Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

"Iii-_., . ~-~ItISECD~ . . YAtMHA but Raines, Lafferty and Kiedrowski started much further back. "I don't know what happened at the start," Raines said. "I think my foot slipped or something. I couldn't get going. Then I ended the first lap pretty far back, and 1started thinking, 'This isn't going to work out. '" Kiedrowski also had problems kicking his bike over, while Lafferty went down early but immediately started making up time. Up front, a race developed between McLevy, Jenks and Andrews, as Smith began to check out. "That's not normally my style," said Smith. "I usually try to ride with the other guys and let them make the mistakes, but I just rode a smooth, comfortable pace, and no one came up on me." McLevy dropped from the lead pack when he fell and broke his clutch perch, which left Jenks all alone in second until Garrahan and Andrews managed to reel him in. "! felt good out there," Jenks said. "I was getting a little tight in second, but once those guys caught me I was able to ride with them and learn their lines." By the end of the third lap, three packs were circulating at the front of the race, with Smith alone in front, Jenks, Andrews and Garrahan engaged in a tight battle for the second spot, and the slow-starting Lafferty, Kiedrowski and Raines charging hard to make up ground. Lafferty especially was on the move. "Whenever I made a mistake, I tried not to get too bummed out about it," Lafferty said. "I just put my head down and rode my bike, and I finally caught the lead pack." With Raines and Kiedrowski fol- (Below) Steve Hatch (4) nailed the holeshot but pulled out with an ailing knee. lowing Lafferty's wake, the race for second really heated up as a six-man fight for the spot broke out. Just nine seconds separated the six-man pack as they entered the electronic scoring station at the conclusion of lap four. Andrews and Kiedrowski exchanged the spot several times, until Kiedrowski tipped over in a rut, allowing Raines, who had just passed a fallen Lafferty, to sneak past. Then Andrews lost second to Raines when he buried his bike in a deep mud pit, and then Kiedrowski, in fourth, followed him. "Freddy tried to jump the mud pit, and he just sunk," Kiedrowski said. "Then I had to wait while he pulled his bike out, and then I went for it and got stuck too. Then just when I got out, Lafferty came by and got me." Garrahan, meanwhile, lost the pack when he ran straight into a tree, while Jenks hung tough and passed Andrews and Kiedrowski while they were stuck. With all the commotion going on behind him, Raines pulled a 30-second advantage on third. He tried to make a run at Smith, but found the task nearly impossible. "I figured I wasn't going to get tired, so I just went for it," Raines said. "It's easier to focus on the guy ahead of you than the guy behind you." With his lead growing to over one and a half minutes, the speedy Smith simply was not going to be caught. "I actual\y crashed when I hit a lapper," Smith said. "But even then I knew I had a big enough lead where those guys weren't going to catch me." eN GRAND NA TlONAL C .~ ifil (Left to right) Raines, Smith and Lafferty spray the North Carolina GNCC fans with champagne. Steele Creek Morganton, North Carolina Results: Man:h 24, 2002 IRound 3 of 131 PRO: 1. Rodney Smith (Suz); 2. Jason Raines (Yam); 3. Michael Lafferty (KTM: 4. Mike Kiedrowski (Suz); .5 Robbie Jenks (Yam); 6. Fred Andrews (Kaw); 7. Brian Garrahan (KTM); 8. Barry Hawk Jr. (Yam): 9. Chuck Woodford (Kaw): 10. Randy Hawkins (Yam). AMA GRAND NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (Aft.r 3 of 13 rounds): 1. Jason Raines (70/1 win); 2. Michael Lafferty (58); 3. Fred Andrews (56); 4. Rodney Smith (51/1 win); 5. Brian Garrahan (46); 6. Mike Kiedrowski (45); 7. ITIEl Randy Hawkins/Robbie Jenks (36); 9. Steve Hatch (30/1 win); 10. Barry Hawk Jr. (28). BRIEFLY••• Still unable to race due to the lingering effects of a broken left wrist. Shane Watts attended the Steele Creek GNCC as a spectator. Luckily. it appears that the injury has not harmed Wattsy's off-beat sense of humor. "Ifs not really even hurt anymore." Watts said. "I just put this cast on so I can milk this for some more sympathy. " Watts was not alone with his wrist injury. as fellow KTM rider Brian Garrahan injured his wrist in the race. "1 center-punched a tree hard." Garrahan said. "I mean center-punched it. hit it straight with my front wheel. It was like going from 30 to zero." Despite the hard crash and subsequent sore wrist, Garrahan gutted it out to finish seventh overall. Josh McLevy started up front at Steele Creek and appeared to have the speed to run with Rodney Smith and the rest of the leaders, but a failed fix-it job on his clutch perch ultimately did him in. "1 crashed in one section. and I bent my clutch down," McLevy said. "It was too low to even reach with my hand and pull it up. so I tried to kick the lever back up with my boot. I wound up breaking the perch." Jimmy Jarrett's new ride with KTM has not gotten off to a good start, as the Steele Creek race marked the third straight round that the young Ohio rider has been taken down in the first tum. Jarrett rode hard trying to come through, but he could only manage 13th at the finish. When asked what it will take to get through the first turn on two wheels. Jarrett simply said, "I don't know." With two consecutive podium finishes, AMA National Enduro Champion Mike Lafferty is off to his best start ever in the GNCC Series. Lafferty credits his new KTM 400 four-stroke. some training changes and a new mental outlook on the series for the good start. "From the enduros. I found I had never really developed a pace," Lafferty said. "I just went all out from the start. After leading the last round for a while, I learned a iot I've also made a few adjustments to my training program. and ifs nice to see that if s paying off... DUD I e n e _ 50 • APRIL 3, 2002 13

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