Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

. 1 tha t it is one of th e most profes sional end u ro clubs in the cou nt ry . For all his enthus ias m "for th e rid e, Rand y Hawkins had miser able lu ck. He sta rted out possibly too agg ressively and woun d u p suffer ing clutch trou ble almost righ t away on his WR400 Yama ha. He took the time to fix it, a chore that must hav e affected his score. Im med iately upon ge tting goi ng again , he hoo ked s o me t hi ng in the h ea v y bru sh and wound up teari ng an external oil line off his bike. He cou ldn't fix the problem out . in the field, so he wound up packing it in at one of the morning checks. That left Lafferty to do battle wi th his loca l co m p etitio n, whi ch in one case turn ed o u t to be s tronger th an h e expected . Suz uk i GNCC rid er Joel Dengler was on hand for a little ra re enduro exp erience. Den gler, a form er local pro motocrosser, spe nt th is season getting his feet wet in the GNCC series, finishin g in the top 10. Enduros have never been his ma in ambition, but with seaso n ed ECEA ve t Bru ce Den g ler for a fa ther , Joel. was certai nly ge tti ng some good coach in g . Laff e rt y a nd Deng ler wound up kno cking head s all d ay, and Dengler mad e sure that l O-poin t sp read was impossib le. It wa s tou gh going , thou gh. The rid ers left the start an d head ed straigh t int o a quick points-t aking section that was bathed in ea rly morning (7 a .m .) fog . Goggles wer e definitely ge tting a workout, but Lafferty singed everyone else by dropping a single point at th e first check-out, the only rider to d o so . A secon d sec t io n of th e m y st eri ou s lo ca l phragm itis reed s, 6-foo t tall vegeta tio n th at makes th e Del aware ex perience unique, followed the first after a chec kin , a n d on ce a g ain Lafferty carded through w ith a s ing le point. Th e firs t sections left everyo ne sc ram b li ng , all dropping two points or more. Dengler, Michael 's b rother Richard Laffe rty, Hoess , Bill Atki nson an d Chris Smit h were a mo ng th e two-poi nters. Sm ith, w ho mi ssed the Six Days a nd most of t he su m m e r raci ng seaso n th is yea r worki ng ou t a series of med ical prob lems, wa s riding an XR250 engine in a chassis he ha nd -mad e from chromoly tubing a nd CR125 pa rt s. The uniqu elooking machine see med to work really well , a nd s in ce Smi th was la st ye a r's overa ll winner, part of the da y' s atte ntion was di rected his wav , Aft e r the fir s t g as s to p, the rid ers cha rg ed off in to back-toback sections, including a new "g ra ss tr ack" loop, Del aware ' s infa m o us s trea m sec tio n and t h e bluntl y nam ed Husk y Seize Road. Lafferty went four and fou r at the two checks, a good score, but Dengler must have been possessed go in g in to the secti on , turn ing in a 2-4 over the two checks. Five and six is the closest combination a n y o ne e lse co u ld mu s ter , fro m Richard Lafferty, Hoess a nd Smith. Everyo ne else did 5-7 or better. A c heck -in on th e north side of the Sum mit Br id g e o ve r th e Che s ap eak e an d Delaware Ca na l put th e rid ers into Danny' s Wo od s, w here La fferty o nce again set fastest time with a four. Dengler and Hoess both dropped five over th e sa me sec tio n, whil e Richard Lafferty, Atkinson , Kevin Bennett and Steve Edmondson all scored six. Chris Smith had bad lu ck in the sec ti on when he caught a stout br an ch badly end had the fu el p et cock ripped right off hi s gas tank. He repaired it on the spot and fin ished the race, but not without losing 19 points at the check-ou t. From the chec k-out the riders had no reset, bu t a n ea sy ride to th e famous Slu ice section-a rock filled d ownhill wash full of slippery boulders. It wa s an int eresting timekeeping problem , if you kn ew what you w ere d o in g , si nce a known contro l was on the other side of the Sl uice, a n d th e " fre e " m il e a g e s between that and the preceding check overla p ped . In AMA rules, you ha ve thr ee miles of free terri tory follow ing a check , and two before, a n d if y ou wa tched yo ur rou te sheet and knew the ru les there was no wa y the club could ha ve a check between the tw o. The ru les a lso say yo u can be up to 15 minutes early a t a known control, so time keeping wasn' t an issu e un less you d u m mied up and waite d u ntil you were back on time to en ter the Sluice - an d then go t stuc k in traffic. All the top riders easily ze ro ed the sectio n and went on to the clo s ed g a s s to p b ehind th e Su m mit Point Marina . The tough est section of the d ay started next a t Glorylan d Park, the historic s ta rt ing point o f th e o ld De lawar e enduro. Eleve n mil es of tigh t, slip pe ry woods awaited the riders, and Lafferty o nce aga in wa s,o n top of hi s form , knocking off the section -with onl y eig ht points lost. The closest riders could only manage 10 p oints, including Den gler, Richard Laffer ty and Hoe ss. Chris Smith was back on form , lead ing a pack of 11point rid er s, including Atkinson, Ben nett, and N ETRA hare scr ambler Tom Norton (Yam). Back-to-back ch ecks in Delawa re 's hare scra mbles loop took mo re points after the gas stop, with Lafferty still lead ing the pack with 2-2. The best a nyo ne else co u ld manage w as 3-3, including Den gler, Richard Laffert y, and Bennett , w hile Atkinson checked out with a 3-4. Thr ee zero checks followed. You had to wa tch yourse lf, or it was easy enoug h to pick up a bum, as Chris Smith found out at the first one. Then came the last section of the da y. Dengler was ready for it, and hammered through the last bits of phragmitis and sand -pit w hoops for a tw opoint loss , besting Laffe rty by a s ingle point. It was too little, too late. Lafferty' s tota l wa s 29, while Den gler could only m u st er 32; the next-closest co m pe tito r was Richard Lafferty wi th a 39. Mike did bea t his brother by 10 points. Fourth overall was Fred Hoess, who wasn't pleased with his score, but since he is still recovering from a severe facial injury, we think he d id very well, especia ll y fro m ba ck o n the 60th m inute. 1999's EC EA Grand Ch ampi on Bill Atki nson was fifth overall with a 44, an d for m e r ECE A C ha m p Ke vin Benn ett took his KTM 125 to sixth wit h a 45. Pas t N ETRA h a re sc ra m b les c ha m p io n Tommy i orton came d own for the ride, cran king his Yamaha 167 a roun d th e course with a 48 for seventh overall, and Steve Edmon d son of Hardy, Virgin ia , fini sh ed eig h th with a 49. ECEA rid er Mark Hummel was the seco nd A-250 . rider to crack the top 10, finishi ng ninth wit h a 51 , and Mi c hi g an ' s Ro n Scharphorn rounded out the top 10 with a 54 in the AA class. Hig h Point A for the day went to Joel Dengler, for the grea t job he d id keeping Lafferty on his tOL and High Point 'S, B we n t to Mi ke Sha rp, w ho go t to the finish with an excellent score of 67. The C, Ma ster s, Wom en , B Sen io rs a nd B Super Seniors to ok a trip around an ingen iou sly sho rtened co u rse, a nd th e bes t fini s h e r amon g them was Joh n Tr end Ier, who won th e Hi g h Poin t C award with a 62. eN Delaware National Enduro Delaware City, Delaware Results: October 31, 1999 (Final Round) O /A : :vfikl' Laffcrtv . G ran d Chilmpion: Jot.'! De ng ler. High Poi nt A: Mike Sharp. High Point B: John Trendler . AA : 1. Mike La ffe r ty : 2. Ric h La ffe rt y : 3. Bill Atkinson. 4. Kevin Bennet t: 5. Tom Norton. Regional AA: 1. Fred Ho~.. 2. Steve Edmo ndso n; ·ss; ff 3. Iack Lafferty Jr.; 4. Je Kirchn er ; S. C hris Smith. A 125 : 1. Pat Em mo ns ; 2. Tim Sha nn ; 3. C ra ig Copela nd . A 200: 1. G I ~n Sche rer ; 2. Robert Moh n; 3. rood Qu inn ; 4. Dav e Me.llin g:; S. Paul Bittin g. A 250: 1. Ma rk Hummel ; 2. Scott Brigh t; 3. JI..f( Moyer; 4. Raff Peterson; S. Br ian RU"i.'Ot.'I1. A OPEN: 1. Dave C unni 2. Matt Spi gelm yer; 3. AI Switze r; 4. Dean Spl'nCt'r; 5. Steve G UM'S . A 4·S TRK: 1. Mar c Cros..man ; 2. Steve Lar kin; 3. Stacey CLu k; 4. Phil Ca rlin; 5. Lewis Smith. A VET: 1. Doug Deetcru 2. Jim Guneel man: 3. Tod d Reder; 4. Rich Moyen 5. Jim M~ommon. A SR.: 1. Terry Tucker: 2. Dwight Rudde r; 3. John Farrar; 4. Way Rl' Fonta nazza : 5. Cl iff Tenney. A S/SR: 1. Sco tt w clersberger: 2. Jack Laffe~ Sr.; 3. Jim Va nd enburgh e. 4. Dav e Verdettc: 5. Broce Triplett. B 125, 1. Rand y Loper; 2. J. Ca rtwright: 3. D. Ca rpe r. 4. R. Bogle; 5. K. Plumm er . B 200: 1. Cha rles Bo1 Y"; 2. Jtd f Jo h ns ; 3. Da r rin Malone. 4. Mark Del.eng; 5. Al1.l0 Frei. B 250:. 1. C. Baker. 2. John Hu mmel; 3. Pe ter Burn e tt; 4. J.lso n Ca mbell; S. Ca rme n Tino. o OPEN: 1. Tim C allagber : 2. Brian Zrcg entmaler. 3. Dave Burns; 4. Ste ve jamison : 5. T. Davies. B 4-STRK : 1. Dou S Van Horn; 2. D. 5Ieg., I1; 3. J. Cha p ma n: 4. R. Barr: 5. Iaso n Ga nt t. n VET: 1. jim Aiello: 2. D. O'Neil; 3. Tod d Fenton; 4 . G . (:l vanau gh ; 5 .R.Bake~ B SR: 1. Rober t McNeel ; 2. Dan Co mp to n; 3. A. Martiru-l . Eric Hart em. 5. Mike Nolen. B S/SR: 1. Craig Burfield ; 2. K. Smith ; 3. Tim Stibitz. C 250: 1. P hill ip Uh la n d ; 2. C . Co tf ried : 3. M. Fischer; 4. M. G rade n: 5. D. Kou gh . C VET: 1. D. AII!.'n; 2. R. McCn.'gor; 3. C. Wilso n; 4. C. CI.lrk; 5. D. jen nin gs . C 200: 1. D. Allen II; 2. J. Willi.l ms; 3. G. Ring ler;·t T. Wilson; 5. B. Glenn. C O PE N: 1. M. Tegeder: 2. A. Gardfa no ; 3. M. UHerfiJgem; 4. T. Suus; S. M. Ossa nko . C 4· STRK , I. B. Sigery: 2. J. Ve res j r.: 3. D . Mercillic tt . 4. R. Groves 5. J. Booth. 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