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/127771
HARE SCRAMBLE" . AMA National Championship HareScram bleSeries Rou d1: Hollis Hills SVRA n ter (Left) Rodn ey Smith open ed the AMA National Hare Scramb les Series with a co nv inc ing win at Hollister Hills. (Below) Smlth 's teammate Steve Hatch (8) rode a strong race, fin is hing second ove rall In th e Hollister mud . will be okay. " The race officially took th ree h ou r s and 16 mi nutes to complete. "We are real happy to b e able to' start out the season this way," said Smith fro m the winner' s circle. "We haven't had much time to test yet and these bikes are ba sically pretty stock, but m y Suzuki ran grea t. The track was plenty tough, and right at the end it looked like it might sta rt raining ag ain and 1 wanted to get d one. "I got the nu mber-three plate last year, but 1 wa nt that number-one plate b ack, so th is is a grea t wa y to s tart, es pecially in fro nt of m y famil y a nd wi th these local fan s th a t I've known for so long . We had to sto p three tim es for fue l, w h i le Sco tt (P lessi nge r) w oul dn't nee d to d o th at , but 1 h a d p lenty in reserve if 1 go t pushed at th e end. 1 ju st wa sn't su re abo u t how the weather w ou ld wo rk, but it w as gre at ." all tht By W.H. Spenc er Photos by Mykeal Cla rk HOLLISTER, CA, FEB. 4 e a m Suzuki's Ro d n e v Smi t h and Steve H a tch p ro vid ed an a ll-yellow one-two pu n ch at the opening round of the AMA Nat iona l H a re Scrambles Championship at the mud dy Hollister Hi lls State Vehicle Recreation Area . Heavy rains prior to the event left the ground saturated, obviousl y to Smith's liking. Smith, for all intents and purposes, led the race fro m start to finish, while Grand National Cross Country Champion Scott Plessinger ga ve chase most of the way. Plessinger's bid for the lead, h ow ever, was put to rest when he smacked hi s head on a low-hanging tree branch . He surrendered second place to Hatch but man aged to h old on to third at the finish . Finishing fourth wa s Brian Garrahan followed b y m oto c r o ss e r Rich Ta y lor, brother Patrick Garra han and Co le M arshall, who looked to have fourth place in the bag u n t il cra shing late in t h e race . Eighth p lac e w ent to Jason Da hners, w hile Eric Mashb ir and M atthew Stavish completed the top 10. The race nearly went over the time limit of th ree and a h alf ho urs when referee Pete Francini li ved up to hi s words a t the rider' s m eeting th at th e ra ce would go seven laps. H is cou rs e chase r, former dirt tracker Mark Sm ith , had d one a 28-minute lap and figured tha t th e AA rid er s w ould b e much fa st er and so requ ire seven laps t o complete a minimum of two and a half hours. Rodney Smith returned to camp Smi th p lan s o n fi nis h ing ou t th e Natio na l H are Scram b les Series. "My main th ru st for the season w ill be thi s an d the N ation al Reli ab ility (En duro) Se ries a nd try to hi t as m any GNCC events as possib le." H atch , the 1994 Natio na l En duro Cha mpion, was pleased w ith his second-p lace performance . " It was p retty muddy ou t there, but 1 had fun doing w heelies," joked Hatch, who used the event as a tu neu p for the upcoming' opening round o f the AMA ational Enduro Series in Coalinga, California. "Th is riding is almost identical to th e Gear Creek area and being out here the past two months, living and rid ing with Rodney and having a great bike - w ellprepared by Han k Tyre - is m u ch better than subzeros back in New York." T 32 in ov er 30 minu tes on th e first lap, then h ad about an extra two mil es to join the 12-m ile course and would then run times of 27 to 28 mi nu tes. At the two-a nd -a-half-h our m ark, the Suzuki factory tro ops, led by Mark Hyd e, were tearin g d own th e p it, figuri ng on the racing go ing six laps and were no t h a pp y or comp let el y ready when the checkered flag didn 't appea r and Smith stop pe d for a sp las h of fuel. Neve rtheless, Smith easil y won with a min ut e and a half to spare over Hatch. "We were just so rt of surprised ," sa id H yd e . " We had torn d o w n t he p it s tand figuring on just six laps, but it (Above) Scott Plessinger was runn ing sec ond before smacking hi s head on a tree branch. He still fi nish ed th ird overall. (Right) The top three: (left to right) Pless inger, Smith and . Hatch.