Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Norton a nd Timoth y hung together for the first two miles of the seco nd lap. "I got righ t on Tim oth y' s tail a nd actually passed him in the sand pit, bu t I thou ght it was a course cut, " said orton, "so I stopped and let him go again. I jus t h u ng behi nd him unt il we dropped dow n an e mba n k men t. I gra bbed the inside line and just pinned it. I never heard him again." Timo thy's rear brakes began to fade at this point and, by the end of the second lap, the pads were completely go ne. "I d o n ' t k now why I ran organic pads - 1 sho u ld've known better," Timothy said. "T he pad s were co m p le te ly go ne wh en I came into the pits. I rea lly w anted to have an a ll-o u t battle with N orton. It wo u ld h a ve b een g reat. Maybe next yea r." It was now a battle between RER's Ken Val entin e and McN eil for second p lace. Val entine had th e lead int o th e third la p, with McN eil abo ut five seconds back. "I jus t cou ld n't s ha ke h im ," said Valentine. "I'd fall; then he'd pass me . He'd mess up and I'd take over the lead ; then we' d switch again. It was nonstop for the first three laps." Jus t before the end of th e third lap, McNeil's da y ended abruptly. " I w a s ju s t gettin g back behind Vale n tine when I high-sided right into the woods," McNeil said . "I ended up bending the bars real good and go t center -punched pretty good in th e rib s. I was all d one." As the riders wen t out for the ir fou rth lap, it was N orton out in front with well over two minutes on secondplaced Val entine. Dave Paqu ette was now in the th ird-place position but he was getting some serious pressure from a few of the Expert-class rid ers. Expert 250 cc rid er We s Clarke wa s now in fou r th pla ce, w it h Chris Pa nzella and Jess Berthiaume fighting for fifth place. Berthiaume, w ho was riding in the o FREETOWN, MA, OCT. II t d a wned a g loo my, we t day for the fina l rou nd of the NETRA Hare Scramble Series, b ut despite th e gloom , Tom Norton shi ned. The Yama ha rider rode to victory with eight min utes to spa re at the Clarkie's Wild Ride 11 Har e Scrambles. It was No rton's day. It had been raining for three straight da ys with no end in sight, yet the club laid o u t a ridable 6-mil e loop that weaved in a nd out of the sand p its , through 4-foot -hig h whoops and in to a few tight, bar -banging pine groves. Aft er a 45-minute dela y , th e Expert/ Amateur even t was about to get under wa y. Nine AA riders lined up on the fro nt row and, when the gree n flag dropped , it was Todd Levesque g ra bbing the holeshot, followed by Yamah a of Pu tnam's Luke McN eil, Midtown' s Pa tri ck Timothv, Ke n Val en tin e a n d Canadian Six-DaYs rider Jeff Kerchner. Levesque had ' pull ed such a ho leshot th a t b v the ti me t he ri ders weaved aro und the field and int o the woods, he had a good 50 feet on the next rid er. But his lead was short-lived . C-Cyc1e's Nor to n , w ho was j us t abo u t d ead last off th e lin e, was on a tear , and by the time the riders crossed into the first sand pit , he had moved up int o second place, right on Levesque's rear wheel. Tim othy so o n join ed th e two, wh ich mad e for a three-way battle for the lead . But Levesque had al rea dy ru n int o a problem - a flat rear tire. Timothy took advantage of the situa - (Above) Despite all the rain, Tom Norton hung the competition out to dry at the NETRA Clarkie's Wild Ride II Hare Scrambles in Mas sachusetts. (Len) Ken Valentine finished second overall. (Below) Brian Sebben (852) took first place in the Amateur Four-Stroke class. I ao 0\ 0\ ,..... 00 N l-. CIJ ..0 o .... u o 32 tion and put the move on both Levesque and Norton in the rocks and took over the lea d . No r to n al so got the jump o n Levesq ue, passing him to take over secand place. The three came into the barrels at the end of the first lap with no more th an a bike length be tween the m, bu t Levesq ue's rear flat mad e it impossible for him to get traction , causing him to call it quits early in the second lap . Expert 200cc class, started ou t one row behind Panzella and Clark e. "I caug ht Panzella on the second lap and knew he was a top rid er, and all I had to d o was s tick with hi m for th e day and I'd finis h in the top five," said . Berthi aum e . " I jus t fo llo we d him aro u nd and watched his lines . He was great to be behind in the water crossi ng. He must have hit it in fifth gea r every time. He'd part the wa ter, and 1 could hang right behind him and not even get wet." Wh en the whi te flag went up, it was Norton out in front with more than six minutes o n sec ond- p lac ed Val entin e. Valentine was also runn ing alone with well over a minute on third place, which was now held by Cla rke. Berthiaume had take n over four th place, w it h Panze lla right behind. The two had now closed to within 25 seconds of Clarke. "I was making some crazy crashes," said Clarke after the race. "I cou ld hear Pa nz ella ' s bike behind me, and 1 got ner vous. I cras hed just before the barrels an d put a hole in my radi ator. Luckily, I made it across the line firs t, and I jus t shu t my bike down, hop ing it wou ld n't seize." Berthiaume and Panzella crossed the line right after Clarke and, with adjusted tim e, it was Berthiaume laking third place overall and earni ng hi mself the Expert-class High Point award. Clarke took fourth overall and first Expert 250, with Panzella rounding out the top five an d first in the Expert Open class . Norton wen t on to take an uncontested first place with almost eight minutes over second-placed Ken Valentine. In the Expert 250cc class, it was D.J. Lis taking second for the day and 10th overall. "I d rown ed out my bike on bo th the firs t and second lap.t'said Lis. "I mus t have lost three minut es each lap . By the time I go t go ing, most of the Ama teu r 250 rid ers had passed me." The A mateur H ig h Poi n t wen t to Cha d Rich ardson, follow ed by fellow 250cc rider Steven Jason . l '~ Clarkie;s Wild Ride II Hare Scrambles Freetown, Massachuse tts Results: October 11, 1998 (Round 16 of 16) G RAND CHAMPION: To m Nn rtun (Yam). O /A A: J("SSt' Berth iau me (Ydm) . O /A 8: Cll.'ld Richardson IKaw ). O/A C: Scott Revn old s (H en). AA: 1. Tom Norton (V.1m); 2. Ken Va lentine «(o...IM); 3. Da ve Paq ue tte (K.. W); 4. Art hur M l'"OZt'I IKaw) : 5. Jeff I Kerchner (Yam) . 250 A: 1. wes C la rke (V,lm ); 2. D.J. Lis (Hu::-;; 3. Justi n Provencal (Kaw): 4. M.att [albert (KTM); 5. Ch ris Cramer. 200 A: 1. Jesse Berthiaume (Yam); 2 K..·ith eallah.. m (H e n): 3. Todd Santheson (Ht)O); 4. Denny Anderson (Yam); 5. Jim Edmonds (KTIA). O PEN A: 1. Ch ris. Panzella (Yarn): 2. Lome Coralntk (Ya m ); 3. Pete Byrne (Ya m ); ... john Brown (KTM); 5. Roger Billbara ( J(TM ). VET A: 1. David Dzenutis (Ho n): 2. Craig P ra tt (Suz); 3. Scott Raymond (K.1W); 4. Art Randolph (Yam) . SR A: 1. Re bert Whi te (Hu n): 2. Fra nk worthmann (KTM ). 4-STRK A: I. Christopher w est (Hen). 250 8: 1. Cha d Richardson IKa w ): 2. Steven J.J!OOn ( K..1 w); 3. Keith Bormev (Ho n): 4. Todd Hamilton (Ho nl . 200 B: 1. Charles Hathaway (Hon); 2. Derek Phelps (Yarn) : 3. Ro bert Can no n IH o n ): 4 . Scutt Fetterman (eRE); 5. Mike Wozniak (K.Jw). OPEN B: I. Casey Gri swold (KTM ); 2. Dan Dolt> (Hun); 3. Dou g Fox (H e n ). VET B: 1. Brian Brewer (Suz ); 2. John Furtado {Hon): 3. Mike Kraskouska s (Kaw) . 4-STRK 8: 1, Brian Sebbe n (Yam); 2. Da nie l Harris; 3. Jim Wal sh (Su1.). 250 C: 1. Ca rl A nd rews (Ha n); 2. wa rr en PI,lOh. ' (Yam) ; 3. Willia m Ro w e (Han); 4. Eric Purit (lion ); 5 . Dani el A rno ld (Han). 200 C: t. ja red whee lock (Ho n); 2. Stephen She rma n (K.1w ); 3. Peter Scrrilla (Kaw) . VET C: 1. S te p he n Mo rel s (Su 1.); 2. John Hand (KTM ); 3. Ga rt h Brown (Suz); 4. wade Rahm lon (Kaw ): 5. David C argnio (KTM). 125 C: I. william Rowe (KTM ); 2. Benja mi n Roy (Ka w ); 3. 1 ff Ter o n o vi ch (Suz ): 4. Charlo.. De laura e (Yam ); 5. Ken Mesler (Ho n). O P E N C : 1. Sco t! Re yn old s ( Ho n) : 2 . Jam e s Co nne rio (Hon): 3. Doug Ca lley (KTM); ... Ll- Sullivan IHon): 5. Sal Ange lo (Hon ). . 4· STRK C: 1. C h ris Nic ho lils (H o n); 2. Raym ond Benza (H e n): 3. Floyd Ma ynard (Hon) . SR C: 1. Rob Rowe Sr. (KTM); 2. Brian Brovencher (Ka w): 3. furry Wannington (J(.lW).

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