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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127990
Events A Sixth annua./. Chaparral Six Hours of Glen Helen Team Endurance Race (Left) Mike Healey (shown) and Larry Roeseler rode their Team Green KX125 to the overall win at the Six Hours of Glen Helen endurance race. (Above) Jimmy Lewis (2) leads the Expert class at the start of the grueling six-hour affair. By Beth laRock SAN BERNARDINO, CA, MAR. 28 ore than 270 riders comprised the 112 teams who competed in the sixth annual running of the Chaparral Six Hours of Glen Helen Team Endurance Race. The·event, proclaimed by track manager Lori Yarnell as being one of the "most fun events of the year," sa w riders from all classes' and of all levels of ability utilizing their physical, mental and mechanical skills from 8:30 in the morning to 2:30 in the afternoon. Each team was allowed a maximum of three riders and two motorcycles. The only breaks in the race were the two 15minute periods when race officials watered the track to keep the dust levels down. The tightest race of the day was in the Expert/ Amateur class. The Kawasaki KX125-mounted team of Mike Healey and Larry Roeseler took on the Yamaha YZ400F-mounted team of Jimmy Lewis and Tod Sciacqua. Although Lewis captured the holeshot, Healey was quickly able to challenge Lewis for the lead. For the first hour, Healey and Lewis went bar to bar in several areas of the track. Team Green Kawasaki/IMS/Troy Lee Designs-sponsored Healey finally secured the lead, but then he had to hit the pits. "We made an early pit stop, and they (Lewis and Sciaqua) gained some time," said Healey. "We're riding a 125, they're riding a 400 - they get better mileage." An hour and 20 minutes into the race, Lewis finally took his first pit stop. "I thought I was out there about 45 minutes," smd Lewis. "I got out in front, stayed out of the mud and tried to roost Healey as much as I could - he's my best friend. Then I stalled it like an idiot and he got so far out in front of me, he couldn't M 24 roost me back. My partner, 'Big Air' Tod Sciacqua, stalled a few times, too." Throughout the rest of the race, Healey and Roeseler held the lead, but the Lewis/Scia~qua team was never more than three minutes behind. "The bike's getting big," Lewis, looking slightly fatigued, said after the last break. "We're riding a YZ400. It's good for the first five hours; the sixth hour, you just suffer. It's just too big of a bike. It hits the bumps a lot harder." Lewis thought they finally had a chance to take the lead and hold it when Healey cut through the pits instead. of going the full length of the pits. When exiting the track, all riders had to travel the length of the pit area, so that being situated in one area of the pits did not have an advantage over being situated in another. "I made a mistake coming through the pits," smd Healey. '1 was looking for them (his team) and in the exd tement I cut through the pits. They (the race officials) pulled me aside and asked me if I cut, and I told them I made a mis'take." Race officials then had' Roeseler' pull off the track and make an extra trip through the pit area to make up for Healey's mistake. This brought the two teams closer, but it was not enough for the Lewis/Sciacqua team to take the win. After 68 4-mile laps, the Healey /Roeseler team crossed the finish line for the win. Lewis and Sciacqua were only one minute and 30 seconds behind. "I think we could do more," Healey said after the race. "Larry definitely has the conditioning to flo more. I would choose not to, but I could. It was fun. The Kawasaki 125 performed perfect." "Mike and I have done a couple team races together and some desert races," Roeseler added. "We're friends, and we had this weekend off, and we talked about, 'Let's come down here, ride a 125 and have some fun.' That's what it's all about. Great turnout, great day, a lot of fun." Finishing third overall and first in the Senior Vet Expert/Amateur class was the Yamaha YZ250-mounted team of Bob Maxwell, Dave Donatoni and Chad Blough, who were all very pleased with their finish. "The course held up real nice, and the race was run real well," said Donatoni. "We definitely want to do this again." "YVe won our class, the 'Old Man's class:" Maxwell added. "We rode hard the whole way. I don't feel bad finishing behind teams with riders like Healey, Roeseler and Jimmy Lewis." It seems as though every endurance race has to have at least one person who decided that they have to "iron-man" the event. This event was no exception. When asked before the race why he wanted to run a six-hour race by himself, 33-year-old Expert Steve Anderson said: "I've done it two other times, and both other times I won it. I wanted to come out here and at least get third overall, plus Iron Man. I don't know; I threw my back out earlier this week, so I'm kind of fighting this bad back. We'll see." After the first track water break, Anderson admitted, "I felt really sick headaclle and stuff like that." The second break found Anderson in much better spirits, and he was able to pick up his speed for the final laps. He finished third in the Expert/Amateur class and fourth overall, completing 63 4-mile laps. "You get a whole year to forget about the pain:' Anderson said, "so I'll probably be back next year." "We (IMS) were supposed to have two three-man teams, and I'm the only one who showed, so here I am:' admit- ted another iron man, IMS employee Mike Farmer. "I knew it was starting to fall apart, but [ had no idea no one was going to show." Farmer, competing in the Senior Vet Expert/ Amateur class, was glad to finally complete the race in one piece. "It was great," he said. "[ experienced all sorts of emotions - you know, (from) excited to ready to cry from pain. 1I Iron man Larry Johnson, also in the Senior Vet Expert/ Amateur class, finished third in his class. "At least I'm getting my 30 dollars' worth of riding in:' laughed Johnson. "Steve Anderson was really on the gas:' conceded another iron man, Doug Yarnell. "He was really moving today." Yarnell added that he likes to iron-man endurance races because "if I do it by myself, that way, if I lose, it's just my fault, no one else's." _ Glen Helen Raceway San Bernardino, California Results: March 28, 1999 BEGINOV, 1. Talk Ziegler/Bjorn Pape/RaJI Sieler; 2. Brian Oxley/Brad Oxley; 3. Greg Wolfe/Jeff WolleLMike Mohacsi; 4. Jason Jelfrey/Broc Daugherty; ' 5. Joseph Brophy/joe Desrosiers. EX/AM: 1. Larry Roeseler/Mlke Healey; 2. Jimmy Lewis/Tod Sciacqua; 3. Steve Anderson; 4. Gary Jones/Ron Lawson; 5. Brandon Lutes/Cliff Jennings/Kevin Jennings. SR VET BEG/NOV: 1. Isaac Lopez/Don Hutchinson; 2. John Lombardo/Tim Haynes/Andy Kaplan; 3. Greg EUis/Scott Plnl/KeUy Nagy; 4. AJan MacDonaJd/GTeg Maiefski; 5. Richie Hudson/Scot Paul/Greg Sowle. SR VET EX/AM: 1. Dave Oonatoni/Chad Blough/Bob Maxwell; 2. Scotl Keller/Tab Maudlin/SteveFlanders; 3. Larry Johnson; 4. Dave Lippert/Brian Munson; 5. Scott Larosh/Dave Fava/Steve Zwinger. FAMILY: 1. Jason Trubey/Dnl Trubey; 2. Mike Ferro/Jeremy 'Ferro/John Ferro; 3.. Brett Daugherty / Brad Daug,herty; 4. Gabriel Benavides/Deran Benavides; 5. David Wallace/Broe Wallace. BUSINESS: 1. Shane Miller/Tim Sharp/Robert Dods Jr.; 2. Mike Harker/James Jonkind; 3. Willie Klohr/Robert Moruzzi/Daniel Turne,r; 4. JasoJ;l Dudley/Jeremy Vaughn/Darren VanRyn; 5.1ack Miller/Luke Meiser, SCHOOl" 1. Hewlt/Scheult.