Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

A MA/ECEA E duro Series, Round 14 n By Mark UthfTraii Rider magazi ne MAURICETOWN, NJ, AUG. 30 ro mely Su zu ki-s ponsored Fred Hoess sad dled up his RMI25 for a change of pace, but that d id n' t change the resul ts, as he earned ano ther ove rall wi n at the ECEA Beeh ive End uro. Hoess pos ted top sco res in four of the day's five points-taking sectio ns, in the process scratchin g ou t a one-po in t ed ge over runner -up Rich Lafferty . Th ings did n' t start ou t a ll that well for the d efendi ng champ. In the d ay' s first specia l tes t, his 3/184 score d id n' t even make the top three, bested by Jack Laffert y Jr : s 3/1 73, XR250- mo u n ted Kevin Bennett' s 3/179 and Rich Laffertv' s 3/ 181. However, a fte r t his m in or s~tback, Hoess go t do wn to business by postin g sect io n-bes t sco res in the next two sections . Finally, in the day' s fourth points-taker, he beat the flip of the check card to get a nearly insu rmo unta ble onepo int lead in the tight scoring contest. Fellow Team Brom ley rider Rich Lafferty had an u nrem ar kable da y, remai ning amo ng the lead ers in each test, but winni ng non e ou tright. How ever, there -is a reward for consistency, and in this case it was ano ther second-overall finish for Rich. A whopping 358 entrants turn~ out for 'the Beehive event , the u nd isp uted king of the draw on the ECEA car d . The club laid ou t a sh ort, sub- 7Q-rnile event. for the d ay through ea sy, w hoo p -free terrain in p in e a nd d ecid u ou s fo rest. Trail cond itions were no ne too tig ht, the w ors e o bs ta cles b e in g th e brak in g bumps on later rows. Recent storms had dumped just eno ug h precipitation in the a re a to reduce dust to a mana geabl e level. Und er th is format , nonmechanical -relat ed DNFs w ere unh e a rd of. There w ere fi ve s hor t s p ecia l te s ts planned for the d ay, non e lon ger than six miles, each sand wiched by a chec kin and a check-out , with gen erous resets and free time, cont ributing to an almost qua lifierlike forma t , Sta rting from the Mauricetown fire hou se, some 15 miles of connec tors were used to fer ry riders out to the mea t of the course. Hoess fell behind early as a handful of rid er s carded threes coming out of the d ay's firs t test, Jack Lafferty Jr:s 173 eme rge ncy point s being the best time th rou gh . Howev er, Fred dy go t back on track an d made up so me time in the next test, posti ng a sec tion-best 3/ 200, and sealed it at the check-out to the d ay' s longest poin ts-taker, check eight. It was in this test that Hoess beat the flip of the check card by three seconds to get th e edge over Rich Laffer ty , w ho scoo ted in a mer e seven seco nds later, yet carded the extra point. . Hoe s s a nd La ffe r ty aga in traded blows in the day' s final test , being the on ly two rid er s to negot iat e the sho rt , fas t section a t one d own . How ever , it w a s n't en oug h to ch a n ge a nythi ng : Hoess finished wi th a 11/ 531 sco re to wi n the grand cham pionship. Rich Lafferty finished wi th a 12/545 score, only seconds behin d all da y long, but tha t's w ha t it takes in thi s race . Mult i-time cha~ p Ja ck Lafferty led a tr io of 14point finishes to earn the final podium position . "Slacker Jack" pu shed his Husab erg ha rd to ed ge out fou rt h-overall seed Kevin Bennett by a mere two em erge ncy points. Loca l boy Bennett, who has claimed more than his sha re of Beehi ve victo ries over the years, remained in the hunt all day, but he just couldn't thras h hi s XR250 a h ea d for the win . KTM-mounted Bill Atkinson rounded B o u t th e top fiv e ove ra ll, havin g what h e wo ul d co n s id e r an off-day . A tki nson cou ld n' t overcome trou bles in the first test, posting an extra point t h e r e, wit h e no u g h epoints to d rop him d ow n in th e s ta ndi ngs to th e fifth- overall s lot. Another loca l hero , Fr a nk Va na man, ca rded a 15 to finish s ixt h ove ra ll a n d ea r n H ig h Point A h on o rs . Ru nn ers-u p to th e HP -A, ea ch p o stin g 16- p o i n t cards , wer e KDX pilot Ed Ha mil ton , a reju ven a ted Dale Hiles (aboa rd a KTM 200) a nd Da n Sha rpless, wh o a ma z ing ly a cco mpli s hed thi s fe at o n a " b o ne s toc k" KLX 250 . H a m ilto n , Hiles a n d Sha rpless finis hed eighth. n inth a nd 10 th overall , respectiv ely . The best B-class scores ca m e out o f th e 250cc cl ass. C R250 rid er Ste ve Pfeffer put up good numbers, finishing at 17 d own to cla im the High Poin t B troph y . Classma te Da ve Nash p iloted his KX250 to r un ner- up s ta tu s w h il e dropping 19. In N o v icecla ss action, a pai r of 28poi nt sc o r es rul ed . Ja y p us hed h is Rie nert KDX200 to the High Point victo ry , be s tin g CR250 pilot Mark DiPasquale on eme rge ncy po ints , 1136 to 1160. Kawasaki pilot Kath i Ca m p b e ll a ls o ca r d ed a r espectabl e 28 t o w in a Wom en 's class filled with s ix rid ers . The Ma sters cl ass w in w e n t ' to Jo e Calle, w ho po sted a 34 card, while Bob McKillips wo n the Dual Sport class at 39 po ints d own . ' Th e results he lp ed H oes s pa d hi s points lead for the series enduro cha mpionship over rival Rich Laffer ty. Fredd y has put toget her qu ite an impre sive s st reak as thi s season enters the stretch ru n, win ning the last th ree ECEA overalls and never finis hi ng worse than sec- a nd all season long . Our current (unoffi cial) po ints tally has Hoess wit h a slig ht lead in gross points, 208 to 207. However, when accou nting fo r throwawa ys, it' s not so close, with Hoess getting the edge o ve r Lafferty , 208 -191. Hoess ' s probl em (and Lafferty' s op port unity) is tha t he has little room for erro r durin g th e rem a in in g s ix ro u n d s . H a vin g already used u p his throwaways wit h a DNF a t Re ad ing a nd a DSQ a t Crossforks , he need s to continue to tu rn in good fin ishes (rea d: "top Rich" ) to repea t as n champio n. Beehive Enduro Mauricetown, New Jersey Results: August 30, 1998 (Round 14 of 20) A A: 1. Frt'd H oes s (S u z ): 2. Rich Laffe rtv ( KT M ); 3. lad, Lafferty Jr . (Hbg); 4. Kevin Bennett (H en): 5. Bill Atkinson (KTM). A 125: 1. Ellis W . Tumlin (Suz) ; 2. M. [A',m Spencer (Y.un); 3 . Gn.og Davis (Yam); 4. jacob Todd (He n): 5. Craig Copeland (T M). A 200: 1. Ed Hamilto n ( K.1W); 2. Dale Hile-s (J(Th U; 3. Eric Co rbi n (Kawj: 4. J ~ Ta vani ( K.1W); 5. Rob Kirk patrick (KThf). A 250: 1. Dan Sharple (K.1W); ss 2. C huck Sta pl cford ( K.1W); 3. MML. Mars ... talek : 4. Scotl Gribbl e (Kaw) : 5. Bob Solom on (KTMl . (Above) Fred Hoess zeroed in on the ECEA Beeh ive Enduro win In New Je rsey . (Left) Dan Sharpless took first place in the A 250cc division. A O P EN : 1. Fra n k Ya n a ma n ( KT M) ; 2. Sc u tt Dev ecc hio (Ya m); 3. AI Switzer (KT M); 4. Dean R. Spe ncer i (KTM); 5. John w nlaszck (.... M). A .J.STRK: 1. Mike MCH.1I~ (V.l m); 2. Steve L u ki n n (Yam); 3. Bob Bennett (Ho n): 4 . C ra ig Cosse boon (ya ln); 5. Lewi J. Sm ith Jr. (Hon). s A VET: 1. Dave M .1CO (5uz); 2. Mike BL 'Ck'T (Yam ); 3. Ken Law (l10n ); 4. Scutt C hap kovich (Suz); 5. Eric Ktll·lIl-r (G-G). A SR: 1. Gifford Tenney ( K"IM); 2.Stcwart C rou ch Jr. (Ho n); 3. Kevin Kuenzncr (Kaw); 4. Dave Barlow (Y.l m); 5. Chris 1':01 (Hon). .111 A SlS R: 1. Scott.Wol h.~er (Yam ); 2. Jack Laff erty Sr. (KTM); 3. Tom Ebenolt.· (CRE>; 4. Bob Agoni.. Cc.o; 5. . Richard Tr.,dt.. (J(TM). T B 125: 1. Jt."TT)' Kitts ITM); 2. Lew Robbins (Sw:) ; 3. Daniel Sto ppi Jr. (Yam); 4. Jut.'M.udwsani (V.lm); 5. Mari o Depalma (Suz). 8200: 1. Gt..'OJl;e Potts III (Kaw); 2. Kim Plummer IKaw): 3. Nick Sotiropculos (KTM); 4, Sean Tompkins ( "I'M ); 5. william Hes (Ka w). s 8250: 1. Stt...-e Pfdft..'I" (Hun); 2. D.wid N.1 (K.'l ", '); 3. . Sh Mike Tavani (K.l w); 4. Bill Cilbt.'l"t (Yam); 5 . G i lt.~ Ryan IKaw ). . B O PEN: 1. Rod White Jr. (KTM ); 2. Ceorge Sigler (~'lMI; 3. Mich.lel Sharp (KTMI; 4. Tim Callagber (KTMI; 5. Eric Aaroe (KTM). B 4-STRK: 1. Charles Sulli van (Hon); 2. ja mes Bowen (Hon): 3. Rob Comber (Yam); -I. Scott Tellone (Hon) ; 5. Peter Burnett (Hun). B VET: 1. Antho ny Sutton (Ka w); 2. Wade Johnston (Suz); 3. Steve Bromley (K'Th I); 4. JUt.' Dubl.l s ( K.1W); 5. Jeff Barker O

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