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ENDURO AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ENDURO SERIES By Mark Kariya COALINGA, CA, FEB. 16 ~-- hree different AMA National off-road series have kicked off in the past month up and down California, but only one man has been called the winner - Ty Davis. The Team Green star's most recent victory came at the opening round of the AMA National Enduro·Series, the 26th annual Quicksilver National, hosted by the Salinas Ramblers Motorcycle Club at the Clear Creek OHV recreation area in Central California. It also marked Davis' third consecutive QuiCksilver win. Davis' 18 points edged the 20 carded by KTM's Mike Lafferty, 23 by SCR Yamaha's Randy _...-..... Hawkins, 25 by KTM hare scrambles specialist Jason Dahners and 26 by Team Green desert racer Donnie Book. Some 342 riders entered the event, no doubt lured by the promise of a sunny, warm day and 119 ground miles of trail laid out among the thick manzanita, rocks and hills of the area. Despite the recent winter floods in the Golden State, Clear Creek actually proved to be dry, though a slight breeze helped rid the air of dust. Many riders discovered that, despi te the dry conditions, the Ramblers had laid out a very challenglllg three loops that taxed even the best. . ."It was a long one," Davis said after finishing. "It was a good, tough event. They had more and tougher terrain in the first two loops than normal. Usually the first two loops (the A riders) drop. two or three (points), and it an comes down to a race at the end.•We dropped points all day long, and it made it a really good enduro. "They had a lot of new trail this year. For some reason, I thought this year was tougher than previous years, but (Mike) Lafferty thinks it was easier. The third loop probably wasn't as tough as prevIous years, but overall 1 think it was a lot tougher." And, of course, the AAs and fast locals Like it tough. Most of those who contest the entire series are based in the Eastern half of the country, and they generally make no effort to hide their feelings about races in the West, which tend to be faster and dustier than Eastern and Midwest woods. "Desert races" they call even the tightest Western enduro. So what does a hard-core desert racer say? "Let's go to the desert!" Team Green's Paul Krause replied, laughing. "This is not any desert race. It's just a different tIght than back East. Back East it's tight through the trees. Here, it's just really, really brushy so a lot of times you (Above) Kawasaki's Ty Davis Is on a roll. In less than a month, Davis has won the opening rounds of the AMA National Hare & Hound, Hare Scrambles and now the Enduro Series at Coalinga. (Above left) KTM's Mike Lafferty proved he'll be a series contender with a runner-up shOWing. (Left) Defending champ Randy Hawkins made his debut on his new Yamaha ride. He finished third. , can't see the trail where back East it's tight, but you can still see the whole trail. I think it's probably a lot rockier here than it is back there. But it was definitely tight and twisty today." Still, he got third Four-Stroke A on his KLX. Many expected the battle to be between '95 ational Enduro ChampIOn Davis and the man who defeated him last year for his sixth title, Randy Hawkins. Playing the spoiler's role, however, was the big kid from New Jersey, Lafferty. Now in his econd year of contesting every national enduro, Lafferty amaied himself with how easy the day went, not to mention his results compared to the first ti me he rode the Quicksilver three years ago. . "1 think I just cracked the top 20 (three years ago)," Lafferty re~em bered. "My first time here was, like, a big experience. Fir t t~e out West, first time on a KTM, stuff like that. So this IS my third year here and my third year on the same bike, so I tell you what, looking back to then, I just ride totally different. I feel more comfortable. "1 like the wide-open trails anyhow. It's just the ups and the downs, it's the different terrain, it's the different atmosphere - I think it takes a little while (to get used to it). But I f<;el a lot bette~ now. First race, I'm not disappoInted m the East. I don't even know how r did compared to everybody else; r just know r feel that my riding ability has gotten a lot better. Physically, r feel great. That's an improvement from a few years ago. It was always that last 20 miles that killed me. After that, I couldn't even