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Hawkins and Davis split the first eight rounds with four wins each. The championship will go to either of these riders if they win the last round. If neither rider wins, Hawkins would have the upper hand. A secondor third-place finish by Hawkins would assure him of his sixth National Championship. Davis would have to finish second and hope Hawkins finishes fourth or lower to take the crown. Since Hawkins has a fourth-place throwaway round, even a DNF would be as good as a fourth-place finish. A DNF by Davis would eliminate all chances for a second consecutive championship. There are at least three spoilers who would love to mix up the championship battle. Lafferty has been knocking on the door all season and would love nothing more than to earn his first national win in his own backyard and on his 2'lst birthday. "In the last four years, I have finished fifth, fourth, third and second at the Delaware round," Lafferty said. "I want to keep that string going." With the Grand National Cross Country and Hare Scrambles Series coming to a close, 1994-National Enduro Champion and Team Suzuki rider Steve Hatch may return to the enduro series in Delaware. Hatch certain!y has the speed to be in contention fo;: a win and would like to offset some of the bad luck he suffered in the early ,enduro rounds. The always-competitive Hines can never be counted out as a contender for the win, especially when it is on his home turf and includes the difficult conditions expected at the final round. The race started under dark, cloudy skies, with a forecast for rain and snow. There was a fine mist early in the day, but the locals insisted that it wasn't raining. The club routed the riders into the woods right away, where they were checked into a nasty, rocky section nicknamed "Swedish Rocks." Lafferty had the fastest time through the section, dropping 3:09 at check two. Davis followed with 3:14, Hawkins went 3:4l. Hines had the only other three-point score, sneaking in with a 3:58. Book and local riders David Lykke and Jeff Odom scored the only fours. Matt Stavish and last year's winner, Gary Furrenes scored the only fives, while everyone else was already falling off the pace. The club followed the nasty section with a reset and easier trails, allowing the better timekeepers to zero the next two checks. The fourth check served as a che.ck-in to one last difficult trail section to end the first loop. Hawkins took the lead at the fifth check, posting the fastest time with a 4:49. Davis followed with 5:42. Lafferty went 5:55. Hines once again pushed the edge of the minute and scored 5:59. Only Book and Odom were able to score sixes. Stavish and Furrenes scored sevens, while everyone else was at least nine minutes late. ' After the first loop, Hawkins led with a total of seven points. Davis, Lafferty and Hines followed with eight. Book and Odom had 10. By the time the second loop started, water was coming out of the sky at a steady rate. Still, the locals insisted it wasn't raining, yet. The second loop routed A and B riders 4,000 feet up the mountains through steady rain (or whatever the locals want to call it) and cold temperatures. The club had a check. at the top be,fore turning the riders loose into what amounted to be a flat-out race to the end. The test section began wi th a very steep, slippery, rocky descent through an area nicknamed' "the Big Harry Crack Up." Hawkins came down the 4,000-foot descent faster than anyone, scoring a 4:14 at the bottom. Davis was more tha'n a minute off of Hawkins' pace, going 5:17 at check seven. Hines and Book followed with 5:32 and 5:46, respectively. Lafferty went 6:04, while Odom went 6:45. Local riders Lykke, Furrenes, John Nielsen and Rob Riley must have been aware of the challenge ahead and couldn't resist the urge to go into the section hot. Each burned check six (Lykke and Furrenes by two minutes, Nielsen and Riley by one) but were able to get points back by carrying less late time into each of the last four checks. Lykke scored 4:47 at check seven; Furrenes 5:18; Nielsen 6:30 and Riley 7:31. Todd Zilvoinski scored 8:36, while everyone else was in double digits. Check seven was the final check for the B riders and was suppos,ed to bring them some relief. Only Brian Toms reached the check without houring out. He finished with 119 points. Many A riders were hoping to quit at check seven. Lafferty said, "I saw the sign saying it was the end of the Bloop. I wanted to quit and go back to the pits," Unfortunately for Lafferty and company, the club had more to offer and sent the A riders back up another 4,000foot climb and descent nicknamed "Chutes and Ladders." The skies were real.ly dumping water now, and even the locals said it was r-aining. The speed average for the last loop was only 18 and 12 mph, but proved to be higher than anyone could maintain. Riders also had to carry the late time they had at check seven into the final loop. Hawkins knew this was the time to pick up the pace and hold nothing back. Any lead gained in the early part of the loop would double or triple by the end, depending on how many checks remained. -Picking up two additional minutes on everyone, Hawkins came into the next check with a low score of 11. Lykke, Davis and Lafferty were the closest wit:!J. 14. H!rtes, Book ~nd Odof!l. (Above) Kevin Hines carefully makes his way down a slippery, rooted-out trail on aCRE 150. He finished third. (Above right) Mike Lafferty leaves the start line for what would be a long day on the muddy Washington trails. Lafferty put In another strong ride, finishing fourth overall. (Right) Desert racer Donnie Book surprised a lot of people after finishing fifth In his first enduro, and a tough one at that. scored 15. Furrenes went 16. Riley and Nielsen went 18. The remaining scores were in the 20s and 30s. All Hawkins had to do at this point was ride the same speed as his closest competitors and he would gain another three points or better at each check and continue to build his insurmountable lead. That's exactly what he did. At the next check, Hawkins again scored 11. Lykke and Hines each improved a minute. Lykke scored 13, Davis and Hines scored 14. Lafferty began fading and went 15. Book and Odom went 16. Furrenes had a 17. All the other A riders scored in the 20s, 30s and 40s. After the final descent from the mountains, the trail weaved its way back to the finish. Riders who hadn't spent all their remaining energy were able to gain a few minutes on the somewhat easier trails and the 12 mph average. Hawkins, who was on the last AA row, had passed every AA rider except Davis and Lykke. He arrived at the finish eight minutes behind schedule. Lykke dropped 10; Davis 11; Hines 12; Book and Odom 13, and Lafferty and Purrenes 14, The remaining riders who didn't hour out dropped points in t:!J.e 20s~ 30s, 40s and 50s. CN Cowbell National Enduro Bellingham, Washington Results: October 13, 1996 (Round 8 of 9) O/A: 1. Randy Hawkins (Suz) 41; 2. Ty Davis (Kaw) 52; 3. Kevin Hines (CRE) 54; 4. Mike Lafferty (KTM) S7; S, Donnie Book (Kaw) 59; 6, David Lykke (Hon) 62; 7. Jeff Odom. 62; 8. Gary Furrenes, 73; 9. Rob Riley. 85; 10. Todd Zilvoinski. 93; n. John Nielsen (Hon) 95; 12. Blaine Ostafin, 125; 13. Allan Randt (KTM) 132; 14. Matt Stavish (KTM); 15. Jamie Vaughn, 138: 16. Murry Dyck, 145; 17. Tim Mount, 146: 18. Barry Remdel, 167; 19. Dwain Taylor (Kaw); 20. Chris Willbanks (Suz). GRAND CHAMP: Randy Hawkins. 01 A A: Donnie Book. O/A B: Brian Toms. 01A C: Dave Bowers. 250 A: 1. Gary Furrenes; 2. Blaine Ostafin; 3. Jamie Vaughn. 200 A: 1. Jeff Odom; 2. Rob Rilev; 3. Todd Ziivoinski. . 4-STRK A: 1. John Nielsen; 2. Tim Mount. VET A: 1. Chris Wilbanks; 2. Chuck Bolton; 3. Ron Cisle. SR A: 1. Dwain Taylor: 2. Kevin Davis: 3. William Perkins. _ OPEN C: 1. Jeff Micone: 2. Eric Bee; 3. Charles Lider. 4-STRK c: 1. James Thompson: 2. Rondo Britt. VET C: 1. Jerry Nixon; 2. Koby Todd; 3. Scott Fredrickson. SR C: 1.Ben Stark; 2. Ronald Surber. S/SR C: 1. jerry Allen, SPTSMN: 1. Ken Keening. AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ENDURO SERIES POINT STANDINGS (After 8 of 9 rounds); 1. Randy Hawkins (200/4 wins); 2. Ty Davis (161{4); 3. Mike Lafferty (158); 4. Kevin Hines (107); 5. Steve Hatch (73); 6, Matt Stavish (80); 7. Kevin Bennett (62); 8. Tim Tabor (53); 9, Kelly Getz (41~ 10. Kelby Pepper (40), Upcoming Round: Round 9 • Delaware City, DE, October 27 \0 0'\ 0'\ ,...., 0'" Cf') !-< (l) 'B u o 23