Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128158
AMA Grand National Cross Country Series Round 7: Scarecrow G CC third-place finish. Raines led the first half of the Scarecrow race, only to lose ground when his back-mounted drink system broke. But even while battling on the brink of dehydration, Raines was able to hold on and secure the last podium spot. Raines said racing without water was a scary feeling: "You know, when you have a lot of water, you don't even think about it," Raines said. "But when you go to take a drink and you don't have anything, then you're twice as thirsty as you were before. So I started to get a little tired, maybe a little dehydrated. I was unable to keep that pace. But my hat is off to Freddy and those guys. They rode great. " FMF Suzuki's Mike Kiedrowski split Andrews and Raines by scoring a runner-up finish, another in an ever-lengthening string of strong podium performances by the former AMA National Motocross Champion. "I felt pretty good," Kiedrowski said. "My bike worked good, the track was good. Freddy was strong today. The lines change on these tracks all the time, and sometimes you hit them and sometimes you miss them. " Raines' main series rival, AMA National Enduro Champion Mike lafferty, put his KTM in fourth, while another Am-Pro Yamaha rider, Barry Hawk, finished fifth. After Andrews nabbed a solid second at the season-opener in Florida (a race that is generally one of his worst) he looked like a sure bet to contend for this year's championship. But he's hasn't been on the podium since, until his win By JASON WEIGANDT PHOTOS BY RAY GUNDY URICHSVIU.E, OH, JUNE 2 ~ s the b~mstorming GNCC circuit Lf'\lwound Its way north, most riders followed the series from one stop to another. Fred Andrews did too, but even though he was at every round, he never really arrived until he finally got home. In his case, that means racing in his home state of Ohio, host of the Scarecrow GNCC. As the series hit its hump, in front of a vocal group of Ohio fans, Andrews finally broke out of his season-long slump and grabbed a win. "You know, some days you have it, and some days you don't," the Kawasaki Team Green rider said from the podium. "Today, I had it. I think I could have ridden 50 laps today." Unfortunately for Andrews, the first 50 laps he has run this season, compiled through the first six rounds of the '02 GNCC campaign, have not gone well. Just like last year, when the veteran racer dropped way back in points only to rally late in the season, he has a lot of ground to make up in the championship standings. "I think my championship hopes are a little out of the way, just like last year," Andrews said. "I don't know what happened at the beginning of the year. I thought I was strong, and I thought I was ready, but it all fell apart. Now I just want to win races." Andrews' win does stop the tworace win streak of Am-Pro Yamaha's Jason Raines, but the young Washington native continued his assault on the championship with a solid (Above) After a slow start, former GNCC champ Fred Andrews (3), shown here wortdng his way through traffic, got his first win of the season at his home round In Ohio. (Left) Mike Kiedrowski was the top-placing FMF Suzuki rider, with a runner-up finish. The Californian is definitely catching on to woods riding. (Right) Despite problems with his hydration system, Jason Raines notched a podium finlshe and retained the series points lead. n __ s