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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127731
24-Hour Rock Around the Clock 'They were pitted right next to us," Krause .said . "Eve ry thi ng th ey di d wo rked . Every t hi ng th at we tou ched fell apart." " It was disgus ti ng how good of a r id e we h a d ," Morton sa id . " 1 wa s expecti ng us to ha ve probl ems, b u t I th ink we took the lead by n ine in th e mo rnin g (jus t two hours after the start) . I think we were lead ing most of the day (after that). We had mostly min or problems. I guess we deserved it; I ca n' t believe the bike held up. I never thou ght we were going to win. Krau se and those guys w ould ha ve problems then ge t going agai n an d ge t close to us th en (Left) The defending Rock Around The Clock champs spen t much of their time in the pits, replacing ignitions and exha ust pipes . The Kawasaki team still finished second to the winning Tim MortonlTex Mitchell/John FloresIBrent Blount/Jim LohiJason Corfman Kawasaki team. (Below) Transmission problems hampered the Honda team . Rutten and Chuck Miller. They received some consolation in the fact that the y did get fourth overall and set an Open Four-Stroke r ec ord at 1137.6 miles . Another KX250 ridden by Craig Hunter, Erik Wolfe, John Kawell, Jon Parks and Phil Holcomb rounded out the top five with 1079.1 miles. Of the 41 starters, 35 teams finis hed, w h ich compares well with 1993' s 33 s ta r t e rs and 22 fin ishers . Of the 35 teams, 19 se t world re cords fo r their class. Four individ uals tried to solo this year, but only Yamaha YZZSG-mounted Mike Clancy finis he d , rolling to 699.2 mil es. Beside setting a 250cc Vet Iron man record , Clan cy's rid e raised money for cancer research. Displayin g a handfu of blisters and spea king groggily at the finish , however, he promised , 'This 1:\ is the last time I d o this: ' . Plaster City West , Californ ia Results: May 13-14, 1995 250: 1. Tim Morton / Tex MitchdllJohn Florea / Brent Blount/ Jim Loh / jaso n Conna n (Kaw) 1208.3 m ile . 2. s Cra ig Hunter / Erik Wolfe / John Kawe lllJon Par ks / Phil Holcom b (Ka w) 1079.1 mil es; 3. Lee H enry /E rik Shanu r/Chris Hoppe / jtm Dobosz/Mark Schuittoc/V ic Conway (Suz) 809.1 miles. 500: 1. Paul Kra use /Dave On das/Ron Lawson / Craig Smith /Dan Richard son (Ka w) 1184.2 miles. OPEN 4·STRK: 1. Jo h n ny Ca m p be ll / Da vide Trolli/B ruce Ogilvie/Greg Bringle/Bob Rutten/ Chuck Mill er {Hen ) 1137.6 mil es; 2. Will y Ca li na to /Dan Parer/fay Hopkins / Dean Ho pk in s / Mark Gog one / Marc Prince (Ha n) 972.2 miles; 3. Scott Burch / Ben F. Greenwood / Rob Bernard /I on Jackson/Mike Haliday/ Dave Nicks (Han) 833.8 miles. O PEN VET : 1. Dan Worley /Craig Adam s/Dave Donatoni/Earl Roberts /Mike Shoema ker/ Phil Means (Ka w ) 1148.6 miles. 25 0 VET : Ji m G re e ne / Marti n McN eer /B ill McNeer /Craig Cor da /Mark McNul ty / Dewe y Belew (Yam) 1022.0mil es, By Mark KariyalDirt Rider 28 PLASfER OTY WEST, CA. MAY 13-14 Y a ll accou n ts, incl u ding their own, th e w innin g team in th e take a deep breath - Fourth Biennial 24 Hours of Le Fud /Rock Around the Clock O ff -Ro ad En durance World Cham p ionship race never should've finished, mu ch less won. In a race to see how far you can go in a fu ll d ay with one bike and u p to six riders per team, virtually everyone expects to have problems. This is a race that goes not solely to the swift and the brave but to the efficient, those who can overcome adversity quickly. Though they had tw o years to get ready, the Tim Morton/Tex Mitchell/ Jo hn Flores/Brent BlountlJim Loh/ Jason Corfman team only firmed up plans to contest the race a few weeks before. Then - talk about last-minute prep - they didn't get their bike put together an d tested until 3:00 a.m., four hours before the start of the race. "It's my '95 KX250 practice bike, ~ Morton said, "a nd it mus t have over 2000 hard m iles on it, but it's never been apart before. It's just a stocker with an 18-inch rear wheel, a pipe, our Baja gearing, and that's about it. "Our story of the night before is the best," Morton added. "We'd been waiting for motor parts a week-and-a-half, and they finally arrived Friday aftern oon . So Te x picked 'em u p in San Diego and drove (two hours) to the race. Then we just locked ourselves in the van and put it together. It need ed a top end, a clutch, and an ignition - we finished it at 2:30 in the morn ing, and it fired on the first kick." Still, th ey had no expecta tions of going h ead to head wit h the Tea m Gree n KX500 of d efending champ Paul Kr a u s e, Da v e Ond as, Ron La w so n, Craig Smit h and Dan Richardson, especially with a miserable 20-40 mph wind. which blew throughout the weekend. It was so stro ng that in the home stretch heading back to .the pits - and directly into the wi nd - most bikes, including Krause's, wo uldn't pull top gear. Curiously, Morton reported no problems pulling fifth o n his 250 despite the expected handicap of Baja gearing. Promoter Otis Fudpucker waved off the first bike at 7:00 a.m ., subsequent starters getting the green every five seconds. "We probably led the first 120 miles," Krause estimated . "1 rode five laps, Dave Ondas rode five, th en Ron Lawson got into Coyote Wash and the ignition went. It was a nightmare from then on." Tho ug h their team set the fastest lap of the day with a blisterin g nine minute, 0.06 secon d lap around the lO-mile loop, repairs would chew up a frustrating amount of li m e. In all , th ey'd g o through five ignitions, two pipes, a set of reeds and a blown seal which forced them to ad d gallons of oil to keep the tranny topped off. have more p rob lem s . It was only at three in the morn ing when I thought, 'Hey, we can win this: So I woke everyone up and told 'em the new game plan: We're gonna run it as hard as we can : But they hadn't listened to me before when I told 'em to take it easy (on the fresh motor ), so I do n't know if it did any good:' Whether or not they listened, they rode well to rack up 1208.3 miles, setting a new record fo r 250s . The p rob lemwracked Kra use tea m ended up with 1184.2 miles, amazingly enough good for secon d overa ll th ou gh it was nowhere near the record 1313.1 miles set in 1993's perfect conditions. Third went to the KX500 team of Dan Worley, Craig Adams, Dave Donatoni, Earl Roberts , Mike Shoe maker and Phil Means with 1148.6 miles. Transmission problems hi ndered th e Honda XR628 ridden by Johnny Campbell, Davide Trolli, Bruce Ogilvie, Greg Bringle, Rob 125 VET: 1. Vic Klotz / Jim Savatgy / v« Curti/Ed Tyynisma /Bob Bell/Mark Kanya (Yam) 962.5 miles. SR: 1. Gary Tepner /Ross Gr egory /Vince Skand un as / Steve Bussell / John DeSoto /Jay Zicker (ATIO 943.6 miles, S/ S R: I. Bob Thompson /Richard Lind ley /Ted Scott /Dick Bird /Himey Mean s IJohn Bilke y (Yam) 798.6 mil es . CLASS 3 : 1. Ken Taper /Roland Wood /Errol/ Clarke/Tim Staab /loey Lane /Mark Girsch (So2) 942.0 miles. CLASS OPEN 4-ST RK VET: I. Ch ris Lan dri e/ Mik e Kit ten / Du a ne Hollander/ Steve Fenton (Hen) 937.6 miles. CLASS 3 600 4-STRK: 1. David Ketchum /James Ketchum /Matt Kenned y /S teve Colw ell /Mike . Harper/Mark Bradley (H en) 926.2 miles. CLASS 3 12S: I. Mark Baker/Marty Kamery /Gill Capionca / Steve Slade/A rt Pifer/ David Slade (Yam) 847.0 miles, CLASS 3 OPEN 2-ST RK: I. Gary Royer /David Girton/John Robinson /Riel Mau ro/Craig Britt/La ny Omes (Hon) 838.9 miles. CLSC: I. Pat Stidman/Guy Biggs/Tim Beery/Mark Smith /Kirk Baker/Mark Xtru rralde (H us ) 818.3 mi les. 250 VET lRONMAN: I. Mike Clancy (Yam) 699.2 mil es. 200: 1. Rick Wessel s /R ,T. We ss ell s /G rand pa Wessels / Joe Lucer o /Bart Co lem an / Da n Carrasco (Yam) 659.2 miles. SIDEHACK: 1. Mike Burn s/Bob Mor gan / Scott Greg ory /Don Harte /Richard Stiff/ Dave Hersey / B.")' Bryant/Damon Doherty f Paul Stimsonf Mitch Hinnicker (Hen) 386.4 miles.