Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Far Left) Defend ing class champ Steve Hengeveld finally got his act together and won the 250cc Expert class with his s ixth overall and sa id, "Hopefully th is is a turn ing point or something." (Left) Charlie Barney easily outdistanced the other Sen ior 250cc Experts and finished a shocking eighth overall on his Gas Gas, winning the class National championsh ip. (Below) Matt Murphy switched to the 125cc class recen tly and s ince then , his results have been stellar especially in Lucerne , where he claimed ninth overa ll and won the eighth-liter class in the process. Whil e Brown concentrated o n h is r a ce , ca rnage m ech anical seemed to eru p t behind him . Abbott d ropp ed o ut fir st with an engine problem onl y a fe w miles out of th e pit while in third pl ac e . Da v is th en saw his chances of s a lva g in g th e yea r go down the tube s w hen h is o il-s ta r ved e n gine ex p ir ed se ve ral mil e s later while he was still in se co n d. Others who did n ot fi nis h included Paul Krause, Shane Esposito and Dan Richardson (w ho w as in th e top 10 wi th less than 20 miles to go bu t lost th e gearbox-oil sight glass o n h is ,li ttle further back. I'd stay there, we' d get in the tight stu ff, and I'd reel him in. I cam e close a couple of times on some of the ridges, but 1 could never get close eno ugh; dust wa s just a (bi g) factor. 1 chased him - we were going at a pretty good clip - and I figured 1 could wear him out on the seco nd loop. I was ga ining on him. It was so close, I could read his name on the back of his chest protector." Team Green's Dav e Ondas, who lined up next to Brown, got a decent start and worked his wa y up, but he was hoping simply to finish as much as an ything. "I've only finished one all year, " Ondas noted . (He suffered a wrist injury early in the year that kept him out of action.) Before long, Ondas found himself in fourth. Davis chased Brown, coming into the pits ju st as Brown was leaving, but it appeared he was making up ground . Abbott s lid in to the pits a close third, followed by Ondas and Baumann. However, Davis' lu ck d idn't hold out - and neither did the fortunes of othe rs. Brieflv~ ·.~ .., .. . KXSOO). By the middle of the second and final loop, Brown owned a comfo rta ble lead of around five minutes. A surprised second wa s Team Green /MSR /FM F' s Ondas, who had pass ed the s to p ped Abbott and Davis. "I didn't see any dust for a while," Ondas said , "and 1 thought , 'Man, ma ybe I'm in first !' 1 didn't know Brian was in first , but Brian was way out (in front); he had a good ride." Ondas held on to second all the way to the finish. Third on the day went to Vet Open Expert wi nner Bau mann, who claimed to be more concerned with where hi s fellow Vets were than with what would be his best-ever National finish. "Coming out of the pits, 1 wa s kind of in a contest with a couple gu ys for th e Vet cla ss (win) - Dan Richardson a nd Jeff Capt," said Baum ann. "I always had ' that in mi nd ,that th ey were still behi nd me . Bu t co mi ng out of the pits, I sa w Jeff Ca pt. H e w a s ju st behind m e , like tw o se co n ds behind m e Or so me thi ng like th at co mi ng ou t of the pits. So it wa s basically a drag race acro ss the valley, across Johnson Valley, and I just ed ged him ou t. I hav e a pretty fast bike. Basically, I just horsepowered pa st him. Com ing around (the second loop), people ju st s ta rted dropping out. The second loop was a little more to my liking, because it was a little bit fast er; it was almost like they switched th e loops around (fro m normal configu ra tio ns with the slower, m ore technical loo p last). Sinc e it was faster, I was abl e to ca tch up a certain distance to Ondas, but I could never get through his dust. I cou ld get int o his dust, and that was the end of it . I just followed him all the way in ." As for his high overall placin g, Baumann deflected any praise. "It' s kind of surprising, because.., I know I'm past my prime, and this happens," Baumann said . "I just thank the Lord for that. Basically, it's all the Lord's timing, (w here) 1 ha ve a decent race (w hen) everybody else has a worse race. Most of it has to do with everybody else more so than with me ." Doug Chiapuzio rode in for fourth overa ll, third Open Expert, followed by C apt (t he s eco n d Vet ) and S teve Hen geveld (the first 250cc Expert), rnak - . Team Green's Oakley Lehman showed up. but he didn't race. having just gotten In from Salt Lake City and four weeks 'of stunt work on the . upcoming moVie "Squelch." "l thinkifs the first time in four years that I've' missed races when I'mnot hurt," he said. though he planoto ride the Elsinore Grand Prix next month and Terrible's ToWn 250, the Best in the .Desert finale . in December.'Missing this race and its pomts made no difference in final points for him; either way: he earns the number-tWo 250cc plate..KTM riderRussell PearSon. who missed this race as well due to a broken hand suffered at the Veqas-to-Heno. won the 250cc number-one plate. which hell likely carryon Yamahas nextyear, . . A~ B.;umai'ln '~pent·most of the morning in the pIts trying to reh~drate Oana Van 'Stee ·reported coming into the,pits ,at the end o'f the first . ' after getting sick. "Actually, r got sick before the race, and I threw 'up . loop thinking. "I felt like Iwas going fast on the first loop. Then Icame into three tirnes ." he admitted. "Ididn't get to 'practice the bomb likeI wanted . .the pits , and they said I was 3 1/2 minutes behind a' Yamaha: labout to beceuset was sick. I felt a little sick during the' week, but. personally, I flipped out!" VanStee never did catch I25cc Expert 'winner Matt Murphy. thinkit was the nerves. Iwas trying to swallow (a Powerfsar) when it (firSn but the Team Green nder believed his runner-up ride was good enough to . happened. I.was chewing" andl wason the' bomb return 'practicing the,' reclaim the 125cc National number-one plate he fi rst won In 1997. His b omb.- and.' was trying to swallow it. Itjust wouldn't go down. ,I was going . mam competition, Team'Green teenager Kurt Caselli,' finished sixth _ through some whoops, so .1was slamming'whoops pretty hard. I. pulled 125cc. ·unofficially: "I wasn't quite sure (how the title would be decided), over just in time to lift off my helmet. Just then some guy comes.upend because I've had a couple of bad races at the' beginning of the year." Van ' : says. 'Hey, how you doing,.Abe?' 'Uh, just resting.'He goes , 'Oh, you're .... ' ". ' Stee said. "I got fifth in Utah witha 'broken arm, andl crashed in Ridge- praying , huh?' 'Well; kind cf.'" . 'crest 'and DNFed; I think it.was pretty dose, and r thought it" would come down to whoeverwon today. But since Igot second. Iwasn't sure howI'd Charlie Barney's Senior 250cc &pert win 'c1inched his f':st National title - ' the first U.S. non-trials championship for Gas Gas - acccrdinq' to spo nsor do on points.. butn ow thai he go~ sixth, I'm pretty sure I've got it:" . : . . . . .... .' ." Motowest. The 42·year-old is" also leading his c1assin 'AMA Df trict·37 s West 'Contrary to popular belief. Ty Oa"-is n,;splentyoi confidence in his Cur. . desert.:endures and grand prix. and leads Overall .in the Best in the . series . . '. : . .. . . .. .' ' tis Sparks-bunt.VZ450F engine and was more disappointed that his DNF ." . ., '. . .'. . ing for a Team Green sweep of th e top six. Adam Evans claimed seventh overall, seco nd 250cc Expert, on his Yamaha, while Charlie Barney easily beat all the ot her Seniors (and Senior 250cc Experts) to the finis h on his Motowest Gas Gas in eighth overall. Matt Murphy won the 125cc Expert class on his Yamaha with an equally stunning ninth overall, and Tim Staab rounded ou t thetop 10 on his Yamaha, winning Fou r- Stroke Exp ert for the fifth tim e in th e se ries to eas ily claim that class champion ship. But Brown wa s th e o ne who earned the b iggest cro wn, m aking his 22nd birthday his most memorable ye t. "Lucern e's defini tely not my favorite (p lace to ride), but ever since [ sta rted riding th e Hare & Hound se ries in '95, this has been my favori te race," Brown sai d. "I u sually come on s trong in th e fall at the 100's race, so I was hoping I coul d d o it aga in this yea r. It was probably th e b e st r id e I eve r had . If it wou ldn' t have been m e (winning th e cha m pions hip), I wo ul d've bee n happy for Destry. I'm sure he' s happy for me . I would've been happy wi th seco nd, but I'm happy wi th the way it turned out." 1OO's MC National Luce rne, California Resu lts: October 24, 1999 (Final Round) O /A; 1. Bria n Brown (Kaw ): 2. David Ondas IKaw): 3. Abe &umann (Ka w): 4. Doug Chia puzio (Kaw) : 5. Jeff Ca p t (Ka w): 6. Stev e Hen geveld (Kaw) : 7. Adam Evans (Yam) ; 8. Charlie Barney (G-G); 9. Matt Mu rph y (Yam); 10. Tim Staab (Ya m); 11. Tabe r Murp hy (Hon) ; 12. Ron Shule r (Kaw): 13. jam es Sum mers (Kaw) : 14. Dave Hamel (Yam ); 15. Ed McCoy (Yam); 16. Dana Van Stee (Kaw): 17. Paul Shafe r (Ya m); 18. Robert Barnum (Yam); 19. Les Lehigh (Hon), 20. Ryan johnsen (Yam). FINAL SERI ES POINT STANDINGS (UN Om O AU, 1. Brian Brown 082/ 3 wins ): 2. Dc stry Abbo tt 036/3); 3. Ty Davi s 012 /1); 4. Russell Pea rso n (79); S. Sha ne Espos ito (74); 6. Daniel Richardson (72); 7. Oakley Lehman (6-1 1 8. Taber Mwphy (58); 9. Steve Hen geveld ; (56); 10. Abe Baumann (54). I c;; ~ E > o z GJ 37

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