randy Hawk ins (ri ght) were glad to compete In a ti ghter, more trad iti onal enduro setting. The Suzuk i teamsters still fi nd themselves chasing after po ints leader Davis. first chance of the season to easily outdistance the on-fire Davis. The first tiebreaking check, however, told a different story. With Hatch losing one point at check o ne and an additional four a t the tie breaker; he sat way down in seventh overall. Hawkins, mea nwhile was in fourth . And guess who was leading? Davis carried the lowest score out of the tie brea ker, proving that he cou ld 'ride as fast thro ug h the trees as he does through m ore open terrain. T railing Davis by only a few seconds we re Dou g Blackwell, Michael Lafferty and Mall Stavish. Section 10 would be the next to claim points from most of the riders. Davis, Pepper, Blackwell and Hawkins each gave up three points, while Hatch, Stavish and Lafferty collected four .