Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Off-road DISTRICT 37 BIGSIXGRAND PRIX SERIES time of his line and all the others behind him. _l--~U: e p t I oking hack a n'l tho " 'Man w t' s oing on? Where i every\I)()l] \~"'-&lid rnith, e pectin to Ond, or te C pb ell, challengi f r the lea.,,-_ ...I Camp I did n o~ eat sta , ich is one reas n why he ~~~_~,e r ab e to cliallelige for the "I was a little slow off the start," said Ca mpbe ll, w ho was busy figh tin g off the first place 125cc rider. "I was fourth behind (Ku rt) Caselli on the 125 un til we got on the Sheriff's cou rse. Then I was followin g Ondas and he was dusting me out. Finally on th e las t lap I pinned it through the wa ter ho le a nd just tidal waved Ondas. I felt bad , but I had to get aroun d him ." Th e pass put Campbell into second overall, but Smit h was too far gone. Paul Krause, who was con testi ng the Open Expert class along wit h Ca mp bell and O ndas, found s tarting on th e second row to be a huge d isad vant age. Krau se fough t the dust the en tire thr ee lap s and was only able to work his way up to seven th ov er a ll beh in d Smith, Ca mpbell, Ond as, Ca selli, fir s t place 250cc Expert rid er Matt Murp hy a nd Open Expert rider Scott Myers . "It's frustrating wh en the race is over before it even starts," said Krau se of the fact th at ra ce organizers did not give each class its ow n starting wave or line. Several ot he r co m pe titors voi ced the same op inion . Still, Krause battled the likes of second place 250cc Expert Steve Hengeveld and second place 125cc competi tor David Rees, passing bo th riders o n th e last lap. Hen geveld a nd Rees ended up e ighth and ninth ov e r all. David Glass rounded out the top ten, fifth in the ultracompetive Open Expert class. eN Glen Helen Raceway Park sa n Bernardino, California Results: Octo ber 2-3, 1999 (Round 5 of 6) By Matt Freeman Photos by Denise Gard ner and Freeman ' SAN B ERNARDINO, CA, ocr. 2-3 n a 11. 5-mile co u rse t ha t was stricken with he a vy dust an d a wid e varie ty of terrain, Imperial Va ll ey Cycl e Center / Preci si on Co ncepts /Sin asalo /K& N-back ed C raig Smith rod e his American Honda XR600 to the overall wi n in the Expert /lnterm ed ia te-200cc / 250cc / Op e n / Fo u rs tro ke rac e durin g the 26th Ann ual Viewfinders Grand Prix at Glen Helen Racew ay Park. The event, w hich was also round five of the six-race District 37 Big Six Grand Prix Series, was held over two days and included 11 events. Smi th ' s wi n cam e in th e premier event of the weekend. With competition like Joh n n y Campbe ll, Paul Krau se, Dave Ondas a nd Scott Myers on th e s ta r ti ng line, Smith's vi ct ory was no small feat. The approxima tely 75-minut e ra ce le d rid er s o nto th e Glen H el e n Natio nal motocross track and then over to th e IMS Stadiu mcross track 'via the park' s na tural terra in /vintage tr ack. From th e s tadiumcross track, ribbon was lined through some rocky, narrow sandwas hes and over to th e San Bernardino County Sheriff's road train- O '" '" '" co) .8 E ~ o Z 28 ing facility, where riders we re treated to high -speed banked pavement turns and a wa ter, h ole crossing. After splashing through a foot of wa ter the course ran into a roc ky sa nd wash an d th en back in to the park. Back o n the Na tio nal track, riders rod e up the famed Animal Leap an d in to the silty hills above the park, which led down to some wide d irt road s. At one point, riders were given the option to take an alternate route or a hard er route, b u t m o s t competitors foun d out that the sho rter harder rou te was the hot ticket. Although a massively s tee p d ownhill was a t th e end of th e hard route, it tu rn ed out to be quicker because the alternate consiste d of na rrow rocky trails that were har d to ride due to the dust. After the two routes met back up to one, the coarse ran ou t of the valley and up a steep, dusty hill, wh ere some competitors found it hard to reach the top in suc h du sty cond itions . After reac hing the top the trail ran throu gh a canyon and back to the Na tional track to complete o ne full la p . The co u rse was a great grand prix circu it, cha llenging rid ers in all aspects of riding. Racers were started in rows o f 20, with the clock starting as their designated row left the line. Three lap s later their time was record ed , so technically a racer Amer ican Honda 's Craig Smith leads Team Green 's Dave Ondas and Kurt Case lli en rou te to the overall Openl2SOCcl200ccIFour-stroke Expertllntermedlate race win at the 26th annual Viewfinders Grand Prix . sta rting on the last row could have the bes t overall time. However, due to the d ust and a high-speed cou rse, a good front-row start was crucial. Smith started on the fro nt row, and thou gh he was not lead ing at the start, he mad e his way to the lead before the front-runner s reached th e dust y sa nd wash. "I went into the second corner in the motocross track in third beh ind a guy on a KTM and Ondas," said Smith, who was signed up in the Fou r-Stroke Expert class. "The gu y on the KTM squirre led ou t so I passed him, bu t w hen I was followin g Ond as he covere d my goggles with mud. I had to pu ll all my tear-offs befo re we even got to th e s u pe rc ross track." Wit h on ly one rid er in fro nt of him Smit h d id not need any more tear-offs beca use he do uble-j umped pas t Ondas on the supercros s track on the firs t lap to ta ke over the lead . Smi th led fro m that point to the finish, posting the bes t S.. tu rday U/CLFD: 1. Bob Max well (Ya m); 2. Joey Lanza (AT K); 3. Jo hn Fer ro; 4. C raig Smit h (TM); 5. A ndy Segale (Ka w). t! SDHCK: 1. Dustin Hin ikcr; 2. Ed Hall (Ha n): 3. Vic Palfre yman /Perry McWlo; 4. Da vid Hersey: 5. DOlman e Doherty I Jim Brownle (KTM). SR 250 NOV: I. Bob Gi lbe rt (Yam); 2. Ty Larson ( KT M); 3. David Myers (Ya m) ; 4. Mark McGowan (Ya m); 5. Joe Hunzek er IKaw ). S R 250 INT: 1. Jo n Whitcomb (Ya m ); .2. Mar k Ra iche (Ya m) ; 3. Jimi Bro wn (Ydm) ; 4. Ke n Tomeo (KTM); 5. Doug Heil [Kaw}. SR 2SO BEG: 1. Marc Wamer (Yam); 2. Jack Gilliam (Hen): 3. Tim McCue (Suz); 4. C ary Ha rt (Kaw); 5. Eric Van Marter (Kaw). SR OP EN INT: 1. Dan Austin (Yam); 2. Bob Baron (Yam); 3. Doug Haa s (Ka w); 4. Richa rd [a risen (l(aw); 5. Steve Smotherman (Ha n). SR 2SO EX: 1. Andy Segale (Kaw); 2. Bob Maxwell (Yam); 3. John Ferro (Ho n); 4. Mike Webb (5uz); 5. Ken Ehlen (Suz). SR OPEN BEe;, 1. Jerry Robinson (Yam) ; 2. Mkhael Solesbee (Han); 3. Paul Crouch (Ha n); 4. Cary Higgins (Honl; 5. Steve Howe CH . on) SR O PEN NOV: I. Don Bizzy ; 2. 5ro

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