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George Waller rode his Gas Gas to its
fourth win in a row in the SERA Enduro
Series, carding the win at the Loggy
Bottom Enduro with a four-point card.
last to run second - only to develop bike problems which forced a stop during the race.
Herring's dominance of the 80cc (7-11) field
started with the waving of the green flag. as he
grabbed the early lead and never looked back.
Ten minutes into the race, Herring had 15 sec·
onds on Robert Memoli, who was running sec·
ond and had caught and passed half of the 12- to
13-year-olds who had left the start line 20 sec-
onds earlier.
earned him Overall A honors a well.
Chris McMillan rode his Suzuki to a
13/616 score to claim the Overall B
award, and David Dekerlegand completed the short course with a 16/958 to
receive the Overall C trophy.
fS
Loggy Bottom Enduro
GUlfport, Mississippi
Results: May 17, 1998 (Round 6)
O/A: Ceorge Waller Jr. (G-G).
O/A A: Bennie Waldrop (Yam).
OIA B: Chris McMillan (Suz).
O/A C: David Dckerlegand (KTM).
AA: 1. George Waller Jr. (G~C) 4/242; 2. Steve
Nicholas (G-G) 6/380; 3. Nolan Knight (G-G) 7/3%.
200 A: 1. Matt Joachim (Yam) 9/485; 2. Blake
P10nsky (Suz) 14/652; 3. Richard Daniel (Kaw) 16/837.
250 A: 1. Wyles Griffith (KTM) 9/477; 2. Peter
SERA Enduro series, Round Six
Waller
takes two
•
In a row
By Tim Roberts
GULFPORT, MS, MAY 17
eorge Waller Jr. caphrred the overall win at the 23rd annual Loggy
Bottom Enduro to make it two
wins in a row in the 1998 SERA Enduro
series. After getting off to a slow start
early in the season, Waller looked
smooth on his Gas Gas EC250 and took
the win by besting each of the SERA
contenders by more than a full minute
in both points-taking 'sections in the
afternoon. The 93-degree heat and high
huinidity were definitely factors as the
260 competitors tried to complete the
n.1-mile course. Gas Gas had a big day
once again, sweeping the top four positions with Waller, Steve Nicholas, Nolan
Knight and defending SERA Enduro
champion Clay Boreing.
Robert Rocko and the Gulfcoast
Sandblasters applied for a alional
sanction from the AMA but were turned
down in favor of the two-day ISDE
qualifier being run in Texas by the Trail
Riders of Hou ton. However, that didn't
stop Rocko and his cohorts from running a ational-caliber event. The event
was staged in a national forest and run
from the local ORV riding area. The
course consisted of permanently open
ORV trails, mountain-bike trails (only
open to motorcycles for this event) and
special-use trails cut just for this event.
One of the more interesting trails was
run along a large creek. This trail was
tight, sandy and used to eliminate some
road sections. Many bridges were built
by the club in order to make the section
ridable. Fortunately, this trail was used
as a transfer section and each competitor
got to ride it twice (once going each
direction). The race was run in one big
loop with a gas stop in the middle and
was broken down into five test sections.
Actual ground mileage to the gas stop
was 33.1 miles, with an additional 39
miles remaining after the break. The Cclass riders had a cu toff just prior to the
gas stop, which kept them off of about
10 miles of trail and joined them up with
the rest of the field at the main gas stop. -
G
Riders left the start and went straight
into the woods for a 10-mile warmup
section run at 20 mph. The trails in this
section were fairly open and fast. A
secret check was placed at 10.2 miles
and was easily zeroed by the A and B
riders. A reset following this section
allowed everyone to rest before the
restart at 14.2 miles. Throughout the
day, the resets were many and longer
than usual. This helped most riders deal
with the heat by allowing them enough
time to consume plenty of water and
rest.
Following the restart was a 7.2-mile
test section run at 24 mph. The checkout at 21.4 miles was marked with
green-and-white flags, and point losses
among the contenders were measured
in econds. Waller checked out the
fastest with a 0/07, followed by
icholas and Boreing, both with 0/29.
All others dropped a point or more at
the check-out.
After the main gas stop and a long
break, riders re-entered the woods with
a re tart at mile 62.1. The terrain following this control was tighter than it had
been so far, and points would be taken
from everyone after 7.8 miles of hard
riding. Waller once again set the time to
beat, carding a 2/128 at the end of the
test. Nicholas, Knight and Boreing' all
followed with threes in this section. Vet
A rider Bennie Waldrop showed that he
would be a contender by also po ling a
three here. At this point in the event, the
severe heat had many competitors heading for the camp and calling it a day.
Rocko used a little enduro trickery
and placed a secret check right in the
middle of a slow, 17-mph transfer section. Those not paying attention came
away with burn points. However, all of
the top contenders made it through
clean. Another restart at 97.8 miles started the last test section of the day. Thi
test ran through the mountain-bike
trails south of Bethel road. After 10
more miles of tight twislies, riders were
checked out at an emergency check.
Consistent with his ride all day, Waller
set the fastest time, coming away with a
2/107. Nicholas and Knight followed
with a 3/192 and 3/194, respectively,
while Boreing followed with a 4/236.
A slow transfer section carried the
riders back to the camp and the known
finish at 125.4 miles. When the scores
were posted, Waller had easily taken the
win with a 4/242. Nicholas followed
with a 6/380, .while Knight and Boreing
followed in third and fourth. Rounding
out the top five was Yamaha rider Bennie Waldrop with an 8/486, which
Bordes (Kaw) 9/530; 3. Travis Hayes o