Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127848
ENDURO AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP E NDURO SERIES Round 6: Paul Bunyan National The event was held in the Paul Bunyan State Forest, located five miles north of Akeley. Event organizer /trail boss Floyd Martineau explained: "Up until a week ago, it was actually dry up here. Luckily, we got over four inches of rain earlier in the week. That made for perfect conditions by Friday. But on Saturday, we got another three or four inches, and the trails just became oversaturated. "The club spent considerable amount of time rerou ting around the tro u ble spots on Saturday," Martinea u said, "but, at that point, there was only so much we could do . We feel bad that we weren't able to get more of the riders throu gh the course, but most of them went into the last section 10 to 15 minutes late, and that didn't leave enough time." The e xtre m ely mu d d y co nditions claimed their share of A, B and C riders, as many of them rod e through the event's four -resets just to stay on time. Defending Na tional Enduro Champion Randy Hawkins fell vic tim to the By Steve Berkner AKELEY, MN. JUNE 29 . 28 ~ TM's Mike Lafferty con tinued his wi nning ways at round six of the National Enduro Series in Minnesota. He managed this by overcoming 100 miles of rain-soaked trail enro u te to a three-minute victory over home-state rid er Matt Slavish. Lafferty carded a 47 du ring the 13-check event that left more than 80 percent of its starting riders eithe r houring out or opting for an early departure. Lafferty summed up the event after dropping 23 minutes during the last 13mil e section: "That last section was a real butt-kicker. "You don't see sections like that very often. It was so tight, it just went on forever. I just hope that I held off MatI. He 's won this event so many times that he deserves a good showing." What Lafferty had described was an A I AA section that houred out more than half of the 52 riders that entered the section. It carne at the end of a day that saw the event's 148 starting competitors riding on trails that had received more than eight inches of rain during the week. At the final check, only 25 riders made it to the finish without houring out. Stavis h, who has co m pe te d in th e (Ab ove) Mike Lafferty cheeks in with another Nationa l Enduro victory in , Minnesota. (Right) Loc al lavo rlte Matt Slavish took second. National Enduro Series regularly over the past eight yea rs, said of the Akeley endu ro: "That was one hell of an enduro - especially that last woods section. It was like nothing I've ever raced in any of the other Nationals. It was strictly Minnesota . "I rode the best I could. "Mv (timekeeping) computers quit working this morning, and it took a little extra concentration to keep time, and I think that hurt me a little. I gave it my best, but I think Mike held on." As it turned out , Lafferty was able to hold on to the three-minute lead that he had posted over Stavish earlier in the morning, when Stavish had lost one minute to Lafferty at the fourth, sixth and eighth timed checks. The two riders carded identical scores during the remaining five checks. Stavish finished the Norsemen Motorcycle Club-hosted event with a SO. Rounding out the top five we re Jeff Fredette, Jesse Blomberg and Mike Slechta, who finished wit h scores of 67, 78 and 87, respectively. extremely muddy conditions as well, when he ran out of gas just two miles from main gas and check eight - while lead ing . "We just miscalculated the amount of fuel we were going to need . I knew I was in trouble when the bike started bogging in some of the rougher sections," Hawkins, a six-time National Enduro Champion, said . "It just kind of sums up the whole year that we've been having." Up to that point. Hawkins held a oneminute lead over Lafferty. "Th ings we re rea ll y go ing good ," Hawkins added. "I actua lly just missed zero ing the second check by four or five seconds, and that wo uld have given us a tw o-mi nute lead. I was re ally looking forwa rd to the two AA sections after the main gas . It was no secret that they were there and, with all the rain, I was read~~ for the challenge." . . Lafferty agreed insight. "I knew that last section was Randy's