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ENDURO AAfA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP REUASILITYIACERS/S ENDURO SERIES !1Ml: 1/4: Texas Two-Day Yamaha's Randy Hawkins posted the overall win at the Texas TwO-Day ISDE QualifierlNational Enduro. Raines both scored 5473 for a fourthplace tie. The turning point for Hawkins came during test eight on' day one. Up to that point, Lafferty had consistently increased his lead over Hawkins to 24 seconds by narrowly beating him in six of the first seven tests. But Hawkins quickly turned the tables by posting a score of 883 - 25 seconds quicker than Lafferty's elapsed time of 908 seconds during the 5.1-mile-long test. Over the next day and a half, Hawkins continued his winning ways, beating Lafferty in five of the last seven tests. Hawkins won six of the event's 15 . special tests, while Lafferty won seven. Both Hawkins and Lafferty competed in . the Heavyweight (250cc-plus) TwoStroke class, while Kawasaki's Jeff Fredette and KTM's Russ Pearson won the other two tests. Fredette competed in the Senior class and Pearson competed in the Lightweight (0-125cc) Two-Stroke class. Haw'kins, the 31-year-old Yamaha rider from Travelers Rest, Sou th Carolina, said, "Mike is a fast starter. It doesn't surprise me he jumped out ahead during the first few tests. It's kind of what I expect from him. It takes me a few miles to really get going. I just try to stay focused aU day. Like 1 said before, if I'm going to salvage anything this season, I'm going to have to make it happen." "I'm real surprised that I gave up that much time to Randy:' Lafferty said of test eight. "Actually, 1 thought everything went fine. L rode hard. 1 didn't crash. I didn't fall. I don't think 1 fell off the pace. I think Randy just pulled the plug and let it all out." Dahners also turned in a good twoday effort, finishing a solid third overa1l riding in the big-bore Four-Stroke class (500cc-plus). "I rearly had a good weekend," Dahners said. "I never had a bad test. This is my best (National) finish ever. I've been having my share of problems all year, but finally things have started to go my way." By Steve Berkner NEW WAVERLY, IX, MAY 16-17 ix-time National Enduro Champion Randy Hawkins overcame KTM Sportmotorcycle's Michael Lafferty's early day-one lead to win both the opening round of the combined National Reliability Enduro Series (ISDE Qualifier Series) and round four of the National Enduro Series. Hawkins overcame a slow start - at one point trailing Lafferty by as much as 24 seconds - and ultimately bettered Lafferty, the current National Enduro Champion, by 12 seconds. "I'm real excited about winning here," Hawkins said. "It's my fjrst National Enduro win on a Yamaha." Hawkins Last won a National Enduro in the fall of 1996 when he won in Bellingham, Washington. That year also marked the end of his relationship with Suzuki, when they didn't renew his contract. "Last year we spent most of the time getting the bike right and didn't fair so well in the endUTo series," Hawkins. continued. "This year it's been more of the same. I've almost taken myself out of contention for the enduro title with a couple of mediocre rides (in Arizona and Ohio) and a DNF (in New Jersey). Coming here, I knew there were no more throw-aways for me. I've basically dealt myself these cards, so my strategy from here on out is to keep my head down and go for it." Hawkins' two-day total gave him a score of 5226, while Lafferty carded a 5238. Finishing third was Husaberg's Jason Dahners with a score of 5330, and KTM riders Patrick Garrahan and Jason Dahners consistently finished in the top five of every test and finished second to Hawkins in three of the 15 special tests. The enduro was primarily held on 140 miles of OHV trails located in the Sam Houston State Forest and was hosted by the Trail Riders of Houston. bay one was 127 miles long; eight checks were utilized, and nine special test were scheduled. Day two was 87 miles long, with four checks and six scheduled special tests." "We've added a lot of new trails this year:' said event chairman Chris Hardy. "We'.ve moved the start of the event further east into town and added over 40 miles of new trail to the west side. Our existing trail system is pretty established, but with the new trails, the riders will have plenty of varying terrain. "Because heat is always a factor here:' Hardy continued, "we've built in plenty of time at the checks for riders to catch their breath and rehydrate. Day two is shorter to give the riders an easier day. We've scheduled six terrain tests and four checks. And we'll be riding a 'B' schedule to give the riders some extra time." "Some of the trails here are really rough:' said Lafferty, who hails from Port Elizabeth, New Jersey. "Even