Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·HARE &·HOUN·O &Hound'Series Round 5: High Sierra National H&H AMA Natiolial ChampiQnship Hare By Anne Van Beveren Photos by Tom Van Beveren YERINGTON, NV, SEPT. 15 awasaki's Greg Zitterkopf survived long loops, gas-draining _ _ silt and treacherous rocks to capture the overall win at round five ·of the National Hare & Hound Championship Series at Yerington, about 60 miles southeast of Reno. The victory in the first championship hare and hound hosted by the High Sierra MC sewed up the Vet-class title for the 32-year-old racer from Chino, California, who has topped the Over 30 divIsion in all five rounds of competition to date, but his goal of taking the prestigious overall title is still a race or two away. Zitterkopf is currently ahead on points for the overall win in the bestfive-out-of-seven series, but Kawasaki teammate Ty Davis, who missed the first round of the series and the Yerington round due to conflicts with the national enduro schedule, still could squeak out the win for the second year in a row by five points if he takes the overall in both remaining rounds - one in Reno and one in Southern California, or tie Zitterkopf with a win and a second-place finish. "This was a really tough course - the club did a great job - and the mileages meant that I had to ride really carefully all the way," said Kawasaki KX500mounted Zitterkopf, who was all smiles after his round-five victory, which was his second overall win of the series. "Between the dust and the problems with gas, I was just making sure I made it all the way to the finish." .Temperatures in the mid-60s and blustery winds greeted the 178 racers who gathered for the start of the 92-mile event. BLM restrictions kept the bomb run bike-free until the race began, but walking the short, silty start area was enough to let the riders know what they were in for. Kawasaki's Paul Krause put his (Above) Nearly 200 riders competed In the High Sierra National Hare & Hound In Nevada. (Right) Greg Zitterkopf scored the overall win, keeping himself In title contention with two rounds left. He did, however, wrap up the Vet class championship. KX500 out in front when the banner dropped and he was a bike length in front of Zitterkopf as he made the hard left turn into the first tight canyon. "Me and Krause locked bars a little bit on the start," said Zitterkopf. "I backed off so I was actually in second and then it was really, really dusty, but I was able to stay right on him and I passed him coming down the sand wash." A little further back, Aaron Sykes watched a promising start disappear as a number of riders funneled in from a shortcut they had used to skirt the end of the bomb run. Honda's Johnny Campbell had a bad start. '1 knew I had to get a good start to do well here today because of the silt and the dust,.but I ended up getting a two kicker and I was last - dead last - off the start," said the Honda-backed XR628 racer. "I was back in about 35th at the end of the first six miles." Loop one was 52 miles long, with an alternate gas at the 27-mile mark. It started with a six-mile mini-loop that took the racers down the bomb run, through a series of washes and onto a fast road that skirted the pits before the main part of the clockwise circuit began. The length of the loop had most of the racers worried. All of the top contenders carried a quart or two of gas, and KTM racer Jeff Lundgreen opted to pull into the pits for a splash of gas at the end of the six-mile starting section. "By the time he warmed the bike up, sat around on the start line and then went six miles in the sand, the bike took a gallon," Lundgreen's father reported. "It was worth doing." Zitterkopf had taken the lead by the time he finished the six-mile warmup loop and flashed past pit row with a seven-second lead over Krause. Kawasaki 250cc hotshot Donnie Book was another seven seconds back in third overall, Idaho's Chris Brown was fourth, and local Vet racer Ed McCoy was running fifth, ahead of Kawasakibacked Dave Ondas, Vet Expert Abe Baumann, Yamaha-mou"ted Oakley Lehman and Four-Stroke leader Jeff Capt. The rest of the field was caught in a cloud of blinding dust. "I got a pretty good start but, about two miles into it, I hit a rock I didn't see in the dust and it was allover from there," Steve Hengeveld said. "It was too fast and too dusty to do anything much. I spent the rest of the day trying to catchup." Destry Abbott didn't even enjoy the first two miles. ''I'm not going to hold it open in that dust - it doesn't mean that much to me so I got a really bad start," the KTM racer said. "Then I tried to go around some guys in a sand wash and I hit a TV-sized boulder. That is the top of the list as my hardest crash ever. I hurt myself pretty g

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