Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

in 45 m inutes and headed in to pit row tw o minutes ahea d of h is neares t rival. "I rod e really hard until the first gas an d then, once 1 knew 1 had a bit of a lead, 1 started cruising," said Zitterkop f. " I sl owed d own m y p ace b e cau s e 1 didn't want to make a mistake and blow it." KX250-m ounted Bri an Brown was flyin g in seco nd ove rall until less than a hundred yards from the pits. He vee red about three fee t off th e main tra il o n final a p p ro ac h and ca rtw hee led off a sm a ll led ge . Brown w a s s till pi ck ing hi mself up when Krau se came by ha lf a minute later and had to be content with third overall as he headed into pit row . Fourth ov erall as the 53-mile second loop got under wa y was in the hands of Curtis Dic e, wh o was running second Vet beh ind Zitte rkopf. Donni e Book, w ho had been as high as second but got lost ju st before the pit s, had his KX250 in six th, ahead of KTM-mounted Destry Abbott, Brian "1 usu ally do hare scrambles" Garrahan, on a KX250, and Capt, wh o wa s lead ing the Four-Stroke class. Steve Hen geveld, on a KX250, Ov er 30 racer Dr ey Dircks, on a CR500, Du stin Head m an and Ab e Baumann rounded ou t the top 12. Honda hotsh ot Campbell h it pit row in 1ith overall. "1 fell off four times - went over the bars four times, actu ally," he said, shaking his head . "I thought the course was great. I jus t had a really off d ay ." Hond a rac er Dan Rich ard son was even fur ther back in 19th overall. "I lost the transmission on m y bike abou t a n h our be fore th e ra ce," sai d Richa rdson, who reached the start on a bike borrowed from fellow Honda rider Drey Dirck s. " I just put m y numbers and m y seat on it, but he weighs 150 and I w eigh 220 so the su spensi on wasn' t rea lly adequate an d then the seat fell off . 1 took off the fron t-axle cin ch bolt to pu t it b ack on a n d 1 w a s just cruising along after that. " Racers wh o t hou ght the firs t loop was tight soon found out it was nothing com pare d to loop tw o, w hich d od ged back and forth amo ng the scrub by sagebrush on the flats, headed for the hills, and then tu rned into a riverbed for the ru n ho me. . " It was awful sli ck ou t there. It was like ridi ng on ma rb les," said Dice. " I had a h a rd tim e keeping m y w heels under me." But desp ite the occasional gripe, the racers had nothing but praise for the Dirt Inc. course. " It was good - tight and technical the whole way. It worked you really good and it was definitely a ational caliber event," sa id Utah's Steve Pitts. "Th e m arkings were really good, too, es pecially the dangers." The racing was ju st as go od as the course. Zitterkopf continued to enjoy the lead without being challenged, but behind him, a battle was raging. " It w a s a full -blown m oto back there," said Krause. "Just look at that 12pack behind me. Those guys were never more than 35 or 40 seconds off my fende r. When we got in the riverbe d, it sou nded like a swarm of bees ." Krause was under fire th ro u gh ou t th e 53-m ile loo p as Book, Abbott and Garrahan pushed to move up. "We were passing each other all the way - back and forth the whole time," sai d Garrahan. "We we re having a great time." Steve Hengeveld was dicing with Capt about ha lfway through th e loop when he got in to trouble tailgating on a h ill. "H e didn't try to roost me, but the (Left) Runner-up Paul Krause (8) and thirdplaced Destry Abbott (118X) were th is close after 84 miles of rac ing. (Below) Brian Garrahan stayed on the gas for the ent ire distance, often battling with Krause and Abbott, before settling Into fourth place at the finish. rocks ju st sta rte d co mi ng up. One of th em came throu gh m y h elm e t. Th e visor is all messed up and m y goggles are shattered ," sa id Hengeve ld , who w as lu cky to com e away w ith nothing w ors e than badly bru ised and sw ollen lip s. Th e second loop was fu ll of di sappoi ntmen t for Brown, whose ge t-off at th e end of loop one wa s the start of a whole string of problems. "I broke off th e chain gu ard on the second loop. It was bent into the tire , so I had to stop and take it off. I lost 10 to 12 minutes doing that," said Brown. Zitterkopf was still go ing strong as he started to close in on the end of the loop but the most interesting terrain was still to come . The course began cri sscrossing a strea m and, before long, ran the rid ers down one riverbed and ba ck up anot her. "1 though t I had to go swimming th er e for a secon d," said Senior racer Rex Staten . "We must ' ve gone across that thing 10 time s." The wa ter came close to beating Zitterkopf. "I al most s an k th e bike. I went through the wrong part and the water was right up to the seat. There were four or five of the m that came up to the gas tank and 1 was thinking, 'Oh, man.' My bike would har dly run after that," said Zitterkopf, who began to regret taking it easy earlier in the loop. . Kra use was holding his own in second, but Book , Abbott and Ga rrahan were still too close to call. " I liked the la s t p a r t - it was th e funnest part and Book crashed in front of me right near the end and wadded it up, which let m e get b y him," sa id Abbott. When the checkered flag fina lly fell at the en d of an hour and a half out on the second loop, Zitterkopf was still in front but the frantic pace behind him had cut his mar gin to the bone. " I h a d so me problems wi th th e water, but I still beat them by about a minute," said Zitterkopf whose ov erall win also netted him the Vet-class honors. Krause, who held second all the wa y through the 53-mile loop , said the water section wa s only one of many highli gh ts in an interesting course . "It wa s narrow en ough that y o u could jump the water in places and land about three-quarters of the wa y across, but it was 20 feet wide in some p laces," said Kawasaki-backed Krause. The tussle for th ird lasted all the wa y to th e ch eckered flag . Race-long rival s Abbott, Garrah an a n d Book dash ed towards the finis h al mos t nec k and n e ck, and th e threeab reast finish h ad spectators scattering. "I en jo ye d that la s t p a rt because it was so technical - and because it let me ge t by these two," s a id Abbott, who had the lead when it counted and grabbed third overall and the 250cc Expert honors. "I was leading overall at on e time for abo u t six miles right a t the start, but that di dn' t last lon g. 1 got lost , too, a n d ended up as far back as 11th overall . It was an interesting race." Brian Gar rah an w a s on the gas all the w ay to four th overa ll, fo rci ng Donnie Book to settle for fifth. Book attributed fifth place to a last-minute tumble. "Righ t at the end I passed everybody and 1 was in third, but 1 hit a stu mp and ki nd of fell in the water section. They" got around an d I couldn't ca tch back up, " said the KX250pilot. Curtis Dice b ro u ght h is KTM 300 home in sixth to score second in the Vet class, just ahead of Vet-class riv al Dre y Dircks, who worked his way u p fro m 20th place off the start, and eighth overall and firs t in the four-stroke division went to Capt. "Th a t w as a brand-new bike. I hit about a two-foot rock coming out of the wa sh," said Capt, who spent his w hole race making up for a four -kick start. Capt was followed home b y Vet Expe rt Ab e Bau mann and h is Ho nd a teammate, Johnny Ca mpbell, overcame a four-crash event to cap tu re 10th overall and second four -stroke expert. "My first crash w as abo ut five miles off the sta rt and it kind of we nt down h ill from there," said Cam pbell. "I was back as far as 30th at one stage." Steve Hen geveld finished 11th an d made a quick exit from the finish chute to check ou t his bloody mouth. He was followed in by Craig Smith, Du stin H eadman and Oakley Lehman, wh o fought brake problems throughout the 84-mile eve nt. "My handguard kept getti ng hit back aga inst m y fr o n t brake o n the firs t loop ," sa id Lehman. "We fixed it in the first p it, then it broke agai n and started .doing it again in the second loop." Scott Morris completed his race in 15th overall, just ahead of T. Kyle, who took Senior-class hon ors in 16th. Secon d (~ senior we nt to Rex Sta ten in 18th. Idaho National Hare & Hound Murphy, Idaho Results: March 17, 1996 (After 2 of 7 rounds) 1. Greg Zi tte rkopf (Kaw); 2. Paul Krause (Kaw ); 3. Des try Abbo tt (KTM) ; 4. Bria n Ga r rahan ( ]( a ~' ); 5. Do nnie Book (Ka w); 6. C u rti s Dice (KTM ); 7. Dr ey Dircks (Ho n) ; 8. Jeff Ca pt (Ho n ); 9. Abe Ba umann (Kaw ); 10. johnny Cam pbe ll (Hon ); 11. Hengeveld (Kaw ); 12. Craig Smith (Kaw ); 13. Dustin Headman; 14. Oa kle y l e hman; 15. Scott Morris (Ka w) ; 16. T. Kyle (KTM); 17. Ru ssell Pears on (KTM) ; 18. Re x Staten (Ka w): 19. C. Brown ; 20. Cha r lie Mor rts (Su z ); 21. Tomm y Roberts (Kaw) ; 22. Dan Richa rdson (Ho n ); 23. John Rudder (Ya m ); 24. A. Enos; 25. Jeff lundgreen (KThl ). O P EN EX: 1. P au l Krau se (Kaw ); 2. Du st in Headman; 3. Tom my Roberts (Ka w ). 2SOEX: I . Dest ry Abbott (KTM ); 2. Brian Garrahan (Kaw ): 3. Donnie Book (Kaw). VET: 1. Greg Zitte r kop f (Ka w ); 2. Cu rtis Dice (KTM ); 2. Drey Dirc ks (Hen). 0-40 EX: 1. T. Kyle; 2. Rex Staten (Kaw) ; 3. Alan Deyo (KTM ). 4·STK EX; I. j, ff Capl (Ho n ); jo hn ny Ca m pbe ll (Hon); 3. T. Bossart. 250 A.\1 : 1. C. Roberts. 4-STK AM: 1. Scott Rayv en. VET AM 1. G. Sullivan. S,,,,, Upcoming Rounds: Round 3 - Jericho, UT. April 13 Round 4 - Lucerne Valley, CA, April 28 < 43

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