Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

By Mark UthfTraii Rider Magazine SHIPPENSBURG, PA, SEPT. 13 romley KTM's Rich Laffert y, used a solid ride a nd some fortuitous breaks to put an end to defending ch a m p Fred H oe s s ' s t r eak o f ECEA Enduro overall v ic to r ies . At the Michaux Enduro, Lafferty eked out the ov erall win on emergency points ov er 1996 series ch amp Mark Spence, each rider finishing with mat ching six-po int cards . Hoe ss filled out the podium by finish ing third . " It was a no-BS race with good check p lacemen t that kept everyone ho nest," Lafferty said. "Eve ryt hing was working on m y KTM, and 1 was just h av in g a good time. 1 go t Mike's (Laffert y) tuner, Alan Randt, to set up m y suspens io n and it wa s just awesome - it soaked up every thing in its path." Good, working equipmen t notwithstand ing, it took a gaffe in Spence 's day to seal the vict ory for Lafferty. Spence and Lafferty traded blow s all day lon g Spence twi ce beat ing Lafferty for a point at che cks tw o a nd n ine, and Rich ard tw ice co mi ng back to even things up. Spence sho uld have won it, too, except for a double sho t of problems that began with his timekee ping equi pme nt late in the day. "comput er meltdown caus ed h im to unn eces sa r ily drop a poi nt a t check 14, the d ay's final check It was a chec k tha t was easily zeroed by top rid ers. Earlier in the d ay, Lafferty gained a p oint -at check seven, a n E-ch eck tha t also yielded an edge in seconds. Combin in g th e tw o, Sp en ce ended up the bridesmaid, finishing up wi th a six card but losing on the seconds. Hoess sai d afterward that his starting po sition (row 35) contribu ted to his thi rd -place finish . While overta king slower rid ers perhaps factored into thin gs, Hoess still finished a s tro ng se ve n po in ts d own and eve n beat Spence's E-po in t score, 110-118. The South Penn End u ro Rid ers ha d laid out an 80-m ile rid e for the day that , in cl ud ed a sig nifica nt a mou nt of new trail for the first time in se ve ral yea rs . Race-d ay wea the r w as clear a nd a bit warmer than usual, wit h high temperatures eas ily running into the high 80s . Most sec tions were clear an d d ry, p lent y fast for riders wi lling to screw it on over trail and wood roads littered with loose granite'. Special tests were sho rt, with amp le post-checkout rese t time to ge t all back on time. There were no real stoppers, alt hough a couple of nasty u phill climbs in the morning loop ma naged to trap ma ny no vice rid ers . A dozen or mo re we re seen st randed on one such cli mb th a t a t firs t looked not a ll tha t s t ee p. H o w e v er, r uts a nd crevasses formed between loose bou lders separated by fine dry sill defeated mom entum and provided little traction. The aroma of et hylene glyco l hung thick in the still air . New tra il sections provided anot her hig hlig ht: fres h se r pen ti ne tracks of b rown loam th at wound a mo ng rock p iles an d stands of picturesque mountain laurel - no d oubt a fun rid e. , Ot he r notable finis he rs on th e d ay included Bill Atkinson and Dave Maco, w ho round ed ou t the top fiv e overa ll, filling the fourth and fifth seeds, respectively. The KTM-mounted Atkinson finishe d wit h a seven-poi nt card, abo ut 20 E-po in ts behind Ho ess. Atkins on maintai ns a lock on third place in the series p oint s s ta n di ngs . A su rp risi ng Da ve Maco pu t in anothe r fine ride aboard his aging Suzuki RMX, drop ping eig ht on the d ay and adding ano ther High Point A tro phy to his collectio n. A-class rid ers Ma r k Hu mmel, Rich Moyer, Ken Law and Joe Wallace were runners-up to the HPA, each posting 10-point scores to fill the sixth- through ninth-overall slo ts, respectively. In B-class action, Sean Cully pil oted his KDX200 to a thrifty 14-point sco re to ea rn th e High Poin t B trophy . H igh Point runners-up - each dropping 16 on th e d ay - w ere G erry Kit ts, Ra y , McKnown a nd Stev e Bromley . KTM rid er Chris TIack used a 22-point card to claim top honors in the Novic e class. The Lafferty victory turns up the heat on th e seri e s points ch as e, g iv in g defending champ Hoess. who currently hold s a narrow poi nts lead , little room for erro r. "I' m glad its a close race," Lafferty said , rega rd ing hi s qu est for h is firs t series title. "You know , it's bett er to be ba ttling a t eve ry event rather than just w alking away w it h the title. It keeps yo u sharp and on top of your rid e. Some p eople have su ggeste d th at Fredd y' s (Hoess) high-sp irited ness and take-noprisoners co m pe tit ive d ri ve so mehow poiso ns the waters between us. The fact is, that's just not tru e. To me, Fred's attitude is immateria l. He's a great competitor and worthy ri val , and if th at 's h is thin g and it wor ks for him, so be it." 1':\ Michaux Enduro Shippensburg, Pennsylvan ia Resu lt: September 13, 1998 G RAND CHAMP, Rich Lafferty ( JaM). HIP A: Da ve Ma ro (Suz). HIP U, Soan C ul ly (]<.lw). HIP C: Chris nlck (KTM ). O /A : 1. Rich ard Lafferty (KTM); 2. Mark Spe nce (H on): 3. Fred Hoes.'; (5oz); 4. Bill Atkinson (KTM); 5 . Dave Ma co (Suz); 6. Ma rk Hummel (Hen): 7. Rich Moyer (Suz ); 8. Ken Law (Hen), 9. Joe Walla ce IHon) : 10. Craig Sh cnigo (KTM) . (Right) Rich Lafferty scored the overall win at the 'ECEA Michaux Enduro in Pennsylvania. (Below) Bill Atkinson fin ished fourth overall . AA ' L Rich a rd Laf ferty ( JaM); 2, Ma r k Spen ce (Ho n); 3 . Fr ed H oe s s (Suz); 4. Bill A tkinson (K"Th1); 5. Craig Shenigo (KTM ). A 12$: 1. M. Dean Spe ncer (Yam); 2. Mike Sigety (e -G ); 3. Greg Davies (Yam) ; 4. John Roes ke (Ka w ): 5. Cra ig Copeland (Thl) . A 200: L Rob M o h n (Ka w); 2. Todd Lockard (Kaw): 3, Tim Shepp' (Kaw): 4 . Er ic Co r b in (Kaw): 5. Ed Hamilton IKa w) . A 250: 1. Jam ie Wri ght (Ya m); 2. Jeff M oy er (KT M) ; 3. Kevi n Schuler (Kaw): 4. Da n Fos ter (Ka w) : 5. John Ross (Han ) . A OPEN: 1. Ma rk Hum mel (Ho n); 2. De an Spencer ( KT M) ; 3 . Ja m es Lan va tor (K T M) ; 4. George En gfl sh (KTM); 5. James Reber ( Ka w). A 4-STRK: 1. J Ul> W.ll1.1Cl' (I-Ion ); 2. Mike M cl iale (Yam) ; 3 . Marc G rossma n ( Kaw ): 4. Ke n Zab ros ki IHo n) . A VET: 1. Dave Ma co (S uz): 2. Rich Moyer (Suz): 3. Ken Law (He n): 4. M ik e Beel er (Ya m ); 5 . j a m e s Ou nselman (Yam). A SR: I. John Farra r (V.1m ); 2. C liff Te n ney (KTM) ; 3. H ank Stan kie witz IKaw): 4. Da ve Barlow (Yam); 5 . Ed Quitzs ch (KT M). A S/SR: 1. Tom Ebersole {Hon): 2. Scott w olfersb erger (Ya m) ; 3. Ro y Fli egauf (KTM) ; 4. Jac k Laf fe rt y Sr . (KTM); 5. Farrell Lo rd (Ka w ). U 125, 1. Ge rry Kitts (TM ); 2, Rnn DcCa ro (Ya m) ; 3. Joe Marchesan i (Ya m) ; 4. Aa ro n Ke hs her (G -G) ; 5. Rand y Loper IHon) . B 200: 1. St-an Cu lly (}i.1w) ; 2. Geo rge Potts (}(a w) ; 3. Ken Sa ubier ocrM); 4. George jensen (1(.)w); 5. Dan Carper ( Ka w ). S 250: I. Ray McKn o w n IKaw): 2. Steve Jamison (Hon); 3. Jim Shainl ine (Hen): 4. Bill Gilbert (Yam); 5. Tirn Wilo;o (lio n) . n B O PEN: 1. Ceorge Sig1 "" (K1'M); 2. Mike Gra ham 1.. (Hem); 3. Rod Whi te (KTM); 4. Mike Sh ar p (KTM); 5. Steve Snyder (KlM). B 4-S T RK: 1. Chris Crull (Ya m); 2. Pe te Burnett (Hon): 3. Dav e Smiley (Ho n); 4. Ch uck Sulliva n (Hon) ; 5. Rob Co mber (Ya m). B VET: 1. Steve Bromley (KTM); 2. Jim Eric kso n (Honk 3. Wade Johnson (5uz); 4. Dave Hamer (5oz ); 5. C hris Lambert ( JaM). B S R: 1. Dan Co m pton (KTM); 2. J. Dev lin (Ho n); 3. Charles Ellis (Ya m); 4. Dav e Van Pel t (Ka w): 5 . Les N te (H en). U SJS IC 1. Fred Najor k (KT M); 2. Larry Rice (KTM); 3. Bry ce Moyer (Ka w) -. C 200: 1. Ryan Reagle (K.1W); 2. Alan Bopp (ki M); 3. Jacob Williams IKaw): 4. Ricky Rittel (Yam); 5. John Do brosky (Ya m) , C 250: 1. Ste ve Rice C Kaw) ; 2. Cha d Grego ry (Ya m); 3. Todd Thoman (Hen): 4. Don Hauga t (KTM ); 5. Louis McLow (Su z). CO PEN: 1. C hr is Tl.lck (KTM); 2. Er ik wyn ters (KTM) ; 3, Ron C arper (KTM); 4, jon Bern (KTM); S, Scott Sre gmeister (KTM) . C V ET: 1. Pau l Mourar (Kaw): 2. Eric Eich orst IHo n): 3. Dou g C ast (Ka w) : 4. Tod d Gros s CK.1W); 5. Rob Herrioton (Kaw). C 4-ST RK: 1. Dave Marchl..~· (Ho n): 2. Bub Bishop (Hen): 3. Reed Hou ck ~K..1 W); 4. Do ug Thomsen (Suz); 5. Jes se Wenrick (Hon l. WM N: 1. Kathl Ca m pbe ll (Kaw). MSTR: 1. Joe Ga lie (Yam); 2 Dan Van Oriel (Hus); 3. Rob Hoo ver (H on k 4. Ed Baker (K.lw). ,...... ~ N ~ Q) .o o ..... u o 41

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