Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Moose Western Regional Cross Country Championship Series Motul Spr ing B/C Championship Ser ies Round 5/ 4 : Shasta Dam Hare Scrambles By CHRI S GHI O N E A ND MI C HELL E L E E P H OT O S BY M IC H ELL E LE E REDDING, CA, APR. 22 ~ he co nd it ions were ne arly perfe ct U and so was Team Green Kawa sa k i's Craig We sn e r en rout e t o t h e ov era ll vic tory at th is ye ar 's Sha s ta Dam Hare Scrambles . T he ra c e marked round five of the Moose Westem Regi on a l Cross Co untry Cha m p ion sh ip and the first overall victory of th e season for M2R Helmets/Works Con ne ct ion -b a cked Wesner. The Red ding Dirt Rid e rs prepa red a fas t 2 2 -m ile course , which was made up pr im a rily of open fire roads. With ra in only a few days before, the gr o un d was moist and dust was not mu c h of a factor for the 3 50 riders who partici pated. Eve n with the nearly p e rfe c t conditions and the open c o u rs e , riders were still presented with many challenges. "It ' s slippery a nd it was pretty sca ry," sa id S up e r Sen ior -cl a ss winner Lou ie Marshall . An early sta rt tim e of 8 a .m. ha d A- and B-c1ass ride rs up at the c rack of dawn . pr epar ing for the rac e. Nea rly 180 riders lined up to wait for th e first ra c e of th e da y. When th e light tu rn e d gre en , th e qu ick est -starting rid e rs were als o green , with Team Gre en /Wis eco /C ycle Pro of Santa Rosa -spons or ed Dami en Galford grabbing the holeshot , followed closely by fellow Kawasaki rider Wesner. "At the sta rt ," sa id Galford , " I looked over at Craig and I said, 'Me "I didn't crash a ll day ," said Wesner a fte r the race . "I didn 't even go d o wn . The handlebars di d n' t e ven to uch the ground . It was just one of th ose da ys that you ho pe for : Ga lfo rd ca me in a nother min ute back, with But le r following a few m inutes later. "The course was fast," said Butl er, who wa s more th an sa tisfied with his fo urth-pla c e fini sh . "I t hi nk a road race b ik e wou ld h a v e b e en more appropri at e tha n a d irt b ike!" T h e O w e n s Ra c ing - sponsore d Ra ymond Ge im er e nded up ba tt ling t h ro u g h a dv ersi ty to round o ut the top five. "The m iddle of the th ird la p, I got a fla t and ro de the las t lap a nd a ha lf on a flat," Ge im e r said. "It [the race) was a lot of fun - perfect conditions, no dust. " The n e x t to come in was Rod Kre iss, who ba ttled ba ck from a terr ible start and mad e a last- second pass on fellow Suzuki ride r Tim Stowe to take s ixth overa ll. Follow ing Stowe in seve nth were KTM riders Travis Sluder in e ig h t h and Br ian S per le in n inth . Rounding out the top 10 was Vet-class winner J ohn Mason , a board a Yamaha. In the a fternoon C race , Kawasaki ride r Jack Elliot took the o ve rall ra ce victory a nd was the only C ride r to complete three la ps . CN (Above left) Craig Wesner was almost perfect, sc oring the overall w in at round five of the Moose Westem Regional Cross Country Championship Seri e s . (Above right) Robbie Z immerman p laced runner-up at the Shasta Dam Hare Scrambles. (Right) Damien Gal ford snared the show po s ition In Reddi ng, Ca llfomla . and you, one and two up the hil l. Let's get out of here .' And it hap pened: Galford le d u ntil about six miles into race, when he fell down in a roc ky c reek bed. Wes ner was able to get by , a long with KTM/ Faultline S us pens ion /Fox -backed Br ia n But le r , who was got a good sta rt. Afte r getting into the lead, Wesner picked up the pace and distanced himself from the res t of the field . "As soon as I got into the lead ," stated Wesner , "I couldn 't help but thi nk to try to get away fro m everybody. I just rode as fas t as I could, and everything wo rke d out well for me ." Wh ile Wesner wa s a lone in fron t , th e rest of th e field battled for the rest o f th e top pos it ions . Galford soon ca ught ba ck up to But ler and e ve ntually m ad e his wa y ba c k into se cond . "Me and Butler battled pretty good for th e first lap," said Galford , "a nd my KX jus t cam e out on top wh en we we re ra cing on th e fire roads. I just had a little bit more power than he did: A lit tle furthe r back was Suzuk i rider Cole Marshall and Race Tech/ Shasta Dam Hare Scrambles Redding, Califomia Results : April ZZ. ZOOI (Round 51 Spec ialty Moto rcycles of Carson City/Clark -backed Yamaha rider Rob Zimmerman. Marshall and defending series champ ion Zim m e rm a n ba ttled back and forth for much of the ra c e. "He'd catch m e going u p the hill and I'd catch h im going down the hill," sa id Zim m er m a n. "Every sing le la p was th e same thing. " T he ir ba tt le eve nt ually m o v e d . th em pa st both Galford a nd Butler , with Mar sha ll in th e second position and Zimmerman fo llow ing close ly in th ird, but o n th e fina l la p Marshall's s tri ng of bad lu ck continued as h e s uffe red fro m both fro nt a nd rear flat tires, ca using him to dr op many positio ns befo re the finish . Wesner crossed the finish line about one m inute a head of Zimmerman. cue I ... O/A : 1. Craig Wesner (Kaw); 2. Rob Zimmerma n (Ya m): 3. Da mien Galford (Ka w); 4. Brian Butler (KTM); 5 . Raymond Geimer (Yam) ; 6 . Rode ric k Kreiss (Suz); 7. Tim Stowe (SUI): 8 . Travis Slud er (KTM): 9. Brian Sperle (KTM ). A 200 : I. Brian Sperle ( KTM) ; 2. Theron Miller (Hon); 3 . Ma tthew Wallace (Yom) . A 2 50 : I . C raig Wes ner (Kaw); 2 . Ro b Zim merman (Yam ); 3. Dam ien Galford (K aw). A OP EN : I. Rick Thornton (KTM): 2. Davi d North (KTM) . A 4 - STRK : 1. Brian Toli ne (S UI); 2 . Gle nn Marti nson (KTM) ; 3. Col. Marshall (5 uz) . A V ET : 1. John Mason (Ya m) ; 2. Bill J ar vi s (Han); 3. Rex Baue r (ve m). A SR : 1. Jo hn Wells (Han); 2. Eddie Diaz : 3. Jerry Fouts (Han ). A S /SR : 1. L o ui e Marshall ( Ho n) ; 2 . John Hampton (KTM ): 3. Fred Sumrall (KTM) . B 200 : I. Bry c e Olson (KTM); 2 . Ke n Nolan (Kaw ); 3 . Mich ael Bru ns (Yam) . B 2 50 : 1. Chris Zito (Hon ): 2 . .Jerteh Gurley (Hon) ; 3. Lore nz Meylan (Hon ). B O PEN : 1. Seth Carpenter; 2 . Ja mes Stan ley (Hon) ; 3. Spencer Piercy (KTM ). B 4 ·STR K : 1. Evan O'lea ry (Yam); 2 . T rell Messenger (Yam): 3. Solomon Gienger (Hon) . 8 V ET : I. Brad J oh n son ( KT M): 2 . Mich ael Dixo n (Yam); 3. Richard Smith (KTM) . B SR: 1. J erry J ohn son (Han); 2. Greg Tom sik; 3. Gary Remm ert (Yam) . 8 S/S R : 1. J eff Ho llfelder (Y am): 2 . Davi d Rosenqu ist (Hon) : 3. J oseph Butler (Suz). e 200: 1. Buck Gom es; 2. Joshua Devonshire (SUI) ; 3. Nolan Irwin (Hon ). 250: 1. Ja ck Elliott ( tcew) : 2. Nathan Peterson (Kaw) ; 3. Joel Burk ett (Hen). OP EN : 1. Lane Mount (Han ) ; 2 . Robe rt Orr (Sua): 3. Ja mes Craig (KTM). e 4 · ST RK : 1. Jeff Nickson ( Yam ); 2 . Way ne Ski cki (Hon); 3. Ryan Villanue va (Yam). VET : 1. Robe rt Chavez (SUI); 2. Brian Wrig ht (Kaw); 3. Doug Petroske y (Yam) . SR: 1. Scott Stanley (KTM) ; 2. Dave Celenta no (Han): 3. Dave Schott. e S /SR : 1. Bru c e Web b on (KTM ) ; 2. Gary Roberson ; 3. Gary Gambill ( Yam) . WMN: 1. Amber JOk ela: 2. Suzie Dault (Kaw); 3. Nikk i Frohl ich (Han) . e e e e e n ... _ S • MAY 2 3 . 200 1 35

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