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AMA National Championship Enduro Series Round 5: Mosquito Classic National Enduro able, the private landowners were eager to offer their help. In fact, promoters of the event Jamie and Dave Lipovski had to turn down some land offers because there just wasn't enough time to lace trail on their property. Anyway, come the morning of the race, it was blue skies and sun. This event was a qualifier-style race with no timekeeping required. Eleven test sections tallied about 55 miles of challenging, tight, single-track trails, as well as fast grasstracks. Most of the trail used was made by hiking through the trees with arrows in one hand and a machete in the other. A 6.5-mile test was the start of the course, with short tree sections mixed with grasstracks, taking points from everyone. The other tests weren't much different. Also, two AI AA section were thrown into the mix for good measure, lead- The Kawasaki rider makes yet another headline By one point, putting the finishing touches on what certainly was a fun day for the Kawasaki rider. Randy Hawkins and David Lykke finish third and fourth, respectively. The Mosquito Classic, hosted by Buzzards Motorcycle Club, was a great event, judging by all of the smiles on the competitors' faces throughout the day. The club's last national event was back in t 999, in Leota, Michigan, which utilized mostly public land. However, since the sighting of the endangered Kirkland Warbler bird, the Department of Natural Resources has disallowed the use of the public woods for enduro events. So, with no public land avail- GEORGE VILLANYI AND ANDY HILL PHOTOS BY JIM RASE HARRISON, MI, AUG. t t huck Woodford captured his firstever National Enduro win in the qualifier-style event held on the private lands near Harrison, Michigan. The Kawasaki ace, who spends most of his time competing in the GNCC, National Hare Scrambles and Parts Unlimited Off-Road Series, had an open weekend and thought it would be fun to run the enduro. (And fun it was, as most all competitors enjoyed the tight woods and grasstrack tests that were ridden throughout the day.) Woodford's 43-point tally edged out series points leader Mike Lafferty by BRIEFLY• •• Robert and Jean Heber, the landowners of the staging area. provided a spectacular site for the event. With beautiful grass fields available for parking and camping, Robert Heber had this to say: -At8l years of age. this event is the highlight of my life.Following the cancelation of the Colorado National round. which was announced last month. rumors of the AMA adding another round in Indiana in early November have been gaining momentum. Also rumored was the cancelation of the Delaware round, due to military conflicts with land use. However, that conflict has supposedly been resolved and the event is still on the schedule, 44 AUGUST 28, 2002' cue • • n • __ s (Above left) Chuck Woodford has certainly found his stride. The Team Green rider has been tearing up the off-road scene, this time winning his first National Enduro in Michigan. (Below) Defending champ Mike Lafferty relaxes before entering a special test at the qualifier-rules enduro. Lafferty ended up taking runner-up honors. ing riders through extremely c1osequartered trees. Some riders said that they wished for mini bikes to get through these sections. Hawkins said that he was one of the riders to struggle in the tight trees. "I'm just haVing a hard time to get going this morning," Hawkins said following the first few sections. He later discovered that afternoon that he had a shattered clutch plate, which was replaced at one of the resets, which helped the Yamaha rider get going again. Lafferty, meanwhile, who ran a great race all day, flogged his KTM four-stroke through the tight trees but was unable to make up the one-point difference that separated him and Woodford. In the National Enduro series points chase, which Woodford is not a part of, Lafferty continues to dominate with only three rounds left in the series. Lafferty is comfortably ahead of Hawkins, followed by Lykke, Fred Hoess and the injured Robbie Jenks. In the "human classes," some juggling of year-end points ensued. In the 250cc A class, Jason Moody still dominates the points and will most likely finish out the remaining rounds, even through it may conflict with the start of the SETRA season, Carsten Cagle maintained his points lead in the 200cc A class, but Russel Epley took over second place, dropping Andy Hill to third. However, in the Open A class, Mike Grizzle, who won his class, still sits in third with three wins, but due to the start of the SETRA season, he may not be able to finish out the rest of the National season. This leaves Scott Hoffman