Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127992
Hare Scrambles Round 4: Shasta Dam Grand Prix AMA NA TIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HARE SCRAMBLES SERIES dry road and pulled further away up front, leaving a thick cloud of dust for the riders behind them to breathe. '1t was extremely dusty," Blackwell aid, "so everybody spaced out right off the bat, and 1 pretty much rode most of the first lap by myself." Kohler also rode by himself much of the time. '1t was easier to stay out of the dust, but harder to be by yourself and not have anyone to key off of," Kohler said. "1 probably should have been riding faster." Brt8n G8rrIII18n lICCll'8d . . ..... NIIIIaaIII ..... SCi. . ~III win aU" .,.. ..... ShaIa DEl GP. (Below) 5er'- poInls ..... Doug BIIIc:INMlI took MCOlId. By Jill Ashworth Patterson REDDING, CA, APR. 18 determined Brian Garrahan Cl maintained a 30.61-mph speed average over a 19.5-mile course for four laps on his Maxxis KTM to claim the overall victory at the Shasta Dam Grand Prix National Hare Scrambles. The event was round four of AMA's National Hare Scrambles Series and the 10th round of District 36's Northern California Cross Country Series. IE to win, arra an sai. ~1had to I hakd "I w.~sGmotihvated by owing ma e d up for doing bad at Wilseyville and get my standings back up." Garrahan's victory moves him to III within two points of the series leader, I!lI Yamaha's Doug Blackwell. Q At the start, an overanxious Luca ~ Trussardi, riding a TM, jumped out too Q soon when the Christmas Tree flashed from red to yellow, causing the need for §! a restart. ~ Trussardi ignored the sneers and on jeers coming from the other riders and i;' the crowd for his false start and snagged =0 the holeshot in the ISO-foot dash to the 58 first hard-right turn around a large £ II! bush. At the second sharp turn to the left, about 275 feet later, Trussardi lengthened his lead and raised a victory fist to'signal his accomplishment to the noisy crowd. Blackwell was riding in second place coming out of the first turn, followed by Garrahan and Team Green's Jimmy Jarrett. At the second turn, Gilrrahan passed Blackwell; Jarrett held fourth and Badges pcp Yamaha's Erik Kohler passed much of the pack on the ou tside to grab the fifth position. Several twists and turns up and down a hill and through thick manzanita were next, and then the riders dropped onto a motocross section that the Redding Dirt Riders built just for the event. After passing through the scoring tent and over the last section of jumps, racers wen.t up a hardpan hillclimb, dubbed "The Chute" - a mile and a half to the first high-speed fire road. The leading riders settled into their respective racing paces, and dust became the primary factor in determining distance between riders. Trussardi and Garrahan took advantage of the poor visibility caused by the A Jeep two-track section with some technical spots was next, and racers skirted along the outside edge of a recovery mine while riding up a ridge to the first woodsy section, called "Dead Santa." A few miles and two wooded sections later, riders were on another dirt road that led to the highest point of the course, nearly 4000 feet in elevation, at an area often used for launching hang gliders. The order of the top five remained the same as the leaders worked their way through the check-out. Maxxis/KTM rider Patrick Garrahan was in sixth, and Travis Sluder and Steve Silvestri weren't far behind. . Several downhill sections and trails took riders back down to the Sacramento River, b~ow Shasta Dam, and back to the motocross course, through the scoring tent and over the finish line. ~ Trussardi and Brian Garrahan pulled into the pits at the end of the first lap, and Blackwell and Jarrett opted to head straight out onto lap two. Brian Garrahan's quickness in the pits allowed him to easily regain the lead during the second lap.