Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ECEAEnduro Series, Round 19 By Mark Uth Photos by J ungle Dave CHATSWORTH,l\'J, OCT. 24 ~ rid er Bill A tkinso n earned his fi rst-eve r ECEA Enduro Ser ies championship with the overa ll win a t the Pin e Barons Enduro. In a tig h t-s co r in g e ve n t, t h e Matto Cycle/ KTM fa ct ory /MSR /Elf Lubri ca n ts/ Sco tt USA/E n d u ro Eng inee rin g / Spro ck et Specia lists/ FMF / Piri e Co m posi tes / Du nlopad / Ma u rtco Po w der Coat -spo nso red rid er some ho w managed to shave a po in t in the fina l test, dropping three there to post the on ly five- poi nt card on the day. " I almost had a four, too," Atk inson explained afterwa rd, having jus t missed th e flip of the card in the day's first section . Nevertheless, five was the rig ht number to secure his fifth overall win of this wan ing 1999 seaso n . Secon d overa ll we nt to KX250-mounted Steve Pfeffer , w hos e 346 emerge ncy po in ts led th e nu me ro us six-point cards tha t filled out the day's top fin ishers. Pfeffer , a long tim e Hond a pilot, recently sw itched to a Wood bu ry Power sports-sponsored 2000 Kawa sak i, on wh ich he pl ans to ca m paign in the coming yea r. " I ha ven 't done any suspens ion work to th e bik e yet," P fe ffer not ed, "jus t mounted u p hand guards and we n t racing." Runner-up wa s his best finish of the 1999 season, and it earned hi m the High Point A troph y to boot. Rounding ou t the podium in the third-o verall slot was AA sta lwart Cra ig Shenigo, on a KTM, who fini sh ed a m ere sec o n d behind Pfeffer , a t 6/ 347. The Pine Baron s Enduro Riders hos ted their annu al clock run , o rig ina ti ng from the gro unds of the New jers ey ORV Par k. The club laid out a rid e of approxima tely 75 miles, d ivid ed by two rem ote re fu e li n g stops h e ld at the Ca ranza Memorial. This divided the run into three 3.2-mile "loo ps," each of which had it s o w n s peci a l test sa n d w iched by a chec k-in /check-ou t. The rest of the dav was spent timekeeping o ve r selec te d p low lines and sandy tw o-track roads. However, recent rain s had many of these timekeepi ng connector sectio ns laced wi th formidable water crossings, pudd les and swamps . Ride rs were ofte n faced with deciding whether to challenge the water obstacles directly (which va ried in dept h, from a couple of inches to a couple of feet) or to try their luck at the tricky tra ils that sk irted thei r outskirts not pa na cea, as th ese cu t-arou nds quickly formed wheel-deep, bike-s ucki ng ru ts for the la te r rows . Th e en ti re rid e was run at a 24-mph speed average an d, as such, time lost whil e negoti ating variou s w a ter obsta cles w as fo rtu it ou s ly reco u p ed b y rompin g d own e ns u ing sand road s and plow lines in top gear. The ra ce began with a n extrem ely cool ride out of the sta rt cont rol, 6-p lus mi les of pavem ent u sed to ge t rid ers from th e ORV park to th e state for est. Whil e keytim e temperatures were in the high 30s, th e w eather turned ou t to be just ab out perfect fro m th ere on in , as things warmed up to the high 50s, under a (Left) Bill Atkinson (22B) logged his first-ev er ECEA Enduro champions hip whe n he too k the overa ll at the Pine Barons Enduro in Chatsworth , New Jersey. (Below) Craig Shenigo (23A) rode to third TM overall, s econd In the AA class, at the 19th round of the ECEA Enduro Se ries . in eigh th pl ace with a 6 / 395 score; Kawasaki jockey Paul Bitting , his 6/ 401 ea rning him nin th place; Ho nd a rider Mark Marszalek, a 6/406 card netting the 10th-overall seed; Yam aha rider Bip Gunselman, 11th wit h a 6 / 406; and KTM mounted Todd Quinn, 12th at 6/416. The Hig h Point B trophy wa s ea rned by XR250 p ilot James Bowe n, who pos ted the only seven-poi n t card within the Int ermed ia te class. Ru nner -u p s to the HPB at eight points down were Bria n Corden, Jeff Johns, john Hummel, Mike Sha rp and Mark Perry. In Novice-class action, Hond a rid er Philip Uhland took hom e the High Point C prize, his 12-point ca rd provi ding him with a one-poin t vic to ry . HP C ru nn erups wi t h 13 -poin t cards we re Paul Hand , Dave Bad er a nd john Trendier, w ho eac h earned res pec tive class victories in the C 200, C 250 and C Veteran classes. Fina ll y , th e Mas te rs -class victo ry wen t to KTM rider Bob Schm idt, who d ropped 23, while the Women's class cha m p was KTM-mounted [en Eyrich, at 20 d o w n. eN New J er sey ORV Park Chatsworth, New Jersey Res ults : Octo be r 24, 1999 (Round 19) mostly clear skies. Section s were primarily comprised of w ell -w orn sa nd trails through sta nds of pit ch pin e and scru b oa k rippling w it h ga rga ntua n w ho o pd e-d es. In the firs t section, a d ozen or so top rid er s checked out at two minu tes down, with Atkinson postin g th e best emergency points tall y at 98. Du rin g the s e cond loo p, an impro p erl y pla ced cou rse re set ma rker ca used substantial co nf u sio n just prior to the check-in to that loop's lone test. Riders wh o heeded the fals e re set found th emselves late checking in, while rid ers who missed it burned the check-in for big points . Both checks w ere sum ma rily tossed . The dav's fina l section wa s essentially a 4-m ile section of trai l. However, the clu b threw in some trickery by locatin g the check-in eig ht-tenths of a mile in . As suc h, it was a race to reach the emergency check-in on tim e - o ne that w as los t by the majority of riders. Af ter this check, the te st co n ti n ued w ith so me tight bottom-land tra il tha t rutte d u p quick ly and co m p letely . Ag ai n, ri ders attemptin g to ex trica te tr a pped bikes confounded the progress of later rows. In spite of thi s , Atkins on w ent 0-3 throug h th e two e me rge ncy chec ks, w hile th e remainder of the front-runner s po sted 0-4 scor es . At the final check-o u t, Atkinson's pace was more than 30 seconds ahea d of his next-closest com pe titor . With that, it wa s backtracking on blacktop back to the ORV park for th e AA : 1. Bill Atkin s on ( KT M) ; 2. C ra ig Shcnigo (KTM); 3. Jack Lafferty Jr. (Suz ): -I. Jetf Kirchner (Ka w ): 5. Mike McHale ( KTM) . A 125: 1. Greg Da\'k'~ (Ya m): 2. M. D t' ,1I1 Spencer (Ya m); 3. Jerry Kitts OM); 4. Lo u C reon (Yarn): 5. Craig Co pel and (KTM) . A 200: 1. P.1U! Bitting (K.1W); 2. Todd Qu in n (KTM); 3. Eric Co rbin (Kaw ): 4. Frank G lu ck (K.1W). A 250: 1. St eve Pfeffer (K.1W); 2.. Mark Hu mm el (H us): 3. Iamie w right (V. m ); 4 . Bob Sol omon (KTM ); 5. 1 Bill Gilbe rt (Yam ). A OPEN: 1. Martin C rav er (KT M); 2. Mike Beeler (KTM I; 3. AI Switzer (KTM ); 4. Tom Fol kl CM.l i) ; 5 . TMI. Michild C ru m OC A 4-ST R K: 1. Ste ven La rkin (Y.1 m); 2. j ef fr e y Botsfo rd (Ya m) : 3. Lewis J. Smi th Jr. ( lion) ; 4. le e Wall.let' (Hon): 5. Rob Co m be r (Ynml. A VET: 1. Mar k \1a rs J:alck (Hcnl : 2. Ia mes Gu nselman (Yam ); 3. Dan Pulak ( K.1W); 4. john walter (K<1w) ; 5. Ste ve ATt .. z ( H u n ) . t final scores to be posted . Trailing the trio of to p finis he rs - At kinson, Pfeffer a nd Sheni go - was Suz uki jockey jack Lafferty [r ., who finished fourt h ove rall, 10 secon ds be hi nd Shenigo. While A tki nso n had sea led the series champions hip wit h his victo ry, Lafferty likew ise secured the podium's second step for the 1999 camp ai gn with h is fo u rth-p lace show ing . Steve La rk in pu sh ed hi s Yam ah a thumper to a fifth-ove ra ll seeding, dropping 6/381 to earn top honors in the A Four -Stroke class. Sixth overall and th e first-p lace trophy in the A 250 class was earned by Husky ma n Mark Hummel w ith a 6/387, while Kawasaki-mounted AA co m pe ti to r jeff Kirchner fill ed th e seve n t h-o vera ll s lo t a t 6 / 391 d own . Rounding out the list of the da y' s top finishers were Yamaha pilot Jamie Wright, A SR : 1. Mark Ut h (KTM); 2. wayn e Fc ntana zza (Y.lm) ; 3. Da Vt' Barlow (KTM); 4. Bill At hc rholt (KTM); 5. Clifford Tenney (KTM). A 5 /SR: 1. Sco tt w olt er vbcrgcr (Yam): 2. ja ck W. Laffert y (KTM) ; 3. Bob Ago nts (G·G ); 4. Rocco Spa no (Yam) ; 5. Pete Parlett {Ho nl. B 125 : I. Randy Loper (Ho n}, 2. KIm Plummer tSuz): 3. Ron Decaro (Yam ): 4. Steve Brown (Ya m); 5. Alan Bopp (KTM). B 200: 1 Bri. 1O Co rden (I\.'TM); 2. Jdf John .. ( J(.. W); 3. , Ma ri o De P.llm.l (KT\f); 4 M .ld.. Delon g ( J(.. v); 5. J(,ff w Harrison (Kawl. B 250: 1. Jo hn Hummel (Ya m ): 2. Lon rne Lawson (SuJ' ); J. Bru ce Lowman Jr . (Hun) ; 4. Jim Shamh ne (Yam ); 5. Robert E. Trout Jr . (Ya m ) B O i'E."l: t . \1 ichad Sha rp (.... M); 2. Tim G.1Ild~h\."T" I t Hus): 3. 5tt;'\"t' Jamison (C .('; ); 4 . T revor Davies (K1M); 5. Eric Aa roe (KT M). B 4-STRK: 1. lames Bow e n (I-Il,"); 2. Ma r-k Perry tHo n); 3. Mark Schleew e is tH on ): 4. Chr is Brow n (Hun); 5. Darren Go ff (Yam). B VET : 1. St ev e Bow man (Hun); 2. Bill Gil more ( Hu n ); 3. Jim A idlo (KTM ); 4. TllJJ Fenton (KT M ); 5. Ot'w itt HUT'l"l1 (KTM) . B SR: I. D" nit'! Com p to n ( KT M); 2. Ed Mainiero tH on ); 3. James Devlin (Yam); 4. JOt' Dublas O'( ..1w) ; 5. David J. Van Pelt ( K.1w ). B S/S R: 1. Craig Burfield ( I(., W) ; 2. George Bressler t KT \-IJ; 3. Jim Chri...ti anscn (KT M); 4. Tim 5tiblt:r (Knw): 5. Craig M orris (KTM) . C 200: 1. P,lul H.\n J (S u z I: 2. A II.l n Hughes Jr . (KTM J; 3. joseph Vo lpe (K.l\\-·); " . Richard Pe tcrs (Yam); 5. Clavton Vicn i ( Kaw). C·250: I. Phili p Uhland U Ion ); 2. David Bade r (Suz); 3. Michael G rad en (Kaw); ... P.lul Ti llbcrg (K T M ); 5. Step hen Ma rvin (KTM). COPEN: 1. Michael C hr is tia ns en (KTM); 2. Troy Suggs (Yam ); 3. Nic holas Angelus (KTM J; 4. John Hu lse (KTM); 5. Shawn Youncofski (Honl. C 4-STRK: I. Jc ff Booth (K.1W ); 2. Bruc k Boe ger (Kaw ): 3. Gary Skyta ( K., W); 4. 5 tt'v(' Foster (Hen): 5. Ch ris G riebel (He n). C VET: 1. Joh n Trend ier ( Ka w ): 2. C hr i... Whi te (Ka w ): 3. Robe rt Defranzo (Yam) : 4. Maurice Kier nan (Suz ); 5. Robertlaniszcwski (K.1W). WMN: L jennifer Eyrich (KThll ; 2. Me rle Compton (Kaw) : 3. Nichol", Williams (Yam ); 4. Nancy Davidson (Ho n). MSTIC I . Bob Schmidt IKTM); 2. Ed Baker (Kaw). ,.:~ jJ E G> > o Z 17

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