Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) England's Paul Edmondson finished third overall, his best Fesult since the second round of the series. (Right) Fred Andrews led the first two laps before eventually finishing fourth overall. 24 running near the front of the pack for the entire race and moving up as opportunities arose. His third-place finish marked his best results since the series' second round in Georgia. The Pros raced around a lO.7-mile course that was a mixture of ribboned outdoor MX-type sections in a large sand pit connected together with tight woods trail through thick wood with lots of pitch pine and scrub oak. "j really liked the course," Smith said, "especially the tight sections." Other riders were heard to say that this was the tightest GNCC round thus far, with stump-studded, skinny woods trail sections that confounded passing. There was no water on the course, though rain showers earlier in the week proved to be just enough to keep down the dust that plagued riders in last year's event. The day's weather was nearly perfect, with clear, cloudless skies, a steady breeze and temperatures in the mid-70s. Fourth-overall finisher Fred Andrews looked like the sure bet early on. Before the race, the Kawasaki rider said he set some realistic goals for this race. "I want to improve .upon last year's outing," he said, "where I jacked my knee in the first turn and ended up DNFing." Andrews easily accomplished his goal, leveraging a good start to lead the event for the first two laps. While out front, Andrews was constantly dogged by Smith and Edmondson, the top five riders dicing it up early on. Eventually, he gave way to Smith on the third trip around the loop, but he still managed to s~ay in touch with the leaders, never falling back further than fifth place and moving up on the final lap to secure fourth overall. All in all, it was a good finish. Kawasaki rider Jim Jarrett had an up- (Right) Jim Jarrett ran with the leaders, the~ fell back to 10th before climbing his way to a flfthplace overall finish in New Jersey. and-down day that fortunately finished on a high note. Jarrett ran with the leaders in the early going before falling back to 10th place on lap three. From there, however, he climbed back into the fray, finishing in the fifth-overall seed. The current series points leader coming into the round, Suzuki's Steve Hatch, was very optimistic before the race and rode well before running out of fuel on the final lap. "I want to ride smart for the first half of the race and then grab some gears," he said. "Hopefully, I can get some more podiums and follow up on my good (third-place) finish in West Virginia." Running in second place, right on Smith's heels at the drop of the white flag, Hatch was no doubt on track to accomplish this. Unfortunately, his Suzuki sputtered to a stop some miles from the finish, a disappointing culmi· nation to a hard day's racing. Similarly, local favorite Mike Lafferty didn't fare much better. The KTM-mounted Lafferty commented that he was hoping for his first GNCC podium this year. Consi tent finishes in earlier rounds, however, have put him in third place in the championship points race. In another case of unfulfilled aspirations, Lafferty crashed hard, wadding up his bike in the process, and he retired after the fourth lap despite holding down eventh place at the time. So it was again a day for Shane Watts to shine. "j love racing and j love being here (in the United States)," he said. Afterward, Watts reaffirmed his priorities: championship aspirations abroad, and GNCC competition whenever possible. Watts announced that he will miss the next round in the series at Brownsville, Pennsylvania, to attend a World Enduro Championship race in France. Rodney Smith, always the sportsman, perhaps summed it up best. "Shane simply rode well," he pointed out, "and didn't make any mistakes." t:IIi Manahawkin GNCC Manahawkin, New Jersey Results: May 9, 1999 (Round 6 of 13) Q/A: 1. Shane WatlS (KTM); 2. Rodney Smith (Suz); 3. Paul Edmondson (5uz); 4. Fred Andrews (Kaw); 5. Jim Jarrett (Kaw); 6. Barry E. Hawk Jr. (Yam); 7. Joel Dengler (Suz); 8. Scott McLaughlin (Yam); 9. Brian Keegan (KTM); 10. Richard Lafferty (KTM); 11. Steve McSwain (](aw); 12. Stephen Edmondson (Kaw); 13. Blair Bersano (Suz); 14. Ryan Rodgers (Kaw); 15. Shawn Reed (Hus); 16. Matl Beatty (Yam); 17. Chuel< Woodfo,d (Kaw); 18. Rod Stuckey (Kaw); 19. Bill Atkinson (KTM); 20. Dennis Decker (KTM). 125/200 C: 1. Jason Speck (Suz); 2. David Peary (Suz); 3. Scott Watkins (Kaw); 4. Thomas Crogg (Yam); 5. Shaun Dailey (](aw). 200 k 1. Cole Calkins (Kaw); 2. Robert Santheson (Han); 3. Keith Cullum (Yam); 4. Michael S;gety (suz); 5. Mike McCrea (Kaw). 200 8: 1. Patrick Doyle (Yam); 2. Joshua Knapp (Kaw); 3. justin Maxwell (!erry (Hon); 5. David Sheehan (Han). VET (30+) C: 1. David Powell (Han); 2. John Trendler (Kaw); 3. T. Reese Jones (Yam); 4. Richard White (Yam); 5. Frederiel< Sclunidl (Yam). SR (40+) k 1. Tim Shepharo (Y.m); 2. Teny TuelIi;8. joel Dengler (57); 9. (TIE) Randy Hawkins (51) Robbie jeoks (51); 11. Jim Jarrett (46): 12. Scott Mclaughlin (43); 13. Chuck Woodford (42); 14. Steve McSwain (41): 15. Jason Raines (38); 16. Scott Summers (37/1); 17. Doug Blackwell (30); 18. Ri.chal:d Lafferty (9); 19. S'rian Keegan (8); 20. Blair Bersano (18). Upcoming Rounds: Round 7 - Brownsville, Pennsylvania, May 23 Round 8 - Boyers, Pennsylvania, June 6

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