Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

EVENTS E ITEDBYC RON COATNEY D AME By Matt Freeman RED MOUNTAIN, CA, FEB 7-8 . ave Ondas cou ld not have had a better weekend th an h e d id a t the 4 Aces Me' s 50th a n n ua l Moo se Run . In Sa tu rday's Europea n Scrambles eve nt, the Team Green KX500 p ilot go t th e ho leshot in th e O p e n / 250 / 200cc Expert / Am ateur race a nd never looked back. Ondas continued his wi nni ng wa ys by bat tling to the overall wi n in Su nday's Hare Scrambles race. Uni que to a ll other even tson th e AMA / Dis tric t 37 ca lendar, the" 4 Aces MC laid ou t thr ee sepa ra te courses for a weekend full of racing. The sched ule for Sa turday consis te d of tw o Eu ropean Scra m b le s co u rses, eac h 9 m il e s in . leng th. Most co mpetito rs com pleted at leas t fou r loo ps on th eir d es ignat ed courses. On Sunday, the race took pla ce on a trad itional 37-mile Hare Scrambles loop. At the sta rt of the Expert / Am a teu r Sen ior ra ce o n Satu rda y , Ka w a sa kim ou n ted Re x Sta ten r o ck e ted h is DG/ Answer -backed KXSOO to the lead . And a h igh -speed sand was h a t th e beginning of Co u rse A was all Sta ten need ed to keep his lead . The rider closes t to Staten at th e fin ish was KX250mounted Charlie Barn ey, who never go t close enough to Staten to make a bid for the lead . YZ250 rid er Kevin Hasten su ffered a bad start an d wo rked his wa y up through the moist , dust-fr ee cou rse to finish third overall. Magnum-class rider N at e Scaqu ia showed up on a camou fla ge-pa inted YZ250 and p a ssed Bill Maxim' s KXSOO for the class win on the last lap. "You can' t ask for any better cond itions," sa id Staten abo ut his ru nawa y win . "It' s so we t and there's no dust, so it allows you to go as fast as you want." Meanwhile, on Course B, the KX80s of Kurt Cas elli a nd Jonat h a n Da vi es we re flat out d ominating the combined Novice/ Begin ne r Senior and Exp er t / Am at eur Women /M in i race. Cas elli took th e w in , foll owed by Da v ies . A District 37 Desert Racing Series, Rounds 4 &5 tw o-m in u te ga p followed the fir st two riders before t he RM80 of Crai g Gulledge crossed the finis h line . The Expert/ Am ateur Vet race was a runaway until race lead er Eric Ha llga th pull ed off th e cou rse to m a ke so me changes to his M/ XC200. "I' rn racing the next race and tha t's more im po rtant to me," Hall ga th sai d . "I need to make a few ad justme nts so I' ll ha v e a b etter cha n ce aga ins t th e big guys." With Hallgath back at his tru ck turnin g w r e nc hes , John Spa et h a n d hi s KX250 took the overall win jus t ahead of the 250s of Jon Parks and Rick Lu ndin. Dale Morse finis hed in fou rth ove rall to take the Open Vet-class w in. Ondas' wi n in the Expe rt/A ma teu r Open / 250/200cc rac e was very similar to Sta ten 's Seni o r-r ace win . Ondas got the holesh ot and was follow ed closely by Hallgath for one lap until he pulled away for a comfo rtable lead . Ha llgath s tay ed in second d espite being chased by KXSOO pilot Jeff Capt. Hallgath' s finis h netted him a cla ss win. A fourthovera ll finis h bv YZ250-m ounted Sean Bradley was also good eno ugh to take the 250cc hon or s. Casey Lon gman and hi s American H ond a- b a cke d XR600 placed first Four-Stro ke in fifth overall. Ra in poured throu gh th e al rea dymoist valley on Sa turd ay nigh t, which made for an inte resting s ta rt for Sunda y' s Hare Scrambles bomb ru n. Man y riders were alrea dy spatt er ed wi th dirt second s after the banner d ropped . Capt was the clean est of the ap prox ima tely 250 racers as he reached the end of the bom b run in firs t pla ce. "I was first at the end of the bomb a nd 1 led for five or si x mil es," Ca p t said . "Then Ondas got by me and I followed him for abou t 10 miles ." Ond a s' blast in to th e lea d left th e KX500 of Ab e Bauman n in th ir d , followed by Hallgath . " It's kin d of cra z y co n d it io n s, because when it's like this, it' s ha nd lebar to handlebar and you jus t get roosted roya lly at the start," sai d Bau mann abo ut being in third p lace. "I wis h I had a th icker jersey on jus t to pro tect fro m the roost." Thirty miles into the loop, the cou rse dropped down in to a fas t sa nd -was h va lley that led to the pits. Ondas gave up th e lea d to Ca p t in th e sa nd w ash just before stopping for gas . "Capt passed me coming int o the pit s in the sa nd w ash," O nd a s s aid , "and then we dic ed the firs t 10 miles of th e second loop. " Bau man n ca me through th e pits in . th ird , followed by Tea m Gr een KX250 rid er Steve Hen gev eld , H all gath a nd new Kawasak i support ride r Doug Chiapuzio. No t e ve ryo ne w a s ha vin g a g rea t d a y . Th e KX500 of To m m y Robe rt s came to a ha lt d ue to mecha nical problems, a nd 250cc h ope ful Joey La n z a called it a da y after suffering a flat rear tire. ATK 605-mo u nted Tom Finch was see n hobbli ng thr ough a san d wash with clutc h probl ems, and 125cc Expert Dean Walker lost his silencer so mewhere out on th e second loop, but he to ughed it ou t and nursed his YZ through the second loop. Ondas was finally able to sha ke Capt from his tale , but the real rac e was for thi rd overa ll. Hallgath was on the mo ve after the gas stop. "O n the second lap, 1 was going out and it was jus t rea l tight, and 1 passed. H eng e v e ld and Abe Baum ann an d mo ve in to th ird," sai d Hall ga th, who spent most of the second loop in thi rd . "The n, co mi ng int o th e finish, the last three miles (a sa nd w ash ), Baumann , H en geveld a n d Ch ia p u zio all go t by me." O ndas cru ised in to th e fin ish with tim e to s p a re ov e r Ca pt. Baumann w a xed th e Ve t class, fini shin g third overa ll, and Hen geveld beat ou t Chiapuzio by mere seco nds fo r th e 250cc honor s. Hallga th crossed the finis h line first in class, sixth overall. Staten once again topped the Senio rs with a se ven th- pla ce fin ish, foll owed closely by Senior 250cc winner Barn ey. (Above left) Dave Ondas took a couple of wins at the 50th running of the 4 Aces MC's Moose Run Hare Scrambles at Red Mountain, California. (Above) Abe Baumann took third overall, first Vet rider in Sunday's race . Perhaps the most excited rid er at the finis h w a s Fou r-St roke-cla ss winner Longma n, w ho had been feeling und er the weather at the start of the race. "I've been feeling totally cra ppy and 1 was thinking about just crui sing, and 1 got go ing and 1 thou ght , 'Ma n, this is a bit chin' cou rse,' so 1 just started go ing for it," Lon gm an said. "I passed a bunch of people and ju st had a lot of fun ." 1:'\ 4 Aces MC Moose Run Red Mountain, California Results: February 7-8, 1998 S,ltu ni.1y S/S R, 1. Ray Banfield (Yam) . SR OPEN EX: 1. Rex Stat en IKaw): 2 Rudy Abele IKaw): 3. Mik. Martm (Kaw). S R 250 EX: 1. C ha r lie Barne y (Ka w): 2. Kevin Hasten (Yam). M AG EX: 1. Na te Sca q ui a (Yam ); 2. Bill Ma xim (Kaw). VET O PEN NOV: 1. Th oma s Gi bson (Hon);· 2. Rock y Wa rbrick (Han); 3. Sam Creuee ( Ka w). VET O PEN EX: 1. Dale Morse VET 250 NOV: 1. Dave Larso n (!; 7. Rex Sta ten (Ka w);8. Cha rlie Ba rn ey IKa w ): 9. Jon Par ks tHon); 10. Rick Lundin (Yam).

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