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/128002
Hare Scrambles Round 5: B ffalo Ran u ge AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPHARE SCRAMBLES SERIES (Left) Doug Blackwell posted his second National Hare Scrambles win of the series in Illinois. He now holds a modest seven po int lead over Br ian Garrahan (bel ow), who took ru nner-up honor s. By Merl e Acord ~ ~ ..., 30 OTIAWA.IL. jUNE 27 oug Blackwell ignored the heat and humidi ty of th e day and ins tea d conce n trated o n extending his lead in the AMA National H are Scrambles Se ries, and he was rew arded with his thi rd overall victory o f th e sea so n at the Buffalo Range National. Blackwell piloted his Yamaha a ro u nd th e five 11.5-mile loops faster tha n an y one else, finish in g th e r ac e some five minutes ahead of the second place finisher, Brian Garrahan. Blackwell and his YZ250 hooked up right off the sho tgu n start, leading the Double-A class off the line and onto the mile-and-a-quarter mo tocross track that was part of the loop. The rest is history. "I got ou t fro nt righ t from the sta rt and was able to keep adding to the lead a ll throu gh th e race," Blackwell said . "Every thing wo rked fine. The club did a gre a t job. There was on e section th at wa s going bad a nd they got right ou t there and took it out." Jeff Fredette, a mu lti-time ISDE gold medal winner,' la id ou t the Buffalo Range Motorsports Park course for the 200-plus rid ers that turned out for round five of the AMA National Championship Hare Scrambles Series . 'There's nothing out there they can' t rid e," Fredette said. "Bu t some of it is hairy, and we have rain in the forecas t for this afternoon. This dry desert condition shou ld make the California guys feel right at hom e. Whatever, it will be interesting." Buffalo Range is a 300~acre motorcycle-racin g and trail-riding complex built on reclaimed mining property. The terrain is varied from tight woo d trails , creek crossings and steep hills, and is topped off with a motocross track. Second overall winner Brian Garrahan, on a KTM, had a bu sy weekend. He rod e a race in Nevada on Saturday, then jetted out to Illinois, where he met his brother Patrick, wh o had tru cked their bikes to Buffalo Grove. "I go t a fifth-p lace sta rt," Brian Garrahan said of his seco nd-place ride, "but I passed everyone but Dou g before we got off the motocross track . I didn't get here un til last night , because I was at the Super State Me squ ite 300 yes te rd ay. An ywa y, I was just go ing to foll ow Doug, b ecau se h e h ad wa lked the co u rse yes terday a nd k new th e hot lines . That wo uld 've worked, but it was too dusty an d he got aw ay. Then I got stuc k in a mud hole and ' fro m the re on he w as pulling abou t 30 seco nds a lap on me. I rode the whole race hop ing he wo uld make a mistake, but he held his good lines. "Yesterd ay, I was in a de sert race, riding a 380 KTM, av eraging 58 miles per h our, " Garrahan added . "Tod a y we ' re in tight woods, averaging 14 miles per hour, and I' m riding a 250 KTM. So it's d efinit ely a different ballgame. All in a ll, I'm h appy wi th my ride, b u t yo u have to get first (place) to win the cha mpion ship. So we'll see nex t wee kend ." Joey Ambrosini [r., who took third overall on a Yama ha, foug ht a sticking throttl e the whole race. "It caused me to lay it d own a coup le of times to keep fro m hit ting a tree. But I managed to finish thir d ove rall. I wa nt to thank Bu ffalo Range for spo nsoring me, as well as Thor Products and Frede tte Racing Products." Scott Mclaughlin, 25, wh o trains and practices with Blackwell in their home town of Parkersburg, We st Virginia , took fourth overall . His pre-race plan wa s to latch on to the leader a nd us e that person to get away from the rest of the pack , but a fen ce post ruined those plans. 'There was a fence post along side a snow fence," McLaughlin explained . "I clipped the p ost with my handlebars and it sent me s tra igh t into the sno w fence. I rung my bell pretty good and tweaked m y knee and wa s going to d ro p ou t, bu t I thought , 'Wha t the heck, I'll rid e a little and see if it gels any better.' It start ed to loosen up and I started to mo ve back up once I go t my rh ythm. I passed (Mike) Sampson on the last lap for fourth overall." Mike Sampson, on a KTM, w as a strong third until the later laps . "The last tw o laps, I just faded, " Sampson said . 'The bike wa s running real strong. This is only the second race I've rode this summer . Scott didn't get