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/127858
CROSS COUNTRY AMA GRAND NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY SERIESIHARE SCRAMBLES SERIES Round 6/9: Millfield, Ohio SCR /Team Yamaha's Doug Blackwell failed to finish afte r a midrace cras h put him out of the running wit h an injured shoulder, and Suzuki's Paul Edmondson wa s a no-show: He is still at home in England , recovering from a knee in jury su ffered at th e p revious GNCC round in June. Despite the nons ta r ts of top riders Edmondson and Dahners, the pro field totalled 17 riders, including newly crowned AMA National Enduro champion Mike Lafferty from Millville, New Jersey. The Sunday Creek race course wa s con sidered by most to be fast and fun. Du e to a re cent loss of su r rou nd ing land, and logging bei ng done on oth er properties, some of the tighter technical sections that a re normally utilized by co u rse desi gn er Jeff Russell were not a va ila b le. Always a favorite among s pecta tors, the O hio event incl udes a pi cturesqu e , fu ll-l ength mo to cro ss course in full view of the pits . Dust was a minima l fac tor a round th e 9- m il e course at the beginning of the day bu t increased slig htly by race's end, the product of cloudless skies and BO-degree temperatu res. The d ead-engine start p roduced no surprises: The fast-starting Suzukis of teammates Smith and Hatch joining the By Jim Talkington MILLFIELD, OH, SEf'f. 7 anding the fi rs t blow of the rene w e d A MA off-road racing season was Team Honda' s reign'.--. ing GNCC cha mpion, Scott Su mmers. Riding with the smarts and consistency that ha s led to mult ipl e titles and race wins in both the GNCC and Ha re Scra mb les series > this event se rve d as a round for bo th - Sum mers once agai n put his name in the reco rd books with a narrow and hard -fough t vic tory over his archrival, Tea m Suzuki's Steve Hatch . Third overall went to Andrew's Racing/Team Yamaha's Fred Andrew s, who p ut in a grea t ch arge through the pack to claim the fina l pod i- urn spo t. Even mor e im pressive was Sport Cycles Raci ng /Tea m Yama ha 's Duan e Con ner, who retu rned to racing after an injury-induced layoff of nearly six mo n ths to take a su rprising fou rth posi tion . Filling ou t the top fiv e was Cycle Gear / Te a m Yamaha' s Ra n d y Hawki ns , who once again overcame early adversity to score another top finish . Several top competitors found themselves w ithout a ny points on the da y. Spo rti ng the number-on e plate for the N ati on al Hare Scra mbles series, Suzuki's Rodney Smith started the da y blazingly fast and looked sct to control the p ac e u p front , until h e even tua lly dropped out with flu-enduced fatigue . Also dropping ou t of the event was forme r GNCC cha m p a nd local favo ri te Scull Plessi nger on his factory KTM. Brake p roblems whic h began earl y on durin g lap one and w hich were never successfull y co rrected left Plessinger re s i g n ed 20 to wa tc h in g fro m hi s mot orhome once again. Joining him on the sidelines was KTM teammate Jason Dahners, recovering from tom cart ilege s u r ro u nd ing hi s r ib s, a n in jury s us tained at a local race weeks prior to the eve nt. (Abo ve) Scott Plessinger (2) nails the holeshot at the start 01 the combined GNCClHa re Scrambles ro und in Millfield, Ohio. Aner getting smoked on the dead-enqlne sta rt, Honda's Scoll Summers (Below and below right) muscled his way to the Iront 01 the lIeld to battle with SUzuki's Steve Hatch (Right). Hatch endoed on the last lap and Summers took the win.