Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

D istrict 36Cross Country Championship S eries, Round14 Events ~[bCilOO ...........,ij By Jill Ashworth Patt erson Photos by Alan Plumbridge SANJOSE, CA, OCT. 3 R400- mou n ted Cole Marshall eas ily co nver ted a s lo w s ta r t in to a more than 4 I 12- min u te le ad to claim a runawa y victory and the overall titl e at round 14 o f Dis tric t 36's Cross C o u n try Cha m p io ns hi p Se r ies . Th e eve n t wa s held a t Met calf Park in San Jose, Ca liforn ia, and was hosted by the • Timekeepers Me. Mo re th a n 160 ri d e rs too k on th e we ll- p la n ned , 7.9-mil e co u rse, w hic h was d esigned by TMC' s Jim Matheson. Fast fire roads , tigh t sing le-tracks, rocky sect ions an d techn ical single-track trails were combined to ma ke a challenging and race-ready cou rse. The firs t running of the Prime Time Hare Scra mbles started at 10 a.m. as the first ro w of A-class rid er s charged 50 yards in to the first turn. The ISO-degr ee tu rn then sen t riders on to the watered motocross track at the begi nning of the cou rse. Terrv Bid wa s out fron t after the turn, closely followed by Erik Kohler , Jam es I'tarcins ki, Rod erick Kreiss, Cra ig Wesn er , Dami en Ga lford , a co u p le o f other s a nd th en Marsh a ll. The second turn wa sn 't far , a n d Kohler qu ickl y rounded the corn er and took the lead. Kohler kept a qu ick pa ce and led the first two lap s, wit h Wesner, Kreiss, Mars hall, Biel, Galford a nd Brian Bu tler close behi nd . N ear the en d of the second lap, the lead ers caught up with a group of slow rid ers in one of the tight, technical single-track sec tio ns. Kohler was still lead ing, with Wesn er close beh ind. Ma rshall wa s 'back a bit farther in third, and he had a clearer view of w hat wa s happening up ahead . "I saw that I could go for it and was able to get around," Mar shall said. "It was a lmost co mica l," sa id Wes- ~ 26 00 ITl~~[illCB nero "We we re stuck behi nd the lap per a nd were ba re ly mo vin g . T hen Co le flew by us. He got arou nd first." Butler was a lso s tu ck in the traffic jam. " We were a lm os t rid in g a tria ls pace," Butler said . "Cole go t by the lapper, bu t w ha t a sq ui rr el ! Wh en Erik tr ie d to ge t a ro u n d him n e xt , he elbowed Erik and maneu vered to sta y in front of him." The A me rica n H ond a -sp on s o red Marshall quickly wo rked throu gh some ot her slow rid ers and took off alone in the lead . "After 1 passed them, I decid ed to go fas te r," Ma r s h a ll s a id. "T he n th ev caug ht up with me in so me more tigh t s tu ff a nd I g ot pas t th e lappers first , again ." "By the time we go t thro ugh the lap pers in tha t seco nd, tight s ing le- trac k section, we lost sight of Cole and never saw him agai n: " PCP Yamaha's Kohler sa id. Marsha ll railed and ex te nded h is lead . "I li ke be in g fa rt her o u t in fro n t," Marshall said. "I ride better." Cycle Pro of Santa Rosa's Wesner got by Kohler nex t an d took over seco nd . Kohler settled into third, wh ile San Jose Yamaha-sponsored Biel, San Luis Motor Spor ts -s u p po r te d Butler a n d G &B Ka wasaki ' s Ga lfo rd vied for th e next positio ns. By the time the checkered flag came ou t, Mar sha ll had burn ed up eno ug h track to co mp lete seven laps a nd cross the finish line in two hours, 15 minutes and 20 seconds, wit h an average lap time of 19:20 and an average speed of 24.96. 'S Wesn er cam e in four minute and 32 seconds behind Ma rshall , taking second . Anoth er minut e and 36 seco nds passed before Kohl er co mpleted his la st lap, good for third. Biel sailed across the finish just 30 se conds later a nd finis he d fourt h. (Above left) At round 14 of District 36's Cross Country Championship Series, held at Metcalf Park in San Jose, California , Erik Kohler (233, on the outside), Terry Biel (3, center) and James Plarcinskl (93, left) vie for the holeshot, followed cl ose ly by Craig Wes ner (92) and Roderick Kreiss (89). (Ab ove right) After a sl ow sta rt, Cole Marshall leaped to th e fro nt and stayed there to take th e overall win at the first-ever Prime Time Hare Scram b les. (Right) Marshall passed another lap per just before laking the checkered flag. "When I pitted at the end of the fifth la p , I learn ed Eri k w a s n o t t ha t fa r ahea d of me: ' Biel sa id , "so I rode hard and tried to ca tch him, but I d id n't have enough left in me to do it." Galford crossed th e li ne next, w it h Butl er close behind him, rid ing on a flat tire. Afte r the race scoring wa s com plete and course times adjus ted , B Open rid er Ron Faccian o's ou tstand ing rid e net ted him th e fifth-o ve rall position , lea ving Ga lford in sixt h and Butler in seventh. Round ing o u t the top 10 w er e Gl enn Mart inson, Ptarcinski and Mark Blan co. "Tod ay's cou rse was great!" Mar shall sa id . "My day we nt really smoot h, w ith no probl ems o th er tha n m y cru m my start." "The track was se t up simila r to the ones back eas t: ' Kohl er sa id . " It was s ho rter, had mor e tight tra ils, and the sec tions were mixed jus t right." With o n ly three events le ft in th e series, and on ly a few points sepa ra ting series lead er Koh ler and second-placed Wesn er, it looks like the title chase will end with the last race, on overnber 7 a t eN Prairie City, Californ ia. Metcalf Park San Jose, Californ ia Results: Octo ber 3, 1999 (Round 14) O / A: I. Cole MM Sh.l ll (Hu n) ; 2. C raig w esne r ( K.1W); 3. Erik Kohle {Yarn ): 4. T~ Biel (V.1m); 5. Ron r . Facciano [ Hon). A O rA: L Cole Ma rs h,l ll (Hen) : 2. Craig Wt':>n~r ( Kaw): 3. Erik Kllh lt·r (Y.1m); .. . Terry Bid (Yam); 5. DamN..n G.11 (ord (Kaw). A 250: 1. Craig Wl"!'n l'r ( Ko ); 2. Fril.. Kohler (Yam); 1"" 3. Terry Bid (Yam ); 4. Da nnen Coollford ( ~l\v); 5. Brian Butler (Kaw l. A O PEN /.J-STRK: I. Cu te M.lr.. h.l!1 (Hl m); 2. Glenn M ,l rt1 n~.. n (Ya m) ; 3. L ano - \.1. mt.,rin (l (KTM) o 1 A VET: I. Miul Blanco (flun ); 2. Nick TIUlm (Ka w): 3. Brian Su m ra ll (Yam); 4. Ron Picken (AT" ); 5. G,lrni l Bin n s. (H on }. A 5R: 1. C ha rles Marsh all I KT~Il ; 2. Dua ne Sco tt (Y,l m); 3. Randy Denton tYam ): 4. wavne Hatc h (KolW); 5. Rod MI. :o l1 g h (1-100) . < ou • A 515 R: I. Pet er Pritcha rd (KTM); 2. Fred Su mra ll (KT \ I); 3. Ken Cosmo (KTM) . 8 O /A : 1. Ron Facci.mo (Hou): 2. Brian [cu ch (H on) : 3. Robert Foucs (Hen): 4. Jos h P('AAi IHo n): 5. Ma rsha ll Cordon (V.1m) . 8250: 1. Bria n jcuch (Ho n): 2. Robert Fouts (Honj : 3. Jo s h Poggi (H o n): 4. Marshal l Gordon (Yam ); 5. jo-e-ph Bonde d (Ya rn). B O PEN : 1. Ron Facci ano (H en): 2. A II.m Z ucks we rt (Ho n l. 3. Du-,tin Solda no (Y.1m ); 4. Joh n 5. Poor (Han); 5. Ray Leonardi (Bon). B V ET: 1. Rodn~y Hill (Ya m) ; 2. Ke vi n Mu rp h y (Ho n): 3. Gr a h a m H II1 SJ ,l l", (H on ): 4. Steve ja ved an (Yam ); 5. Rick Room.. I Hon l . ·y U S R: 1. Jim Wei tz (KT M); 2. Frank Sca nc a rello (Ho n); J . N d~ 1I Fieck (Y am) ; 4. Dan Ryan (KTM); 5 . jerry Marti n (KT Ml. B S/SR: 1. Rebert En~l i~ h (KTfl..O; 2. james Lon g (Su.lj ; 3. Jim Peacock (KTM); 4. William C raig (KTM); 5. Do n Amos ( KTM>.

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