Round 12: 49th Alligator Enduro
(Left) KTM's
Mike Lafferty
returned to the
Alligator Enduro
and recorded his
second
consecutive win.
(Above) Jason
Chancey made it
a KTM '-2 sweep
after taking
runner-up
honors.
By Kenneth King
Photos by Kinney Jones
DAYTONA BEACH, FL, MAR. 4
ational Enduro Champion
Mike Lafferty put his factorybacked, Moose Racing-sponsored KTM into the winner's circle for
the second year in a row at the 49th running of the infamous Alligator Enduro.
'1t was awesome," a happy Lafferty
said of the event. "They (the hosting
Daytona Dirt Riders club) made up a
really good race. There were a lot of palmettos, a lot of long,. tight sections, and
a good variety of terrain. I've ridden the
Alligator for the last four years and this
was the best one by far."
As expected, multi-time National
Enduro Champion Randy Hawkins and
SETRA Enduro Champion Franklin
Ramey III were among Lafferty's toughest competition - at least for a while.
Both riders would eventually drop out
of contention.
"I had a good ride going," said the
Yamaha YZ400F-mounted Hawkins.
"After the first section, me, Michael and
Franklin were all tied. Then, in the section before the gas stop, a clutch plate
broke. I haven't had any trouble with
my clutch all year."
Ramey, on the other hand, got lost on
N
(Left)
Michael
GriZzle
rode his
Husaberg
to a thirdplace
finish.
the trail, which, for all intents and purposes, knocked him out of the running.
"I lost the trail in the long section,"
Ramey said. "I rode the first part of it
twice. It cost me the race."
With Hawkins and Ramey out of the
running, the second- and third-place
positions were up for grabs, and vying
for those spots were eeley Racing's
Jason Chancey, on the Moose KTM, and
Michael Grizzle, on the Moose/Maxxis
Husaberg. Chancey came out on top of
that battle to take runner-up honors,
while Grizzle - fresh off his third-place
class finish at the GNCC Series opener
at Okeechobee - had to be satisfied with
another third-place finish at the Alligator.
Rounding out the top five at the Alligator were Team Green's Tommy
Veator and the overall winner's brother,
Rich Lafferty, who was also on a KlM.
The Enduro was staged at the usual
location on Tomoka Farms Road behind
the Daytona International Speedway,
and the maximum-allowed 500 riders
turned out for the AMA- and SETRAsanctioned enduro. This year's course
was described by many of the riders as
being considerably tougher than last
year's enduro, with close to 65 actual
trail miles, most of those miles infested
by palmetto plants and their roots. The
