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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127836
ENDURO TECATE 250K ENDURO After detennining he hadn't burned it, Atkinson and his crew tallied the cards again and found Hines the winner by a slim margin, 27.0815-27.0956. Rounding out the top three was Jimmy Lewis who borrowed a 1M 125 from importer Pete Vetrano at the last minute in order to compete for the coveted tearn trophy. This year's event was the first one since '94 (when Davis won his first Tecate Enduro) and the first since the death last year of Los Ancianos Motorcycle Club member Niles Ussery, the consummate Baja enthusiast with a dry sense of humor who seemed to enjoy nothing as much as laying out a challenging Tecate trail and listen to riders sruvel about it yet show up to race year after year. Los Ancianos hosted a trail ride in '95 and '96, dedicating last year's ride to Ussery's memory. "The course (this year) did go within a hundred yards of where we spread his ashes and had a little memorial," DeBerry said. "When we were laying out the race, we kept saying 'Grumpy' was watching us." Another difference in this year's race was the location. Instead of Testerazzo (left) Kevin Hines put together a "nonaggressive" ride at the Tecate Enduro and wound up tied with Ty Davis for first place. After a two-day scoring reView, Hines was awarded his second Tecate victory. (Below) Jimmy lewis used a TM 125 to successfully defend his 125cc championship and earn third overall. lewis later claimed not to be taking the race seriously. By Mark Kariya ..... l-< < 16 TECATE, B.C., MEXICO, APR. 5 don't know if I'm going to win 't; it'd be neat if I could pulJ it ff," Team Green's Ty Davis said oments after crossing the finish line at the Tecate 250K Enduro. "It'd be a miracle if I did." The reason for his pessimism? Losing valuable minutes fixing a derailed chain on the tough last loop. "I had to take the chain guide off for that and take a rock and pound the chain back on the countershaft sprocket," Davis said. "Then pound the chain guide out so I could get the chain on. The chain was way off. I finally got going and got to the reset (which followed, but) I didn't !:lave any time (there). I'm hoping I lost only three minutes." Davis irutially got rus hoped-for rruracle and went home believing he'd won. Two days later, however, scorer Mike Atkinson reported that CRE Imports/ ELine Accessories' Kevin Hines requested a review of his score, believing he had found a rrustake. Upon that review and based on an interview with checkpoint personnel, Hines's score was adjusted, which ended up making him the winner of this year's enduro. Originally, Hines's score reflected a one-minute burn of check A, which would have put him at 29 for the day. south of Tecate, the start / finish returned to the area near Rancho Santa Veroruca to the east. The dub devised three loops of 45, 45 and 36 miles, mileage totaling over 150 with resets. Unusual for a western enduro but in Los Ancianos tradition, the speed average was a straight 24 mph. What was planned was a challenging first loop, back off a bit on the second (the Mag 7 lunch stop at the end of that loop also signaled the firush for Seruors and Super Seruors), then a rugged run to the finish that would leave tongues dragging. While more than one entrant reported questioning his samty during the day, virtually everyone praised the course. "Tills was a great event," Hin.es said. "Tills was top-notch. The diversity, different terrain - from sand to rocks to big berms to hills, everything. There's everything out there, and they're real creative. The club's check placement was real good this year - something I didn't remember them having in the past - putting checks in the right places so you couldn't go into sections early. The last loop they just u ed great creativity. It was by no means a desert race." -But even DeBerry admitted that rain and r. ยท'::'usting of snow two days before ensured prime conditions. "If it hadn't rained, it would've been dusty, and we would've gotten complaints," he said. About the omy complaints heard from the 142 riders was the cold at the 7 a.m. start, but everyone knew they wouldn't be cold for long. As expected, Davis set a fast pace early. "The first loop went good; I dropped three," he recalled. "On the second loop, 1 burned that one check, otherwise, 1 would've zeroed the whole loop. Something got screwed up - I don't know what it was. That really made me mad so I just pinned it after that. 1was ticked. 1 hammered down. It was a flawless day until 1 hit that rock and the chain carne off." Unfortunately for the former ational Enduro champ, Davis didn't have enough of a cusruon on the field to hang onto the win. In the battle of former Tecate champs and former ational champs, Hines proved the biggest threat to Davis. Aboard his CRE 250, he reported no major problems afterward. "1 think it went good; 1 didn't make any mistakes:' Hines said. "1 didn't ride super-aggressive. [ ju t rode within my means and had a good time. I warmed up in the morning and the last loop 1 just sort of maintained - didn't ride over my head. 1 never fell down." The last Tecate 250K Enduro field included an Italian entrant, Davide TroIIi, who, though not farruliar with American-style enduros, paced off a top American and ended up with a good showing. This year, another top Italian took part. Luca Trussardi knew even less about resets and "possibles" and other nuances of the game than Trolli did. So, his American "manager" Tom Thrailkill gave him a crash course: He got Trussardi entered on Davis' minute and told the 1MS Honda XR440Rmounted rider to just stay close behind the Kawasaki pilot.