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ECEA Hare Scrambles Series, Round2 -By Mark UthlTrail Rider Magazine ST. GEORGES, DE, APR. 26 TM factory-sponsored Enduro champ Mike Lafferty took a weekend off from his busy national travel schedule, forgoing the G CC in Clarskburg, Virginia, for a local ECEA Hare Scrambles. In the process, Lafferty again proved he's stilI king back east, as the fast a'nd open Delaware Enduro Riders (DER) course played right into his hands. Lafferty nearly led the event from start to finish, smoking the competition to earn the overall victory, all while "play riding" on a four-stroke KTM 400E/XC. A one-kick start on his KTM thumper contributed to a good star! and his drive to the front of the pack. From there, it wa n't long into the first lap before he picked off the competition and assumed the lead that he would hold for the remainder of the race. Afterward, Mike said that the revised DER course "was the best ever." Regarding his choice of mount on the day, Lafferty joked, "1 rode the four- troke to get a better workout," comparing the demanding G CC three-hour format to the typical two-hour events run in the ECEA Hare Scrambles series. While Mike Lafferty was steaming along to the checkered flag, no doubt the biggest battle of the day was being waged between reigning ECEA Enduro champ Freddy Hoess and series rival Richard Lafferty. The Bromley Suzuki. mounted Hoess kept his RM250 cranking, holding second place over Rich lafferty's KTM on laps one through four, building nearly a two-minute lead early on. However, this was diminished to some 30 seconds or less during laps three and four and was to set the stage for a frantic fifth and final lap. Not knowing the size of his lead, nor how many more trips would be required around the 11mile course, Hoess swung into the pits at the start of the fifth lap. Though he refueled in less than 20 seconds, it wasn't quick enough to prevent Rich Lafferty's KTM from coming through the barrels and assuming the second overall slot. Both riders set off into the woods for the final lap separated by seconds. Duri ng their final trip around the loop, a pitched battle found Richard lafferty dogged by Hoess. As the riders neared the scoring barrels; Hoess, finally realizing there was to be no sixth lap, made a last-ditch attempt at a pass. However, he was thwarted by the fact that the club had moved the finish line forward from the barrels in order to facilitate the scoring of backed-up riders. Hoess' final thrust proved ill-timed. Although he managed to get around Lafferty's KTM before the barrels, it was ruled that the finish line was already crossed. Richard Lafferty thus held on for the sec.ond-place finish. aturally, a bit of a brouhaha erupted immediately afterward, but the club stuck to its guns, scoring Lafferty second and Hoess third. In Hoess' defense, its easy to see that the lack of a white flag indicating the last lap contributed to his confusion, as well as the club's unannounced decision for a ".>61iding finish line. However, Richard Lafferty might have had the most poignant perspective when he commented, "Hey, he had 11 miles (the entire final lap) to pass me." Now, that's racing. ~ The St. Georges Hare Scrambles was co-sanctioned by the ECEA and District 7 Hare Scrambles Championships. A three-event card was run that included Youth and Pee Wee races in the morning, followed by tlle main event at noon. early 100 Youth and Pee Wee riders joined well over 200 adult riders entered in the main event. The course was laid out on bluffs overlooking the D&C (Delaware and Chesapeake) Canal. Formed during the.original construction and subsequent dredging of the canal,. these headlands feature short, steep hills climbing to flat meadows covered with lush second-growth vegetation. Predominant among the foliage is the renowned Delaware phragmitis reed forests, which provide one of the most unique riding experiences on the East Coast. As a result of the repeated dredgings, tlle soil is a rich, loamy, dark earth that can go from dusty to awesome traction to greasy slime over the course of an afternoon ride. Fortunately' for this day, course conditions were nearly perfect. Cool morning temperatures combined with a few passing howers managed to water the course just enough to eliminate dust and maximize traction. [n previous years, DER has had trouble controlling course cutting as the winding course and sparse brush did little to discourage this practice. This 'year's layout was designed to eliminate any benefit of course cutting, and, as a consequence, contained little trickery and few technical challenges. The fast, streamlined course led riders ea t through the phrag and included an observation at the furthest-po sibleremoved checkpoint. The return trip was a WFO romp down a rutted and whooped wood road, aptly referred to as the "back straight." This was truly a "twist it and hold on,"· high-speed sphincter run for tho e who dared. Pin it and win was the strategy for all. Top main-event riders completed five laps around the ll-mile course in the twohour span allocated. Following the podium finishes by Mike Lafferty, Rich Lafferty and Freddy Hoes 0-2-3) was Husaberg-mounted Jack Lafferty Jr., who maintained and finished in the fourth overall position several minutes behind Hoess. District 7 competitor Keith Rodgers finished fifth overall, just seconds ahead of reigning ECEA Hare Scrambles Champion Marc Grossman. Ryan Rodgers claimed the seventh overall slot, followed by a Honda-mounted Stu Crouch (ninth overall) and Greg Pamart, who rounded (Above) Mike Lafferty used his vacation from the National Enduro and GNCC Series to win the St. Georges Hare Scrambles on a four-stroke KTM 400EIXC. (Above left) Fred Hoess thought he had second overall until the promoting club decided to give second to Richard Lafferty based on the new finish line, which had been moved forward to help with scoring. (Right) Richard Lafferty finished second overall after a heated battle and controversial finish with Hoess. out the top 10 while winning the 200cc A class. In the Youth race, CR80-mounted Kevin Reed led the pack around the course for a full six laps, followed by Dail Yearwodd on his Honda. Yearwood managed to reel in Reed d).U'ing the fifth and sixth trips around the 3.8mile course, and was right on Reed's fender as the two departed the barrels for the eventh and final lap. Right after pas ing through the scoring barrels, a drag race erupted in the wide start straightaway, precipitating a horrific endo by Reed right in front of the crowd of spectator. Yearwood fortunately managed to avoid the cartwheeling Reed and cruised on to the win. Fortunately for Reed, the allotted hour time limit for the race passed minutes after this turn of events. After 15 or 20 minutes of recovery time, a somewhat dazed Reed saddled up his twi ted Honda and finished the final lap to claim second-place honors. Winner Yearwood and Reed were the only Youth pilots to complete seven laps in the event. f~ ECEA St. Georges Hare Scrambles St. Georges, Delaware Results: April 26, 1998 (Round 2) GRAND CHAMP, Mike lafferty J'. O/A: 1. Mike Lafferty; 2. Rich Lafferty; 3. Fred Hoess; 4. Jack Lafferty Jr.; S. Keith Rogers: 6. Marc Grossman; ,. Ryan Rogers; 8. Greg Pamart; 9. Stu Crouch; 10. Steve Larkin. A 200: 1. Gene Pamart; 2. Craig Shenigo; 3. Andrew Harris; 4. Greg Davies; 5. Brandon Sexton. A 250: 1. Rich Lafferty; 2. Fred Roess; 3. Jack Lafferty Jr.; 4. Marc Grossman; 5. Ryan Rogers. 8 200: I. Jason Catlett; 2. Bill Hess; 3. Nick Sutiropoulos; 4. George Potts; 5. Lewis Robbins. 8 250: I. Lance Homson; 2. BiB Gilbert; 3. Phil Kypp; 4. Chad Gill; S. RandaU Scott. C 200: 1. Dave Glenn; 2. Doug Allen; 3. Tom Seanad; 4.. Alan Bopp; 5. Brian Glenn. 4·STRK: 1. Steve Larkin; 2. Doug Gruff; 3. Charlie Sheldon; 4. Mike Creed; 5. Tom Keegan. VET: 1. Keith Rogers; 2. Stu Crouch; 3. Byron Culberson; 4. Ed O'Flynn; 5. Rick Curtis. SR: 1. aiff Tenny; 2. Kevin Reed; 3. Mike Murphy; 4. Jeff Fox; 5. Steve Kelly. S/SR: 1. Jack Lafferty Sr.; 2. Tom Ebersole; 3. Rich Trader; 4. Joe Galle; 5. Don Culberson. MfNI A: 1. Dan Yearwood; 2. Kevin Reed; 3. Ed Hill; 4. Steve Keeley; 5. Arran Benoit. MTNI 8: 1. Ryan McCarna; 2. Scott Langhorne; 3. Ryan Pr;Jtt; 4. Bryan Martin; 5. Drew Uth. MINI C: 1. Adam Eckard; 2. Jim Maul; 3. Tyson tapleford; 4. Spence Jackson; 5. Brandon Hanning. Prw 1: 1. Ryan Stapleford; 2. Steve Easter; 3. Angelo Manerchia; 4. Eddie Jones; 5. lach Shepps. Prw 2: I. Jim Maul; 2. Mark Garvey; 3. Shawn Ward; 4~ lack Helsel; 5. James Dzierwinski.