Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.HARE SCRAMBLE" Round 7"" Connecticut State Hare Scrambles . N~~ScramblesSerie$ ing. Less than five seconds back were P.J. Peculis in second and Manchester Honda's Josh Mclevy in third. Both riders started a couple of rows behind Norton. On adjusted time, Peculis had the actual lead. Back another 30 seconds in fourth place was Patrick Timothy followed by Chris Chrispin and Dave Gunn, Breaking into the top 10 was Expert 250cc rider Arthur Menzel, on his Kawasaki. The first lap took the leaders 18 minutes to complete, but on the second lap, it was obvious that McCann was on the gas, He put in what was to be the fastest lap of the day at 17 minutes and 23 seconds, moving himself into fourth place and within 25 seconds of Norton. Norton had increased his lead over second . place, which was now hel'd by Axo/Pirelli's Mclevy, to 15 seconds, Peculis .was hanging on to third place, but McCann was right on his back wheel waiting for the right opp€lrtunity. The four riders were just feeding off of each other. They had pulled far away from the rest of the pack, putting almost a minute on fifth-place Timothy. Not far into the third lap, it soon became a race between McCann and Norton. McCann overtook Peculis and Mclevy not far into the lap, attaching himself to orton's back fender. At the end of the lap, both riders came into pit with Norton coming in first. It was obvious from the expression on his face that he wasn't having a good day. His sus- By Cheri Alix UNION, CT, JULY 7 andy McCann got off to a rocky start at the Connecticut State Hare Scrambles, but that did not deter the Kawasaki rider from holding the throttle wide open and coming back to win the sixth round of the NETRA Hare Scrambles Series in Union. After struggling through a water hole early in the race, McCann outdueled Tom Norton at the win to pick up the win. It was a Blackwater-style start for the race. With limited space for a real starting area, the riders were lined up four to a row down a long cart road. The rows went off in five-second intervals with a on~minute delay between classes. The first four rows were set aside for the AA class. The race was run on the usual sixmile track which wound through roughly 100 acres of Martin Michelic's property. The same course is used for two races each year along with an enduro and two junior enduros. Club members also get to ride year-round on the property, so the course is well broken in. It's also becorriing completely whooped out - thatis, wherever it's not all rock. The riders lined up at 1:30 p.m. for what would be a seven-lap race. On the front row, there were only two riders, Yamaha/Scott/Bel Ray's Tom Norton and MidTown Kawasaki's Randy McCann. Series contender Todd Levesque also would have been on the front row but was ful filling his quota by working the event. When the riders came out of the hole, it was Norton with the lead. The rest of the riders were filling in behind as they weaved around the pitting area and into the infamous water hole. This year, the water was low - only up to midwheel. 'Norton made it through without a problem, but McCann drowned out about 10 feet into the crossing. He managed to push his bike to the other side without (Above) Josh Mclevy (9), Pat Timothy (10) and Steve Formenek Jr. (11) make their way through the big waler hole at theNETRA Connecticut Stele Hare SCramble•. Mclevy pUlled away from this group to flnlsh third. (Right) Randy McCann (4) Scored a hard-fought win over runner-up Tom Norton. (Below) Arthur Menzel earned High Point A honors. getting run over. By the time he got his bike going again, the entire AA class had gone by, and the next wave of riders was right on him. At the end of the first lap, McCann was back in ninth place down one minute from Norton, who was still lead- _ the pits. Timothy and Gunn lost the most time trying to adjust their suspension. McCann seemed to have his bike set up perfectly. He looked smooth the whole day keeping up a blistering pace out in front. The only problem that confronted him was the water hole. He almost drowned out a second time on the fourth lap. His bike sputtered for a few seconds before he was able to get back on the power and hold a IS-second lead over Norton. The two riders held the same positions for the remainder of the race, with McCann taking the win and Norton taking second. Mclevy finished third approximately six minutes behind Norton. Peculis took fourth place followed by Clarke in fifth. Taking the Expert overall was Arthur Menzel on his Kawasaki 250. Menzel had a ·close race with Honda 250 rider Rory Eastman. Eastman lost the overall by just seconds. He did, however, take the Expert 250cc-class win. In the Open Expert class it was a battle from the start between Mark Burdick and Roger Billharz. The two riders stayed within five seconds of each other for the entire race with neither rider stopping to pit for gas or water. At the end, it was Burdick taking the class win by only five seconds over Billharz. Amateur Four-Stroke rider Chris Cramer took the Amateur overall without any competition from the.rest of the pack. In the Junior event, it was Eric Rougeau taking the early advantage. He had a 45-second lead going on the second lap, which he increased each lap taking the win with almost two minutes over second-place Jesse Barthiaume. Barthiaume battled with Brian Lawson for almost the entire race, the pair finishing only two seconds apart. The Mini class also had a close race, with class winner Mike Peristere finishing only three seconds ahead of second-place Nathan Kanney. eN Connecticut Stete Hare Scnimbles Union, Connecticut Rasults: July 7, 1996 (Round 7 of 18) GRAND CHAMPION: Randy McCann (Kaw). OIA A: Arthur Menzel (Kaw). OrA B: Chris Cramer. 01A C: Colin Brown. AA: 1. Tom Norton (Yam); 2. Josh Mc1evy (Hon); 3. P.J. PecuIis (Yam); 4. Wes Oarl", (Hon); 5. Oave Gunn (KTM). . 250 A: 1. Rory Eastman (Hon); 2. Kevin Wall; 3. John Sullivan Jr. (Kaw). 200 A: I. Paul Blanquart (Yam); 2. Ken Law (Yam); 3. Hans Neff (Yam); 4. Justin Spmney (Yom) VET A: 1. Russell Bain (Hon); 2. Shannon Donylienko (Yom); 3. Scott Raymond (!

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