Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ECEA Enduro C " By Paul Clipper GREENBANK, NJ, MAR. 15 ll eyes were on Fred Hoess, ECEA's 1997 Enduro Champion, to set the pace at the 61st running of the annual Sandy Lane Enduro"but this Sunday wasn't going to be Hoess' day. Instead, it was Richard Lafferty roosting his KTM 250 into the pacesetter's position at the first check and keeping that spot 'at every remaining check. "I had a little trouble in the first section, and I actually got stuck briefly a couple of times," said Hoess afterward. "I figured he was going to get me, but I had no idea he'd get me that bad!" Lafferty, the middle sibling of the three-brother Lafferty family, dropped a total of nine points over the n.7-mile course. Hoess held on for second, with a 13, giving their sponsor - Bromley Suzuki-KTM - a one-two sweep of the ECEA's opening round. Third place for the day went to Richard's brother Jack -Jr., a past multi-time champion of the ECEA, on his first ride aboard a Husaberg 501 for his new sponsor, Griffin Vehicle Service. Richard Lafferty made his intentions known at the first check-out, after a short warmup section right off the start. ,Open trails and fire cuts from the start tightened down to low-lying and typically tight pine-woods trails, spiced here and there with water holes. The first section was barely 6 miles long but tricky to ride. Lafferty charged right off the start and blitzed through it all to card a single point at the check-out, putting him firrii!ly in the lead for the rest of the day. The best anyone in the A or AA class did was a two at that check, with tl'lrees and fours being more typical. The two-point scores were all posted by exECEA Grand Champions, namely Honda XR250 pilot Kevin Bennett ('champ in '87; '88, and '90), Honda CR250 rider Mark Spence (champ in '96), and Husaberg 501 rider Jack Lafferty Jr. (seven-time ECEA Champ). Jack Jr. seemed to be having no trouble at all switching over to the big fourstroke (last year he competed aboard a KTM 250)..spence, who sat out last season to concentrate on higher education, had high hopes for the day, but soon found himself nursing a bike that had ingested a fair amount of sandy water, and would only get through eight checks before having to retire for the .day. The next section was nearly eight miles of typical Sou th Jersey sand and tight tree's, with a fair amount of "igno.rant tight" so beloved by the ECEA reg-ulars. Once again, Richard Lafferty was the pacesetter, flying through the jerseyripping woods with a 3:57 at the checkout. Bennett, who can ride an XR250 like no one else, matched'Richard's score exactly and was the only other rider to drop a three in the section. Jack Jr. carded a 4:11 at the checkout, foUowed by Hoess with a 4:15. Going into the gasavailable, Richard Lafferty had a commanding lead with a total of four points lost, followed by Bennett with a five, Jack Jr. with a six, and Hoess with seven points down. A quick section after the gas determined who was sleeping or not, and it took a point from Richard Lafferty, Hoess and Jack Jr., while nipping Bennett for two. The' rest of the best ECEA riders carded three or more, with the exception of the two-point scores posted by the ailing Spence, AA-class rider and KTM pilot Bill Atkinson, eventual A 200ccclass winner Robert Mohn, A Open flash hard fferty A lazes Dave Groemm, and past A Four-Stroke champ Bob Bennett, who recently moved back into the region and was up to his old tricks (making life miserable for the rest of the four-stroke riders). Another medium-long points-taking section followed, with Richard Lafferty once again topping the field, this time with a 3:59 - and once again just making the flip of the time cards. Getting closest to Lafferty was Hoess, managing a very respectable 4:22 over the same section. Atkinson and Jack Jr. came next, with a 5:28, more than a minute behind, with Bennett at 5:40. It was clearly Richard Lafferty's race, although Hoess was finally warming up. In the last section of the day, the pair wound up dogging each other convincingly, with Richard Lafferty checking out at 1:53 and Hoess a few seconds behind at 1:58. The total scores left Lafferty with a nine-point card and Hoess the only rider to come home with a "lucky" 13. Jack Jr. and Bennett came in next with 14 points each, with Jack taking the third-place spot by a margin of 21 seconds. Rounding out the top five overall and top five in the AA class was Bill Atkinson, who finished up with a 17. Seventeen points turned out to be the score to beat in the A class as well, with Dave Groemm and Bob Bennett (no relation to Kevin Bennett) both sharing the score. Bennett topped Groemm by 39 emergency seconds, however, which guaranteed him the High Point A trophy. Bennett, who has just returned from spending time out west for the past two -years, has always been a top finisher in the A class, and is a natural four-stroke rider. The B class was subjected to a whipping by SJER's Dan Sharpless, who has plainly spent the warm winter practicing. Sharpless slammed through the sand whoops and tight trees with a blazingly fast 24-point score at the end, fully eight points better than his closest rival, earning the High Point B trophy. Dan Polak came closest to Sharpless' score, with a 32point card that earned him the B Veteranclass win, and next in the B overall line was Bill Gilbert II, who finished up with a 34 and the B250cc-class win. Jason Catlett of Tri-County MC was the High Point C winner for the day, rum A 250: 1. Mike Arendasky (Kaw); 2. Ron Lucas (KTM); 3. Brian Russell (Kaw); 4. Stew Crouch Jr. (Hon); 5. Jamie Wright (Yam). A OPEN: 1. Dave Groemm (KTM); 2. Frank (Top) Richard Lafferty scored the win at the opening round of the 1998 ECEA Enduro series in New Jersey. (Above right) Defending champ Fred Hoess took runner-up honors. (Above center) Jack Lafferty Jr. finished third overall and second AA. (Above) Kevin Bennett thumped his way to fourth overall. dropping 37 points in the C 200cc class and beating the daylights out of everyone else in the Novice division. Closest to him was Jay Ringler with a 42, who won the C 250cc class, and Joseph Dickinson, who topped the C Four-Stroke class with a 46. {N Sandy Lane Enduro Greenbank, New Jersey Results: March 15, 1998 (Round 1) GRAND CHAMPION: Rich.cd Lafle,ty (KTM), H-PT A: Bob Bennett (Han). H-PT B: Dan Sharpless (Yam). H-PT C: Jason Catlett (5uz). AA: 1. Fred Hoess (Suz); 2. Jack Lnfferty JL (Hbg); 3. Kevin Bennett (Han); 4. Bill Atkinson (KTM); 5, Duane Shirk (Kaw). A 125: 1. Greg Davies (Yam); 2. Ed McCall (Yam); 3. Vic Chalow (Yam); 4. John Roeske (Kaw); 5. M. Dean Spencer (Yam). A 200: 1. Robert Mohn (Kaw): 2. Eric Corbin (Kaw); 3. Troy Coopersmith (Kaw); 4. Rob Kirkpatrick (KTM); 5. Joe Tavani m (Kaw). Vanaman (KTM); 3. Michael Crum (KTM); 4. Dean Spencer (KTM); 5. Al Switzer (KTM). A 4-STK: 1. Craig CosSc1boon (Yam); 2. Lew Smith Jr. (Hon); 3. Steven Larkin (Yam); 4. Joe WaLlace (Hon); 5. Darrin Russell (Hon). A VET: 1. John Walter (Suz); 2. Jim Gunselman (Yam); 3. Dave Maco (S'uz); 4. Eric Koeller (G-G); 5. Ma,k Uth (KrM), A SR: 1. Kevin Kuenzel' (Kaw); 2. Cliff Tenney (KTM); 3. Terry Tucker (l

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