Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

(Far left) Husqvarna's Fred Hoess finished third overall and was the top rtcIer aboard a two-stroke motorcycle. (Left) Gas Gas-mounted Matt Stavlsh took fifth. (Above) David Lykke, who finished fourth, made It three fourstrokes In the top five. The Woodland Cycle/Scott/Suzuki Off-road RM250 rider put that lesson to good use, taking the top A-class finish at seventh overall. "It was just so cold and miserable," Brian Butler said. "I remember thinking that if my bike would break down, I could go home." His bike didn't break and he eventually finish eighth overall, second A, on his Faultline Suspension/Enduro Engineering/Fox-backed CR250R. Though the rain and snow stopped by the end of the second loop, the course remained a muddy mess that promised to test everyone, especially since the third loop - at 30 miles included some of the nastiest terrain in the are.a. Here, Lafferty and Hawkins ran neck and neck for a while. "The long section, Michael and I tied it with nines," Hawkins said. "The last section, I rode decent but kind of faded a little bit. That's where he put most of the points on me. I made a couple mental mistakes, but that's nobody's fault but mine. I rode good and the bike worked great. I just made a little mental mistake. Michael was riding well, and that's a lot of an enduro: It's not just the riding part of it - there's a mental end, and I made a mistake [in the first and second loops]. I should've been riding a little bit more aggressive with my pOSSibles. "My goal was to come to California and take, hopefully, a first or, at worst, a second, then go to Georgia [for round two]." Fourth-place finisher Lykke, said, "I was sick all week; in fact, I'm still sick, so I was pretty happy to finish. To end up in the top five, I was really happy. I managed to not fall too much and just rode; I didn't ride fast, but I did what I needed to do. I just couldn't keep my food down. I'm not a big guy, so once I'm out of my food, I just hit the wall. I think riding in the snow probably didn't do me any favors." "It was a pretty uneventful day; I missed the flip a couple times," Stavish said. "But it was fun. The club really did a good job. It was the toughest Quicksilver I've ever ridden." And since just 18 A riders (no Bs or Cs) finished the event, it was probably the toughest enduro that many in the field had ever ridden. "It was a stinking tough enduro," Hawkins said. "If you came and finished today at this enduro, you could go back home with your head held up and say you finished a heck of a tough enduro." eN Clllr Crelk Co.olingl, Colifamil Resulls: Februlry 16-17, 2002 O/A: 1. Mike Lafferty (KTM); 2. Randy Hawkins (Yllm): 3. Fred Hoess (Hus); 4. David Lykke (Vern); 5. Matt Slavish (Gas): 6. Richard Lofferty (KTM): 7. Tim Stowe (Suz); 6. Brillin Butler (Hon); 9. Craig Holasek (KTM): 10. Tim Taber (KTM). AA: Mike Lllfferty (KTM); 2. Randy Hawkins (Yllrn); 3. Fred Hoess (Hus); 4. DllVid Lykke (Yam); 5. Matt Stevish (GG). A O/A: 1. Tim Stowe (Suz); 2. Brian Butler (Hon): 3. Craig Holasek (KTM): 4. Dave Wood (Hon): 5. Russ Pereira (Yam). A 200: 1. Mett Joachim (Gas); 2. Ct.lrsten Cagle (Hus); 3. Willie BoSSermlln (KTM): 4. Andy Hill e e Raymond (KTM); 3. Kevin MacDonald (Hon); 4. SR: I. Phil Baily (KTM); 2. Brian Willett (KTM): 3. Fred Stefani (Kl'Jw); 4. Eric Poulsen (KllW); 5. Greg Dave Dressler (KTM); 5. Bill Barbin (Hon). e VET: 1. Gary Hauff (Hon): 2. Ron Miner (KTM): OPEN: 1. Shylo Steinthal (KTM); 2. Brian Stefani (KTM). e S/SR: 1. Bruce Saxton (KTM); 2. Rick Rinks 3. Daron Tadman (Hon); 4. Ted Land (Han); 5. Dan Breitbach (Yam). (KTM). (Suz); 3. Ron Zibulka (Hon); 4. Scott Riechers BRIEFLY••• Mike Lafferty started the defense of his fourth National Enduro Championship on a four-stroke KTM rather than his usual 250cc two-stroke mount. -I just wanted to do something a little different." Lafferty said. -I"ve ridden the 250 for a while. and I"m not saying I wasn't happy with it. but at the end of last year. I rode the last four races· two GNCCs and two enduros . on the 400. and I had so much fun. I had a blast. And they were muddy races. too. some of the GNCCs. I really like it: I think it suits my style. It was a decision where we thought about it and said. "Yeah. Ie!"s go do it.' KTM was cool with it. • Mike Lafferty rode the finai three miles of the race with a broken rear brake and was obviously relieved that it didn't cost him the race. -Coming down the Pipeline Hill. at the very bottom of it. I went to tum left." Lafferty said. "I"m pretty sure when I pushed down [on the brake pedalJ. there was hardly anything there. and I grabbed too much front brake and high-sided into some rocks. I looked down and had three miles to go from there. I knew I had a good pace going; I just wanted not to lose the whoie race right there. I wanted to keep riding smart. but it was so hard, because of the downhills and all the new stuff they had [at the end] to keep the bike from freewheeling and heading down the hilis using all front brake. I mus!"ve crashed a half a dozen times in the last two miles for sure. " (KTM); 5. Ryan Gouldthred (KTM). A 250: 1. Bril'Jln Butler (Hon); 2. Crllig Holasek (KTM): 3. Kyle Nelson (KTM): 4. Chris Zito (Vam): 5. Jeff Bauer (Suz). A 4-STRK: 1. Russ Pereir" (Y"m); 2. James Ptarcinski (Hon); 3. Jim M"theson (Hon); 4. John Burgard (Hus): 5. Greg Ghione (Hon). A OPEN: 1. Rick Thornton (KTM); 2. George Villanyl (KTM): 3. Scott Hofmann (KTM); 4. Jeff Clements (KTM): 5. Brody Borgogno (KTM). A VET: 1. James Bo"rdmen (Han); 2. Jon King (Hon); 3. Jeff Wilson (Kew); 4. Kevin Wiley (Y"m); 5. Shawn Black (KTM). A SR: 1. Dl'Jve Wood (eRE); 2. John Wells (Hon): 3. Robert Mlhovich (KTM): 4. Paul Reschke (KMT); 5. Charles Perlow (Hon). A S/SR: 1. Pele Prichard (KTM); 2. Bob Bosserrm:m (KTM); 3. Rich"rd Ad"n (Hon); 4. John Wade (KTM), 5. Johnny Stevens (KTM). A MSTR: 1. Corky Atchison (Oes); 2. Gordon White (Gas). A WMN: 1. He"ther Wilson (Kew); 2. Am"nda Mastin (KTM). "Mike [Lafferty] sure is rolling." Matt Stavish said of the four-time champ. -Holy buckets, I don't know what the deal is with him. I don't know what I"d have to do to go that kind of speed. I can't Imagine." The Team Gas Gas rider said he was ready to ride his 200 - until it started raining. So. wary that he'd need his 250's extra boost. he got up at 5:30 in the moming - just two hours before the start· and prepped his 250. "I"m glad I did that at the last second. but my moming was really hectic. I worked from 5:30 until I went up to the line. Senior A racer Dave Wood put In a lot of miles over the weekend. First. he raced the WORCS event In Phoenix. Arizona. on Saturday. Then he hightailed it to Coalinga. arriving well after dark. Wood proved to be in shape. unofficially finishing 11 th overall at the QUicksilver National on his Mach 1 Motorsports/Fox-sponsored CRE250 and topping the Senior A division. Brian Butler's day started late. Due to an error in his computer. he and the other two riders on row 29 - Russ Pereira and Heather Wilson - started two minutes. 40 seconds behind schedule. All three made that time up. it seems, because all three went home with trophies: Butler for second 250cc A (and ninth overall). Pereira for the win in the Four-Stroke A class. and Wilson for the win in the Women's A class. B O/A: 1. Eric Tyler (Hus); 2. Curt Reichlin (KTM); 3. Brian Itterly (KTM): 4. Gary Burton (KTM); 5. Adam Spr"gue (Han). B 200: I. Joshua Sheffer (KTM): 2. Dave West (Hus)uHHHH. B 250: 1. Jeffrey Moore (Suz); 2. Matthew Workman (Hus); 3. Jerry Telbot (KTM); 4. Justin Hensley (KTM): 5. Steve Pedraza (Gas). B 4·STRK: 1. Curt Reichlin (KTM); 2. Paul Murphy (Hon); 3. Kirk Smith (Vam): 4. Wayne Skicki (Hon): 5. John Murphy (Hon). e OPEN: 1. Brian Itterly (KTM); 2. Matt Mullis (KTM); 3. Dustin Dressler (KTM); 4. Erik Velliky (KTM): 5. Russ Johnson (KTM). B VET: 1. Gary Burton (KTM); 2. Adam Spr"gue (Han); 3. Randy Johnson (KTM); 4. Joel Sizemore (Hus); 5. Eric Elvin (Hon). B SR: 1. Nick Dobbel (Kaw); 2. Jim Roberts (KTM); 3. Alan Plumbridge (KTM); 4. Kevin Pinto (Hon): 5. Mark London (KTM). B S/SR: 1. Hugo Zwetsloot (Hon); 2. Hayden Ritchey (VOR). B MSTR: I. Tony Harrell (Vam). COlA: I. Pat Moore (Suz); 2. Doug Mansfield (Vam): 3. Phil Baily (KTM); 4. David Ladd (Gas); 5. Keith Ketola (Kew). C 200: 1. Keith Ketall'J (Kaw). C 250: 1. David Ll'Jdd (Gas); 2. Mike Tarter (Yam); 3. Israel Aguirre Cully (Kaw); 4. Michael Tyler (KTM): 5. Matt Kimmel (Hon). C 4-STRK: 1. Doug Mansfield (Vam); 2. Lance Coleman (KTM); 3. Clay Benedetti (Suz); 4. Gregg Gaines (Hon). William Schwartz isn'tlike most BLM Rangers. For one thing. he rides motorcycles (his patrol bike at the Quicksilver is a late-model KTM four·stroke). And while keeping an eye on racers duro ing the event. he offered plenty of encouragement. In fact. at the rocky. tricky hill at the begin· ning of the second and third loops following the gas stop/main pit. those back at camp could hear him shouting. "Go, go. gol Hold it wide open!" The Salinas Ramblers had to rescue four bikes the following day. Two were broken down. and two were so badly stuck in mud that the club considered calling for a helicopter in order to extricate them. though in the end they were abie to do it with simple manual labor. Two of the stranded machines belonged to unnamed out-of-state racers who. of course. wanted to collect them and thus stayed an extra night in California before being able to head home. After debuting a new motorhome last year. Yamaha's Randy Hawkins showed up to the Quicksilver with an even larger 36-footer. though it still needed some dialing in. as he discovered when they ran out of water despite what the gauge said. However. mechanic/driver Dale Stegall. still recovering from a broken arm. opted to leave his WR250F at home. Mike Lafferty, on the other hand. is still waiting for his new rig to be finished, so he worked out of the back of mechan· ic/coach Alan Rand!"s Enduro Engineering box van. Team Gas Gas didn't have the best of days. Nathan Knight suffered a knee injury and a possible broken ankle while practicing the week before. and brother Nolan had a fever that got worse as he rode. so he packed it in early. Clay Boreing made it through some of the worst of the day. but he then ran out of gas. "I waited an hour and a half out there." he said. "It was so coid! I was doing jumping jacks. running in place. anything I could do to stay warm." Matt Stavish proved to be the bright spot on the team. finishing fifth overall on his 250. eye. e n III vv SO MARCH 6, 2002 33

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