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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127862
Dahners , like tea m ma te Plessinger,
ret ired with no brakes . While
Plessinger's binders faded awa y, Dahners first broke off his rear br ak e pedal
and then had his front brake hose tom
from the caliper when he h it a tree.
Plessi nger remained reserved after carding his fifth DNF of the ye ar, but the
frustration of not compe ting at the front
-is obvious ly begi nning to take its toll on
the former champion.
" I was ju s t st arti ng to r ide rea ll y
good by the seco nd lap and m y bra kes
went ou t," Plessin ger re lat ed, dumbfo u nded at h is lu ck. Plessinger th en
sum med up his season by ad ding, simply, "This suds!"
The KTM o f 1997 A MA N a tional
Enduro Champion Mike Laff erty also
sa t silently in the pits before race's end .
Lafferty ran out of gas far from the pi ts,
possibly du e to poo r gas mileage attribut able to th e dus t. Wi th no chance of
challenging by the time he was able to
refuel , he chose not to re-enter the dusty
fray.
By lap two, the top five rid ers wer e
d efined. Andrews led until being passed
by Su m mers on lap three, who wa s in
tu m passed for the lead by Smith on lap
four. Smith would no t be headed agai n,
bu t the funn y thing was tha t the No rthern Californian had no idea that he was
in position to win his third GNCC of the
year.
.
''To be totally hon est, 1 didn't know
that I wa s in first place unti l the lap af ter
I gassed - the fifth lap , when they gave
me PIon my pit boa rd !" Smith said. "I
th ought that Pl essing er a n d Fre d dy
(And rews) were still ahead 01 me, and
Summers, so I never eve n knew tha t we
were first. I had pretty mu ch set tled for
thi rd because I figured th at th ey got
away early and were out of the dust. I
was just riding my own race."
Coincidentally, just as Smith took the
lead, a phone call from his Suzuki teammat e Steve Ha tch w as received at the
track. Hatch, out for th e remaind er of
the season wi th two crushed vertebrae
from the Mount Morris round, was just
checking to see how th e lon e Suzuki
represen tative was fairing on the day.
The battl e for seco nd wa s un decided
until the white-flag lap, w hen Andrews
capi ta lize d on th e bad lu ck that befell
Su mmers.
"I got into the lead and jus t kin d of
cr u ised a long : ' sa id An drews, who
looked p oi sed to d o w ell a ll da y. " I
caugh t up to slower guys an d thou ght,
'Shoo t, I'm having a hard eno ug h time
riding with no dust; 1 don 't know how
in the heck the y' re staying behind me.' I
w a s probabl y goi ng a li ttl e too easy
beca use I th ou ght tha t the du st wou ld
slow them d own. When I gassed, they
(Smith and Summers) go t by me . I could
see Summers ahea d of me and I kn ew
that I cou ld catch him. I came around a
comer and there we re some roots in the
d us t and he d idn't see them an d down
hewent."
Root s w eren't the only things th at
had go tte n the best of Summers in his
title-d inching rid e. A th rot tle tha t was
stu ck wid e open for half a lap necessitated u sing th e kill switch and brakes
when it cam e time to slow down. Ha ving to abandon his air filter in order for
the engine to breath certai nly ad ded to
the drama.
"I was a little down on power and I
didn't quite have eno ug h to make it up
the big hill," Summe rs exp lained. (Rid ers were offered three routes, with only
th e Pros and a hand ful o f A ri de rs
attem pti ng "Pa pa Hill.") "A cou ple of
tim es, it wa s like Black wat er . (Specta tors) were like a human chain - they'd
(Abo ve) Team
Honda's seen
Summers
overcame a
sticking throttle
and a clogged air
filter to finish th ird
overall and lock up
his fifth GNCC title.
(Above ri ght) Doug
Blackwell
overcame a crash
at the sta rt t o finish
f ourt h overall on
his SCRIYamaha.
(Right) Team Green
ri der Br ian Keegan
rode to filth overall .
Jen ks (Yam); 12 Tim Shephard (Yam); 13. Todd Morai n
(Yam); 14. Jeff Fredette (Ka w); 15. John Bennett (Yam);
16. Aa ron Kapp (Suz); 17. Rodn ey Jud son
Heat h Bennett (Ya m); 19. Ron Bur nfie ld
D.1riUli Lattea (Suz).
PRO: 1. Rodney Smit h (5uz); 2. Fred
(Ya m); 3. Scott Summt'n. (Ho n) ; 4. Doug
(Hbg); 18.
(Suz ); 20.
Andrew s
Black w ell
(Yam); 5. 8ri.tn Keegan ( )(aw) .
OPEN A: 1. Roollt")' Jud'oOrl (Hbg); 2. Dave Gunn
(KT M); 3. Rand y Johnson (KT M); 4. Ma rl Adlins
(KTM) 5. Mile G ri T.7J~ (lfbd .
;
:z.so A: 1. Barry Hawl Guz); 2. Ross Beesoe (Suz); 3.
Robbie Jenks (Ya m); • . Todd Mora in (Yam); 5. Joh n
Bt.-nnett(Ya ml .
200 A : 1. Jeff Fred ette (K aw): 2 . Heath Ben ne tt
(Yam ); 3. Corey Parlin (Ya m); • . Kevi n Creekm u r (Yam ):
5. Troy Cot.u (JClM ).
4-STR..K A: 1. Ron Bumfield (Suz); 2. Darius Lattea
(Suz); 3. Harvey Whitake!' (J(.aw ); 4. Don Bohn