Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

sho uld've run the first loop second and th e second loop first." Richa rdson led the Vet clas s when he dashed through the pits in se venth overall, two and a half m in utes behind the race leader. KX250 hotsh ot Brian Brown was in eigh th, and KTM pilot Todd Hoy a n d KX250-mounted Doug C h ia p uzio rounded ou t the top 10. Brown was far fro m h app y with eig hth overall and second in th e 250cc Expert class. "I was up in fro nt of the pack pr et ty much at th e bomb run and every body else took off on a roa d," Brown said. "I sta yed o n th e tr a il a nd everybo dy go t ou t ah ead of me. I sho uld've been much higher than this." Ed McCoy wa s racin g second Vet in 13th overall at the hal fwa y poin t, ju st ahead of Eric Hallga th , who w as m aking his presence felt on a KTM 200, and Tim Staab's Honda XR628 wa s leading the Four-S troke d ivision in 17th overall . " I d id n ' t ha ve o ne of my us ually good starts and I was ki nd of a ways back - probably last," Staab said. "Having a bad start like that reall y slowed me down. Th ere was so much dust in th e firs t loo p . It w as so bad , I th ou ght I was w ay ba ck th ere." "W ay ba ck th er e" certai nly a p plied to Kawa saki 's Paul Krause, who finished loop on e in 29th ove ra ll. "I ha ve n o id ea w ha t ha p pened to m e," sa id Krause, w ho w as fresh from com peti ng in th e p re s ti gi ous Paris Grenad a-D ak ar Rally. "I just had a really tou gh time getting used to th e bik e again and ge tt ing used to th e ter rain. I just got ba ck from Fra nce o n Friday night and I d on't thi nk I w as qui te read y for this. I just we nt for a nice trail ride." Nick Pearson was m ore than ready for loo p tw o, which was a 38-mile circuit that incorpora ted a 12-mi le dash no rth alongside Bessemer M in e Road wi th tight, technical mo untain ridi ng , a blitz past Ga lloway Lake an d five hid den checks, and finished with a m ileand-a-ha lf section through Soggy Dry Lake's infa mo us moon rock s. "Tha t last sectio n is bi g ro cks a nd deep sa nd . It's short but it's so draini ng physicall y tha t it feels like it's 14 mi les. We 've got yo u down, yo u ' re so tired , a n d we' re goi ng to b e a t yo u some more," said Desert Me's Ed Farrell, w ho he lped to lay out the loo p . It was fu ll speed ahead for Nic k Pears o n, who k new th at Da vis ha d to be lurkin g somew here in the d u st be hind him. " I knew p e o pl e were going to be ca tchin g m e on th e second loo p, pus hin g m e , an d I k new I h ad to ri d e smooth," Pear son said, "so I just rode my best and kep t it o n two wheels." Su re eno ug h, Davis was on the move. "I caught Capt a nd I caug ht O ndas, and I was pretty much on Pearson all th e wa y around fhe last lo o p b u t I co uld n't reel him in b e cau se of the d ust," Davis said. " It wasn't so bad in the tight stuff, and I tried to pass him a couple of times. We'd be side by si de, th en th e course would go left and I'd go r ig ht, or I'd go rig h t a n d th e course would go left." Campbell wa s also working his way up thro ugh th e pa ck, leap-frogging up one position at a time from 12th at the h a lfw ay point. Steve Hengeveld was going the ot her wa y, los ing tim e when he fell in the rocks and couldn't res tart his bik e, and a couple of tip- ov er s lost a p osition o r tw o for Ca p t. Richardson, w ho had ta ken tim e off after wrenching his knee in the final race of las t year's series, described his second loop as "going backw ards fast." (Above) Nick's brother, Russ Pea rson, piloted his KTM 250 to fifth overall, first 250 Expert. (Right) Nick Pearson was very close to winning his first National , but was still very upbeat at the finish. " I just got passed all d a y ," said Rich ard s on, w ho too k a ca utio us approach to p rotect his knee. "I wen t bac k and forth with a couple of people but never could hold on to anything and I started getti ng rea lly tired towards the end. I just tried to put it o n cruise and finish. " Th e cross-gra in of the long , fas t va l- . leys co u p led w ith g rueling rocks and tight, technical sec tio ns too k a toll as th e loop sta rted to d raw to a close. "I ha v en ' t been out here in about eight m onths," said Ho y. " I took tim e off to start a new career as an LA sheriff. I had th e speed but I jus t di dn't hav e the end u rance. I go t tired at the end and I let probably fou r guys go by me." Utah's Jeff Lundgreen wa s d iscovering tha t he wasn't in the best shape, either. . "Where I live, it's all snow an d mud , so we can' t ride," Lundgreen explained. "I would've d on e be tte r if I'd been ab le to be on th e bik e more - p lus I' ve got blist er s all ove r - bu t it was still really fun." Vet -elass racer Baumann was locked in a battle with too-stiff sus pe nsion. 'The re we re some fas t va lleys in the seco nd loo p and it' s okay to have stiff suspension there, but it' s not okay when there's a lot of loose rocks," Bau mann said . "My forks w ere way too stiff for the rocks ." But Bauman n was still faring be tter than McCoy, w ho d ropped ou t of sec ond in the Vet class w he n he crashed on th e second loo p. "I cras hed really hard and I was just lucky to mak e it to the finish after that," McCoy told Cycl e New s . "Th e co urse was good . It's as good as they get d ow n her e, a nyway, but the valley-to-valley stuff is hard on me. It's just flat out." Davis was pushing hard all the wa y around the second loo p, inching clos er and closer to Pearson, and he up ped the pace even more as the course turned for home. " I could n' t get him in th e valleys because of th e dust, but I could tell he was getting tired at the end," Davis said. "He w a s making m istakes, so I kn ew that if I just pressured him enough, I coul d get him to make a mistake." Pea rso n withs tood th e pressure all the way to the la st half mil e, bu t th e final section of ti ght, te chni cal moon rocks cu t speeds to almost a walking pace and the lack of d ust let Davis close right in on his tail. "I got him in the tig ht stu ff rig ht a t the end, abou t a hundred yards from the finish," said Davis, who was on ly a couple of b ike len gt h s ahead of Pearso n when the checkered flag fell. "Tha t was hard work," said Da vis, wiping the di rt off his teeth.. "I'm really . happy to w in this after the start I go t. It w a s a good co u rse - cha lle nging and everything. Both loops w ere really good an d the clu b d id a good job." The new Yamaha pilot thanked Montclair Yamah a , Yama ha M otor Sports , D u nlo p, Wor ks Co nnectio n, Uni. Moose, Oakl ey, FMF, N-Sty le, BRP, Afam, and "my w ife fo r p u tting up with m e th e la st two weeks. It's been hectic trying to ge t this all together ." " He jus t caug ht m e at th e finis h and bagged me - maybe.an eig ht h of a mile back," said KTM-backed Nick Pearson, "bu t I d on't ha ve any com pla ints . Th e course was awesome - tight, rocky, fast, had some of every thi ng - and my bike worked awesome, too. FM F did a real good job. They we re down here Thursd a y a n d th ey di d so me te stin g and helped me out. I had a good day." On das cross ed th e finis h in th ird overall to tak e third Open Expe rt. " No p ro b le ms," the KX500 ra cer reported . "I had a 'good rid e, and I liked the course." A d isappo int ed Abbo tt crossed th e finish in fou rth . " Irn jus t r eal ups et with m y s elf, because I think I really could've won this o ne if it wasn' t for th e fla t," sa id KX500 pilot Abbott, "but the course was good. I usually don't like this place, but the cl ub did a rea lly goo d job for Lucerne. I was happy to see some more technical stuff." Ru ss Pearson tu r ned in a flawless second loo p to take a wi re- to-wire 250cc Expert wi n in fifth overall. "It took a while to get going again after my fall right off the sta rt, but the se cond loo p was good ," said the KTM ra cer . Open Expert Campbell took sixth o ve ra ll on h is Honda facto ry-b a cked XR628. " I' m pre tty hap py with m y fin ish and my p hys ica l fi tness," Ca m pbell said. "I haven 't ridden a Nationa l in over a year, so it was quite a challenge." Next in line was KX250 pilot Doug Chiapuzio, w ho do dged arou nd Capt at the very last minute to captu re seventh overall. . "I had a good ride. I jus t need more tim e o n m y b ike," sa id Capt, w ho is transitioning fro m a four-stroke H onda to a two-stroke Kawasaki. "The KXSOOis a great bike. I do n't have a p roblem with the bike, I just need mo re p rac tice. Differen t muscles, d iffer ent attitu de." . Rich ard son nursed h is reco verin g kn ee all the way to ninth ove ra ll and a win in the Vet class. " I didn 't think I d id very well - I seem ed to ge t pa ssed all day, but I had a lot of fun," sa id KX500 racer Richardso n, w ho th ank ed M id Citi es H ond a /Kawa s aki. " The co u r s e w as great. It w as w ell-m arked, really fas t and technicaL It was a lot of fun ." Hengeveld crossed th e line in 10th overall, d espite a spill in the rocks and a ha rd tim e res tartin g his KX250 on loop two . KTM-m o unted Hoy took 11th , ahea d of Vet- class racer Baumann, and XR628 p ilo t Staab top ped the FourStrok e d ivision in 13th . H allgath cro ssed th e fin is h in 14th overa ll on a KTM200 to take the C-elass wi n , w hich, a cco rd ing to A MA rules , incorporat esbikes from 86cc up to and incl ud ing 200cc. "I thought it was a terrific rac e, good and tight," said Hall gath, w ho is p lanning to ride th e w ho le Nationa l se ries . . "It was a good ho rse power track, but I go t all I could out of the C bike. I'd just lik e to thank FMF, KTM Mojav e, IMS, BRP and O' N eal ." Seco nd in th e C class went to KXI25mo u nted Dan a Va n Stee, w ho crossed th e fini sh four pla ces behind Hallga th . One of th e happiest fin ishers in th e race was Ch a rlie Barn ey, w ho ra ced to victory in the O ver 40 class in 25th over all. " I've b een away fro m r a cing for eight years but I just had to go out and rid e again:' said Barney, who rod e a KX250. "Once yo u ge t it in yo ur blood , yo u just can' t get rid of it. The course was nice and technical. They m ad e yo u work for everyt hing and you go t yo ur m on ey' s worth, which ma de it a good National." l~ AMA National C's hip Hare & Hound Series Luce rne Valley, California Res ults : J anuary 25, 1998 (Round 1 of 7) O/A : 1. Ty Davi s (Yam ); 2. N ick Pea rso n (KTM ); 3. Da ve Ondas (Ka w ): 4. Destry Abbott (Kaw): 5. Rus s Pear son (KTM); 6. Joh nn y Campbell (Hon): 7. Doug Chiapuzio (Ka w ): 8. Jeff Ca pt (Kaw) : 9. Da n Richardson IKaw ): 10 . St e v e Hengeveld (Kaw): 11. Todd Ho y (KTM); 12. Abe Baumann IKaw): 13. Ti m Staab (Ho nb 14. Eric Hall gath (KTM); 15. Oakley Lehman (Ka w) : 10. Jim Gray (KTM); 17. Jon Pa rks (He n ): 18. Dan a Van Stee (Ka w): 19. Ed McCoy (H on): 20. Joh n Spaeth (Kaw). O PEN EX: 1. Ty Da v is (Ya m) ; 2. N ic k Pearson (KTM); 3. Dav e Ond as (Kaw). 125 EX: 1. Eric Hall ga th (KTM); 2. Da na Van Seee (Kaw). 250 EX: 1. Russ Pearson (KTM); 2. Doug Chia puz io (Ka w): 3. Steve Hen geveld IKaw ). 30+ EX: 1. Dan Richardson (Ka w): 2. Abe Bauma nn (Kaw): 3. Jon Parks (Ka w). 40+ EX: 1. Charlie Barn ey (Ka w) . 4·STRK EX: 1. Tim Staab (Hon}, 23

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