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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128078
ECEA Hare Scrambles Series, Round 4
(Right) Trailed by Shawn Reed (49 9), JaCK Lafferty Jr . and Bill
Atkinso n, Mike Lafferty (1) took the holes hot and made It st ick a ll the
way to the linish, earn ing lirst overall at the Tri-Counly Hare
Scrambles in Port Elizabeth, New Jersey.
(Above) Rich Lafferty (336) came Irom dead last and passed everyone
but his brother Mike to take se cond overall.
By Mark Uth
PORT ELIZABETH, Nj, OCT. 3
~ TM-m ounted Mik e Laffe r ty got
~ th e hol e sh o t at th e ECEA T r iCo unty Hare Scra mbles and parlay ed th at jum p in to a n easy ove ra ll
w in. Run virtually in his ow n back yard,
the tw o-tim e end u ro champ led the race
wire to wire, finis h ing w ith n early a
tw o-mi nute margi n o ve r hi s bro th e r
Richard , a lso on a KTM. Th e Lafferty
brother s wer e the only rid er s to ma ke
the cu t-off for the eighth a nd fina l la p.
Ca m pa ig n ing a 2000-m odel-yea r 250
EXC, the KTM factor y-spon sor ed Mike
La fferty wa s non etheless surp ris ed a t
the ru gged ness of the course .
"Tha t thing was tou gh," Mike sa id . "I
di dn't thi nk that it wo uld be th at fast.
Afte r a fe w lap s , t h e co u rse was
chop ped , beat up - d efinitely good trai ning ."
Rich Lafferty , 'o n th e o t he r hand ,
used a completely d iffer ent ap proach to
score the second -ove rall finish.
"My bike wo uld n't start on the line,"
Rich not ed , "a nd by th e tim e it d id , 1
was dead last."
The Broml e v KTM / MS R/E nd uro
Engineering / ovacare / Arai-sponsored
rid er passed everyone excep t his brother
Mike during the cou rse of the tw o-hour
eve nt. Rich was asked who presented
the biggest cha llenge .
"Fred dy (Hoess) was the toug hes t to
pass," Rich replied , "hands d own."
Hu sky man H oess, th e d e fend in g
series cha mp, was back in the sad d le a
mere fiv e week s a fte r he s us tai ne d a
seri ou s in ju ry a t the Beeh ive End u ro .
Still in the hunt for the cha m pions hip,
Hoess rod e the eve n t with a wire d -u p
jaw, pickin g up seve nth-place points in
I
th e pro cess. It was quite a tough-g u y
act, alt ho ug h he was definitely hurting
a t the finish.
KTM rider Billv Atkinson filled out
th e p od ium wi th ' a th ir d- pl a ce fini sh ,
coming in less than tw o minu tes beh ind
Rich Lafferty at the end of the seventh
la p , b ut he m is s ed the cu t-off b y a
minute and 13 seconds. Atkinson 's good
s howi ng , howe ver, co u p led w it h th e
lesser fin ishes of Hoess and Jeff Kirch ner, locks the series in a virtual three-way
tie for the champion ship lead with thr ee
rou nds rema inin g.
The club planned a tw o-event card
for the day, one heat each for motorcycles and ATVs: As a change of pace, the
motorcycle mai n eve nt went first, wit h
all classes ru nn ing the sa me heat , wh ich
star ted a t 11 a .m . A fas t 6- p lus -mi le
co u r se w a s u sed that afford ed h ig h
speed s and am ple passing lan es th rough
open wood land of pine and oa k. Recent
rains the preceding week mad e for good
traction , with little or no dust. The d ay's
wea t he r wa s jus t a b o ut p e rfect ,
altho ugh it warmed up later in the day.
Te m pe ra t u res h ove r ed ,a ro u n d 70
d egrees a t the start, climbing to nearly
80 la te r in the a fte rn oon. Ski es w e re
clear and cloud less.
Ou t of the ch ut e, Mike Laffe rty got
the holeshot and made it st ick throu gh
several flat turns in a hard-packed gravel pit . Au ssi e Shawn Reed cha lle nged
him , but a bobbl e in the first turn releg a te d h im to s eco n d . En te r ing t h e
woods afte r th e sta rt, th e o rder wa s
Mike Laff erty, Reed , Jack Laffer ty Jr.
a n d Bill Atk in so n . Su r pri s in gl y , th e
qu ickest lap time around the course all
da y was turned in by Mike Laffert y on
his first trip around the cou rse. Clockin g
in at 16 minutes flat d uring the first pass
through the barrels, Laffert y was fresh
a nd apparen tly un en cu mb er ed by lapp ers an d d ete riorat ing co u rse co nditions. Mos t top rid ers consistently posted lap times aroun d 17 minu tes.
Rich Lafferty was on the move early,
p a ssin g n earl y t h e e n t ire field to
ad va nce from d ead last a t th e s ta rt to
third in class on the first trip around. He
passed Atkinso n just before comi ng into
the barrels on the second lap to take the
number-two posit ion , a spo t he held for
the rest of the day . Kev in Ben nett was
another rid er who seemed to gain speed
as th e da y w or e on , a ctua lly pa ssi ng
class rivals Reed and Jack Laffer ty Jr. on
their last lap. After being passed by Rich
Laff erty, A tkinson se ttle d into a pace
th at kept him a hea d of Benne tt, Reed
and Jack [ r., bu t which fail ed to cha llen ge the top two .
An d for Mike Lafferty, it was another
day at the office, as he set a blist er in g
pace and cru ised to victory .
Mike ra ved about th e new upsi d edown fork on the 2000 KTM .
"I liked the (50m m) Zoke Magnum
on m v ' 99," Mi ke said , "b u t th is new
Whi t'; Power for k rea lly works great. "
He' ll certai nly ge t pl en ty of tim e to
prov e it , as he ha s a lready re-upped
wit h KTM for next year.
Second -p lace fin ishe r Rich La fferty
like ned the eve n t to thi s yea r's GNCC
racing.
"There' s no pace a ny mo re," he sa id .
"Just drop the flag and floor it."
Bill Atkinson secu red the final podium posit ion and firmly placed himself
in the battle for the seri es cham pionship.
An un officia l points tally shows the top
thr ee rid ers-- A t k inso n , Ho e ss and
Kirch ner - separa ted by a single point.
KTM rid er -Kevin Be nne tt ' s s tro ng
finish earn ed him fourth overall and top
rna rk s in th e Exp e rt 0-200cc cla ss .
Roundin g o ut the top five overall was
Shawn Reed , who hung to ugh aboard
hi s Hu s ky 125, fini s h ing 10 seco nd s
beh ind Bennett . Suzu ki pilot Jack la fferty Jr. showed up for the second week in
a row with a new RM I25, bu t unfortu na tely he did n' t have the same favo rable
resu lts as he did the p revious week. Jack
ca me in a little less th an tw o minutes
be hi n d Re ed to cl a im s ixth ove ra ll,
while a hurting Fred Hoess was seve nth
o ve ral l. Se ries regulars Steve Larkin,
Ma rc Gro ssm an a nd C r a ig S he n ig o
rounded ou t the top 10.
eN
Tri-County Hare Scrambles
Port Elizabeth, New Jersey
Results: October 3, 1999 (Round 4)
O / A : 1. Mike Lafferty ( KT M ); 2. Ric h Laffe r ty
(KTM); 3. Bill Atkinson (KTMI; 4. Kev in n..·nnd l (KTM) ;
-c
5. Shawn Re -d (H us); 6. J'1l'l l..lffl·rtv Jr. (Su z): i . Fred
Hocs s (Hus): 8. SfL-vc Larkin : 9. MMC C ro- ema n (Kaw); '
10. Cra ig Shcnigo (KT M I.
A 0-200: 1. Kevin Bennett (KTM ); 2. Sh awn Reed
(Hus); 3. lack Laffert v Jr. (Su z); 4. 0,11 Hik.~ (KTM) ; 5.
e
Tlxld Quinn (KTM). .
A 201+: 1. Mil ... Laffert y (KTM); 2. Rich Lafferty
(KTM ); 3. Bill At kinson (KT M); 4. Fred Hocs s (Hus): 5.
M M C GnlS.m an ( K a w).
...
A ~-5 TR K : 1. Steve La r kin : 2. Phillip Kro bb : 3.
Pre-ton Sullens,
A VET: 1. Craig Shenigo (KTM ); 2. Bip Cun.... lman
(Ya m ); 3. Mi ke McH.1le (KTM); 4. Phi l Ca rlin : 5 . Milt·
IJ