Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.HARE SCRAMBLE ' R u d3: Tricounty H on areScrambles .. ECEA H areScram Series bles run s (Left) KTM rider Richard Lafferty scored a wire-to-wire win at the ECEA Hare Scrambles in Sout h Jersey. (Below) Suzuki-mounted Fred Hoess was threaten ing Lafferty for the win late In the race before running out of gas. He still finis hed second. By Mark UthlT rali Rider Magazine BELLEPLAIN, NJ, MAY 19 ich a r d Lafferty co nti n ued his early-season assault on the ECEA H a re Sc rambles Series wit h a "never a doubt" (almost), wire-to-wire roun d- three victory . A hometown favor ite and member of the sponsoring Trico u nty Spo rtsmen M .e., La ffe rty near ly ou tclassed th e field, takin g the lead ea rly on, bui ld ing and holdin g a ga p of several minutes between himself and top challenger Fred Hoess throug h the first four laps. H oess d id, in fac t, mou nt a -Iast-Iap challenge th at closed th at gap to some 20 seco nds early in to the fifth and fina l lap. However, Hoess' 'bid for the overall sputtered short as his new Suzuki RMX250 ran out of fuel six miles from the finish . The ra ce w a s held in seve ra l o ld, ove rg ro wn grave l pi ts lo ca ted n ear Bellep lain, New Jersey, and used an allnew 9-mile course laid out by Tricounty club mem bers Dale Hiles and Jack Laffer ty Sr. A th ree-heat s pectacle was p lanned for the day, ATVs running a shortene d course at 9 a.rn., the Novice bike class at 11 a.m, an d the main even t at 1 p.m, The terr ain was mostly open deci d uo us fores t w ith short sections of pi ne-sa p ling stick farms in seco ndgrow th areas. N u m ero u s sho rt, sha rp eleva tion changes were char acteristi c of the overg rown mou nds and berms common to the pit. Ther e w as a fairly eve n spli t between existing and fres h ly cu t trail. Rain during th e previ ou s w eek made for good soil conditions, m aximi zing traction, keep in g du st do wn, wi thou t creating significant water obstacles. Near the en d of the loop , jus t before the barrels w as an MX track se ction, complete with a spectato r-p leas ing dou ble jump. In a ll, n e arly 200 rider s were entere d, in sp ite of the less th an ideal wea th er co nditions . Wh ile s un ny and clear, th e d ay d evelo ped in to the first real scorcher of the new year, wi th temp era tures above 90 and 100-p er cent humidity - welcome to Sou th Jersey. The club used a "straddle-the- fron twheel," dead-e ngi ne start. The start layout pro vide d a 50-ya rd sprint to the first turn, a wide left-hander . After ano the r 20-yardstraigh t, a right -hander int o the R 2 w ood s w as co m pl ica te d with a th reefoot d ir t berm. In earlier h eat s, ATVs and Novice ride rs we nt down in d roves as they tackled this obstacle. However, while th e m ain-even t start was d evoid of these cras h and burn follies, none of the top con tenders faired very we ll, as A A rid e r s Rich La ff erty a n d M ike McHa le fou n d th em se lves five or six p laces back in the pac k at the first turn, wh ile Hoess showed u p late, piloting a new RMX, and just made it to the line. Despi te th e p oor starts and see mingly tight trai l that woul d confound passing, things sorted themselves out quick ly. By the end of the first lap Lafferty's KTM 250 was barking as he ha d assum ed the le a d by a m inute or so , foll ow e d by H oe ss, Larry Pe trong lo an d M ike McH ale. Right off the bat, Hoess' RMX was suffe ring big-tim e rear brake over heatin g p roblems. Af ter h is first p ass throu gh th e barrels, he pull ed off the trail, relinqui shed the number-two slot to H onda CR250 rid er Petron gl o, and proceed ed to bleed his rea r br ake. During th e second trip arou n d the 9-mile loop , La ffe rty co n tin ue d to drive hi s KTM hard, building a comfo rta ble lead of several mi nutes. Hoess man aged to reg ain the second position an d tried to (Below left) Mike McHale rode his KTM to a third-place finish. . (Below) The start of the B class got a little hect ic.

• Cover