Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) Steve Hatch recove red from a miserable day at the prev ious round In Louis iana by grabbing th ird In Texas. (Right) Third-In: po ints Mike Laffe rty finis hed seventh overall. (Be low) Kevin Hines rounded out t he top five, finis hing right beh ind Kelby Pepper. Lubbock Trail Riders did a good job putti ng th e m eaning of endurance b ack into th e competition. "The clu b d id an excelle nt job with the terrain they had ," said Hawkins. "They p u t in a lot of tight, difficult trails like those of eastern events in the fi)s t half of the co urse and more open te rrai n of w es tern-s tyle events in th e second h alf." The co urse starte d w it h a relativelv easy firs t loop th a t too k few p oints fro';' th e top riders. Davis and H aw kins both dropped o ne poi n t. Pepp e r , H ine s, KTM-mounted ri de rs M att S ta v ish, M ichael La fferty , H ayden Franklin and Sc ott Stretch, Hu sq varn a pil ot Jo sh Whitaker, Suzuk i r id er Rick Higgins, and Hond a-m ounted T im T abor a ll dropped two points. H atch and KTM 's Ja son Dahners w ere another minute back. After the fist loop, the A and AA riders s p lit from th e pack to ride a tight, twisty, roc ky cany on the club la be le d the "Rambo" secti on . This section had most A riders crying uncle halfway through. The to ll this section took on the rider paled only to the toll it took on jerseys and oth er riding apparel. One rider commented that the club should have given riders new jerseys to replace their sh red d e d on es instead o f the compli menta ry T-sh irts. M ost of the oth er comm ents over hear d in the Rambo se ction are not printab le. Even the AA riders foun d this section very d ifficult.· Da vis and Haw kins bo th d r oppe d six points a t check five, on ly partway into th e section. H atch, Pepper, H in es and Lafferty all dropped seven poin ts. Everyone else d rop ped eight or more points. A t the seventh check. near th e end of the section, Davis ha d fallen 13 minutes behind sched u le . Hawkins d ro p ped 14 points, while H atch dropped 15. Pep per, H in e s and Lafferty were another minu te back, while everyone else dropped 17 or m ore poin ts at tha t check. At this point, the race was only halfcom pleted for the A and AA rider s, ye t m ay A riders had already quit or houred ou t. Th e thir d loo p provided some relief, a n d like th e firs t, was re la ti v e ly easy. D a v is, H awkins, H atch a nd H ine s a ll r od e this section without lo sing a ny po in ts. Most o f ,th e other AA ri d ers los t one p oint in four checks. The fourth loop was another challengin g section. Whe re th e se cond loop was ' tig h t, thi s lo op wa s m ore wide open. Davi s s tretched out hi s one-p oi n t lead over Hawkins in the final loop. He w as genera lly a m inute or m ore faster at each of the four checks in this se ction . Davis scored a 3 by check 12. Hawkins, Hatch, Pepper, H ines and Stavish m anaged 4s, whi le everyone else scored 5 or m ore. Most of the AA riders gained a bou t two m inute s back b y check 13 . Dav is scored a 1. H a w k i n s and Ha tch scored 2s. Pepper, H ines an d Stavish scored 3s . D a vi s a n d H a t ch m ain tai n ed their late times into check 14, while m os t of th e other AA ride rs lo st an a d d i tional minute o r m ore. Again , Davis scored a 1. H atch scored a 2. Hawkins and Pepper scored 3s. The club m ana ged to take a few more minutes from everyone a t ch eck 15. Hatch reeled in Davis a little with both riders scorin g 4s . Hawkins and Pepper scored 6s. H ines and Stavish scored Zs. A reset a fter check 15 allowed riders to get back on time before running th em through a final I -mile motocros s special test near th e pi t area. The ISO-mph speed average assured all the rid er s w ould be in full-race mode. While it w as a short section, it m ade fo r so me grea t spectating. Davis, h a ving a n ea rl y perfect day, ro u n ded th e special te st the q uickest, with a lost time of one m inute, 33 sec' o n d s . H atch , H aw k in s, Pepper, H in e s and Lafferty followed within a dozen seconds of Davis' time. ' 0 Lone Sta r Enduro Lubbock, Texas Results: March 31, 1996 (Round 3 of 9) OIA: 1. Ty Davis (Kaw): 2. Randy Hawkins (Suz); .3. Steve Hatch (Suz); 4, Kelby Pepper (Kaw). S, Kevin Hine.. (CRE); 6, Matt Stavish (KTM); 7. Michael Lafferty (KTM); 8. Havden Franldin (KIM); 9. Jaso n Dahners (KTM:); 10. Josh v''hitaker (Hus); 11. Scott Stretch (k 'TM); 12. Rick Higgins (Suz) ; 13. Tim Tabo r (Han); 14. Larry Crane (KTM); I S, Rob Kopp; 16, Michael Wilson (Ho n ); 17. Ste ve Na rel (Han); 18. Phil Stevens (Kaw): 19. Bob Benn ett (Han); 20. Ben Shafer (KTM). 200 A: 1. Phil Stevens; 2. Don Simone; 3. Ran dy Frad y. 250 A: I. Jason Dahner; 2. Scott Stret ch; 3. Tim Tabor, OPEN A: 1. Forrest Tobin; 2 Ken Giles; ,3. Dan Sell. 4-ST K A: 1. Bob Bennett; 2. Dwight Rudder: 3. Dav id Klein. VET A: 1. Bob Steye: 2. Garry Sin g leton: 3. Ch a rlie Williams. SR A: 1. Daniel Dailey; 2. Kenneth Smi th; 3. Terry Maxwell . 200 B: 1. Jeff Fain; 2. Michael Taliaferro. 250 B: I. Joel Prock; 2. Jack O'leary; 3. Bobby Brooks. OPE N B: 1. Nick Norman; 2. Ronn ie Popham: 3. Karl Ross. 4-STRK: 1. Michael Kencaid: 2. Mark Quador ; 3. George McMahan. 30+ B: 1. Richard Nichol s: 2. David Kaiser; 3. Mile Jenkins. 40+ B: 1. Gary Doerr, 2 .;t int ~rrister; 3. D~ Wylie. 50+ B: 1. Gene Hooker; _ Ernie Mellor; 3. Mike flaIL 200 C EX: I. Zach Cambem; 2. Ierod Cambem; 3. Scott Martin. 250 C EX: 1. Bill Roe : 2. Da vid Dossey; 3. Chris Den ney. . OrEN C EX: 1. Gary Palmer ; 2. Ken Grant ; 3. Randy Walker. 4-STRK C EX: 1. Greg Blackman; 2. George Cetchell. WMN C EX: 1. Minnie Perrv : 2. Ruth Ann Pcrslev. 200 C NOV; 1. Michael Gibfet; 2. Greg Grant; 3. todd Snider. ~ 250 C ~OV: 1. Jim Sa lly; 2. Greg Jeter; 3. Ho wa rd Humphrey . OPEN C NOV: 1. Mike Bums: 2. Deon Drown; 3. Step hen Mad dox. 4-STRK C NOV: 1. Oint Boswell: 2. Kurt Albertson; 3. O int Deeds. 40+ C N OV : 1. Sco tt Dennis: 2 Tim Spra dli n g; 3. Ralph Crowder. 50+ C NO V: 1. Gary Web~; 2. Wiley Kimbell; 3. Ron Debusk. 57+ C NOV: 1. Tom McKay; 2 Jimmie Perkins; 3. Dave Meers. MSTR C NO V: I. Harold Wilson; 2. Jack Henry; 3. JimKrause. WM N C N OV: 1. Rita Kim be ll; 2. Ka thi Lees ; 3. Bettie Wimberly. 16-SW C N OV: I. Chad Tittle; 2. M<.CabeCarsorc 3. Forrest Humphrey. 16-LW C NO V: I. David Whitaker; 2. Vand on Ra j'; 3. Trulyn Deeds. , AMA N AT IONA L END URO CHAMP IONSHIP SERIE S POINT ST AND Lf\lGS (Aft er 3 of 9 rounds): 1. Ty Davis (90 / 3 wins);.2. Rand y Hawkins (59): 3. Michael Laftertv (51); 4. Kevin Hines (SO); S. Steve Ha tch (48); 6. Matt ~tavish (43 ); 7. Kel by Pepper (40 ); 8 Patrick Garrahan (25 ); 9. Jason Dahners (22 ); 10, Tim Tabo r (21); 11. Larry Roeseler ( 15~ 12. Kevin Bennett (14); 13. (TIE) Ben Shafer /H aydt'n Fr a n k li n (13 ); 15. (T IE) Brian Gar rahan /Mike Merrow f l osh Whita'ker lSteve Narel (II); 19. (TIE) Ashley Brewer / Scott Stretch (10). Upcoming Rounds: ston, OH, April 28 Round 4 - WeU Round 5 - West Greenwich, RI,June 23 morning and a 180-mp h sectio n In the after.. noon, Enduro computers us ually can handle 'speedscnlyop to 99 mph, not to. mentio n . enduro bikes themselv8s: Fortunately, the ; 80· ' There was a rocky hill close to the pit area that mph section was the . last three miles of the made for excellent spectatinq. Most riders strug- ,event and most riders simply ignored the speed gled to 'get' up theloose sand and around boul- and rode as fast as they could, .. ·ders ; It Was so tight through the l8rge boulders , that riders rode single nle, Ty Davis showed Ty Da'vis must have had the 1BQ·mph section everyone ' how he gains so much ' time on his still on his mind as he was driving back to the aircompetition by leaping over a 3· to 4·foot vern- ' port. He was seen pulled over on the side of the' . eal boulder onthe s ide of a hill that eVeryone . 'highway by a Texas state trooper. else went around. He gained a couple of sec·onds on the competition and made many new Kelby P~pper. who has ,had les~ fortune in fans with one Simple twist of the throttle. Fans the first two 'rounds this sea son than he wo uld were still talking about that feat an hour later. . like on his new Kawasaki KX250, showed up When asked about rt; Davis hadn't noticed WIth a KDX200 in Texas. It is the same bike he that he had done anything special. -I just try to rode a week. earlier to win the opening round of . go as straight and fast as I can. Sometimes that the Rocky Mountain Enduro Series in Turkey, Texas: The 200 must suit Pepper just nne. His means going over things, - said Davis. speed on the 200 makes him look like he Is on a 250. He finished fourth overall, his best of the Te am S uzuki rider Randy .Hawkins and Steve Hatch' were overheard joking 'about season thus far, and had the fourth-fastest time what they will have to do to beat T y Davis.'The " through the sandy motocros s section. Pepper suggestion was 'made that if they could enter as . also 'rode a KDX200 las t year in' Loulslana. one entry WIth tiawkin ~ riding all the tight stuff where he won his nrst National enduro. ·and Hatch riding .the wide-open, fast. sec tions. maybe they couldb';"'t Davis. . Kevin Hine s enjoyed the fact that .this endoro . was more 'chall nging than any previous events e ,M a'ny riders were seen sc ratching their heads this season. However, it'still wasn't quite difficult ' trying to followand understand the 'complicated" enough .,·- Ican'! wait until the Rhode Is land route s heet. The club had so many s peed . Enduro ." Hine S said with a devilish gleam in his changes,'resets, free time, gas stops and ga9 eye. One ' must wonder if he knows something available that even one of the popular enduro ' the others don't. computers was unable to hold all the informa-'. After plac'ing secon d at the .first round 'of the .tion, 'Riders were seen switching computers and trying tofind someone to program those that did' .- series .in California. Patrick , Garrahan .and ·hold enouqh information, ', . . . brother,Brian showed up' in Lubbock to " throw a 'little Texasdlrt around.- Luck didn't go their . 'RiderS who weren't intimidated by theamountof Way this. time, how ever, Patnck 'ended up ninth in information i-nay have been by the speed ever- the 250cc A class, while Brian was 16th in the ' ,', ' ages . There was.o ne gO-mph section in .the Sameclass.. Br,iefly_ ,••---,• even ... . --< l-< 0..

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