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While Zitterkopf was wrestling with
his silencer, Ondas was making up time.
"On the second loop, I came within
100 feet of Greg (Zitterkopf)," said
Ondas, who spent the entire loop chasing his teammate through the virgin
cross-grain of Lucerne Valley.
Zitterkopf was not the only one with
problems. Many riders had to call it a
day when they were not even able to
leave pit row to tackle the second loop.
Jon Parks, who was in the running for a
top 20 finish, could not get his CR250 to
shift into gear after gassing up. Team
Green-backed Dana Van Stee had problems with his KX125. Rudder gained his
usual 2S0cc Vet lead a few miles after the
pit as Cunningham pulled off the trail
with a broken frame.
Some' riders did not even make it
through the first loop. KX500 rider Jason
Higgins was taken out by another rider
and knocked silly. The 250cc Amateur
front-runner, Joey Lanza, crashed hard
in the dust, bending up hi~ Kawasaki
beyond repair.
Many riders who made it onto the
second loop found out it was not as easy
as the first. Book injured an already-tender shoulder when he wadded up his
KX right after passing Dan Richardson
and his CR500. As a result, Richardson
passed him back, as did Pearson and
KTM's Jim Gray.
Baumann had a tough time of it when
he fouled two plugs and the pin fell out
of his steering dampener rod.
"I had no stabilizer and it was very
fast and choppy out there," said Bauman, who lost many positions due to his
hardships. "I felt like I was racing a
shopping cart."
The 250cc dogfight up front paid off
for Hengeveld when Summers got a flat
and had problems reading course markings due to the strong winds. Brown,
Pearson, Lehman, Book and Spaeth all
would eventually get around Summers,
continuing their dog-eat-dog jaunt
through loop two.
The hungriest rider on the loop was
Gray, who rocketed his KTM250 past
Book, Richardson, Spaeth and Pearson
before running out of gas just a few
miles from the finish.
"I got by Richardson and Book,"
Pearson said. "After that, Gray went by
me and then he just tipped over, so I
passed him back. He ran out of gas."
Capt, Abbott and Hengeveld tangled
all the way to the finish.
"Abbott passed me in some tight stuff
right before we got into the valley that
(Above left) John Rudder took his Yamaha to 11th overall and second behind Zitterkopf In
the Vet Expert class. (Above right) The enduring Rex Staten had a good day, winning the
Senior Expert class and finished a solid 14th overall. (Below) KTM's Destry Abbott led his
first National for a while before dropping back to fourth overall' at the finish.
Richardson and Book, who rounded.out
the top 10.
Both Staten, who finished 14th, and
Lewis, who dropped to 19th overall, held
on to their class leads without challenge.
"I own the 125cc class," said Lewis,
even though he secretly admitted that he
was riding with less than full luster
toward the end.
(N
100's MC National Hare & Hound
Lucerne Valley, California
Results: October 27, 1996 (Round 7 of 7)
O/A: 1. Greg Zitterkopf (Kaw); 2. Dave Ondas
(Kaw); 3. Jell Cap' (Hon); 4. Destry Abbott (KTM); 5.
Steve Hengeveld (Kaw); 6. Brian Brown (Kaw); 7. Nick
Pearson (KTM); 8. Oakley 6ehman (Yam); 9. Dan
Richardson (Hon); 10. Do,nnie Book (Kaw); 11. John
Rudder (Yam); 12. John Spaeth (Kaw); 13. Casey
Longman (Hon); 14. Rex Staten (Kaw); ]5. James
Summers (Yam); 16. Abe Baumann (Kaw); ]7. Tommy
Ally (Kaw); 18. Paul Schafer (Kaw); 19. Jimmy Lewis
(TM); 20. Jim Gray (KTM).
OPEN EX, 1. Dave Ond.. (Kaw); 2. Descry Abbott
(KTM); 3. Dan Richardson (Hon).
250 EX: 1. Steve Hengeveld (l