Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 9: Downeast Hare Scrambles (Left) P.J. Peculis (5) takes a slight lead, followed by Patrick Timothy (10), Josh McLevy(9), eventual winner Todd Levesque (3), and Randy McCann (4) as the Experts blast off of the line at the NETRA Downeast HIS. (Below) Tom Norton hung tough after some crashes to finish second overall, first AA. By Cheri Alix Photos by Nina Hallett SEARSPORT, ME, AUG. 4 s Yamaha-mounted Todd Levesque watched riders get stuck and crash all around him on the tight, muddy Downeast Hare Scrambles course, he held a steady pace to card his third win of- the NETRA Hare Scrambles series this season. Tom Norton came back from an early crash to card a second-place finish, while P.J. Peculis finished third. The Downeast Hare Scrambles is held on a ridge ov!,!rlooking Penobscot Bay centered between Bar Harbor and Rockport, Maine. The course was the same as last year's - a six-mile run though fields, tight, rock-filled woods then down some open two-track trail but run in the opposite direction. The running direction wasn't the only contrast to last year's event either - this year was wet. Hurricane Bertha hit the area in July, completely saturating the ground with over seven inches of rain. The once fun and ridable trails were now nothing but bottomless mud-filled ruts. The fields were still wet, ooting water with every step. By the time all the Novice riders finished the event and those who were stuck had been removed from the woods, it was nearly 2 p.m. As a result, the originally scheduled seven-lap Expert/ Amateur event was cut back to six laps. At 1:48 the flag was dropped, with GP Racing's P.J. Peculis taking the holeshot, followed by C-Cycle / Stehley's Patrick Timothy, Dave Gunn, Josh McLevy and Todd Levesque. As the riders came out of the short wooded section and onto the grass track for the first time, Pecul\s and Timothy were still leading the way, but Brian Tucker had moved into third. Levesque, McLevy and Norton followed. The front runners all remained in a tigh t pack through the first two field sections and into the woods. Once they hit the woods, however, Brian Tucker hit a rut and crashed. He was the first of many to fall. As he went down, his footpeg got stuck in Tom Norton's bike, causing Norton to go down as well. Norton was up quickly and had only been passed by Randy McCann. Out in front, Peculis and Timothy were also doing their share of crashing. As a result of their mishaps, Ronnie's Cycle / Pirelli Tire / Tech Tubes' Levesque took over the lead. Then, as the riders crossed the final field section into the woods, it was McCann's tum to crash. McCann endoed on a root and Norton, who was riding too closely, got McCann's rear wheel stuck between his radiator and gas tank. The two riders ended up in a heap as the rest of .the pack sped by. Levesque seemed to be the only one to make it around on the first lap without crashing and by the time he came by he had a 30-second lead over secondplace Peculis. Back another 12 seconds was Manchester Honda's McLevy. Norton and T~cker rounded out the top five. By the second lap, the leaders were already starting to run into lapped riders - many of whom were stuck. Most of the track was tight, one-line, first-gear trail, where you just had to be patient and wait for a passing opportunity. Levesque took his time picking his way through the masses and increased his lead to more than one minute over nowsecond-placed McLevy. Norton, too, was being ~onservative and trying to stay on his bike. By the end of the second lap, he had moved up to third place but was only seconds ahead of Peculis. Tucker was still holding onto fifth place with Gunn close behind. The riders continued to trade places throughout the third lap as each took turns getting stuck or sliding out. Levesque held the gas on and increased his lead with every lap. Norton did his best to catch up with Levesque and passed McLevy for second as McLevy was coming out of the pits. The pair battled it out for third place with Peculis taking the position by only a second. By the fourth lap it was obvious that the field of riders was beginning to thin out. No one seemed to be having any fun wrestling his bike through the mud. Timothy had been running in the top seven until he hit a tree with his hand and finally called it quits. Opting not to cause any more damage to his body or bike, McLevy also called it quits at the end of the fifth lap.. Levesque, on the other hand, held his ride together for the entire event to take the win, his third this year. Yamaha/Team Mirage/Scott's Norton took second, followed by Peculis and Gunn. Rounding out the top five was 250cc Expert rider Rick Claxton. Claxton took the Expert-class overall but not without a long battle with fellow 250cc rider Arthur Menzell and Yamaha 12Scc rider Ken Law. The three spent the first four laps within seconds of each other. On the fifth lap, Claxton was finally able to break free and take the win. Law settled for the 125cc Expert-class win and sixth place overall. Menzell finished 11 th overall. The unior event ran first at 9 a.m. No one from the mini or women's class made a11 four laps. These classes normally run for one hour, but with the. conditions as they were, it was over Qne and a half hours before leader Brian Lawson came around to take the checkered flag. Lawson took the win with only 45 seconds over second-place Jesse Berthinaume. Mike Peristere took the Mini-class win with a 40-second lead over runner-up Rob Rowe. Like the prec~g classes the Novice event ran long as well. Many riders who were used to only riding one and a half hours called it quits after only four laps. Riders were also getting stuck in the woods, with some bikes sunk up to seat leveL After nearly two and a half hours of racing, it was Craig Kuzia taking the Novice over- all on his 125cc Suzuki. Kuzia had a lead of 3 minutes, 40 seconds over secondplace finisher and Four-Stroke class winner, John Morrison. (N Downeast Hare Scrambles searsport, Maine Resulta: August 4, 1996 (Round 9 of 16) GRD CHMP: Todd Levesque (Yam). O/A A: Rick Oaxton (CRE). O/A B: Chad Richardson (Yam). O/A C: Craig Kuzia (5uz). AA: 1. Tom Norton (Yam); 2. P./. Peculis (Yam); 3. Dave Cunn (KlM); 4. Brian Tucker (KTM). 250 A: 1. Arthur Menzel (Kaw); 2. Rory Eastman (Hon); 3. D./. Lis (Hus); 4./ustin Provencal (Kaw). 200 A, 1. Kenneht Law (Yam); 2. Hans Neff (KTM); 3. Paul Blanquart (Yam); 4. Luke McNeil (Kaw); 5. Brett Costello (Yam). VET A: 1. Russ Bain (Hon); 2. David Rucnicki (Hon); 3. Noon Tumburg (Yam). OPEN A: 1. Bill Haelsen (eRE); 2. Douglas McKinnon (KTM); 3. Roger Billharz (KTM). 4·STRK: 1. Robert White (Kaw); 2. Pat Foga:rty (Hon). . , 250 C: 1. Shannon Vares (Hon); 2. Peter Gravelle (Suz); 3. Patrick Armstrong (CRE). 200 c: 1. AI Joachim (Kaw); 2. David Popielski (Kaw); 3. Frank Slnerozynski (Kaw). 125 C, 1. /oe Sullivan (Hon); 2. David Corrao (CRE); 3. Zephyr Belski (Yam); 4. Tom Felton (Yam); 5. M;chael Bushey (5uz). . 4-STRK C: 1. John Morrison (Hon); 2. James Walsh (Hon); 3. Tom McCurdy (Yam); 4. David SnUth (Hon). VET C: 1. James Menard (Yam); 2. Michael Utwin (Kaw); 3. Bruce Brown (Kaw). SR C: 1. Gary Cheney (Yam); 2. Paul Dyer (ATK); 3. Jerome Ryan (Bon); 4. Charlie Kennedy (Suz); 5. M;chael 5tebben (Hus). JR: 1. Brian Lawson (Yam); 2. Jesse Berthiaume (Kaw); 3. Drew Carpenter (Yam); 4. Eric Rougeau (Yam); 5. Jim Wesolowski Jr. (Yam). MINI: 1. Mike Peristere (Yam); 2. Rob Rowe (Kaw); 3. Brian Wozniak (Yam); 4. Robert Langenback (Hon); 5. Brian Choquette (Hon). WMN: 1. Michelle McKinnon (Kaw); 2. Amanda Young (l

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