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/128205
AMA Grand National Cross Country Series Round 1 : The Hurricane 1 00 was. It was actually kind of an uneventful day for me. I rode smart and smooth, and after everything I've been through, I feel pretty good. Everything is good now." Edminsten turned in an outstanding ride. The "local" rider held 14th place after the first lap and then rode strong and steady for the remaining two and a half hours. He took the checkers in fourth place with breathing room over Randy Hawkins, who completed in the first lap in 10th. Gilleland also had an outstand- ing ride, coming from way behind to finish sixth. Perhaps the closest finish of the day was the battle for seventh between Jarrett and Blackwell. The two racers drag-raced down the final sloppy straightaway, with Jarrett edging out the Honda rider. eN The Hurricane &NCC Palatka, Florida Results: March 4, Z003 [Round 1 of 1Zl O/A: 1 Barry Hawk (Yam); 2. Robbie Jenks (Yam): 3. Jason Raines (Yam); 4. Garrett Edminsten (Kaw); 5. Randy Hawkins (Yam); 6. Willam Gilleland (Yam); 7. Jim Jarrett (Yam); 8. Doug Blackwell (Hen); 9. Russell Pearson (Yam); 10. P.A. Allen (Kaw); 11. Josh Weisenfels (KTM); 12. Shawn Jackson (Suz); 13. Robert Santheson (Hon); 14. David Lykke (Yam): 15. Ben Hale (KTM); 16. John Roth (Yam); 17. Steve Gordon (Y~m): 18. Brooks Hamilton (KTM); 19. Joshua McLevy (Yam). It was just past five o'clock when the checkered flag finally came out, and it was Hawk who saw it first. Despite losing his brakes late in the race, Hawk crossed the finish line with room to spare over Jenks, who held on to finish ahead of Raines. "I got a good jump off the sta somebody messed up in fron 6 Hawk said. "I went into 11 about 20th. I think it off for me becaus five guys at a . , . out or in a know w. my Own Race thin Mike Lafferty DNF Following the first-lap fiasco, the multitime National Enduro Champion tried working his way up through the pack to get back to where he had started, but around the halfway mark, the KTM rider met his match - a tree root hidden in a mud hole. Lafferty had his 450 KTM pegged in the bog when he slammed into the root, which sent him flying over the handiebars. He came out of it with a bruised leg and a bruise to his forehead, and he decided right there that he had had enough. Rodney Smith DNF The FMFjSuzuki rider was so angry after getting routed down the wrong section of the course while running up front that he nearly puiled off after the first lap. But Smith chose to continue on and worked his way up to fourth when he buried his RM250 in a mud hole on the second-to-Iast lap. Smith was forced to walk back to the pits, arriving long after the race was over, with his works race bike still submerged in the hole. Fred Andrews DNF The popular GNCC racer came to his demise like so many other riders - in a mud hole. After getting routed in the wrong direction on the first lap, Andrews was also trying to make up for lost time when he augured in a deep mud hole and got stuck. After getting pulled out, Andrews cailed it a day. Kurt Caselli DNF Smith wasn't the only rider who finished off the day in the pits without his bike. The KTM rider was working his way up through the pack when his bike seized after sucking water. Mike Kiedrowski DNF The two-time WORCS Champion simply did not have a good day. Things started going badly for Kiedrowski right after the start when he got taken out in the second tum. He got going in the back of the pack and was making decent progress when his Suzuki suddenly quit running. "I thought it had sucked water, because it died when I went through a water hole," Kiedrowski said. "I took the seat off, c I e n eVIl's checked the air filter, but it was dry. I then put a new spark plug in, and that's when I noticed there was no gas [in the fuel tank). 1was at somebody's pit; they were helping me, and I rode back to our pit. and that's it - called it a day." Brian Garrahan DNF The Northern Californian was one of the few riders actually looking forward to riding in the mud, and he showed that early in the race. The mud specialist owned the lead after the first two laps, but then things started going wrong for the KTM rider. First, his brakes started going out. He pitted and changed brake pads as well as fixed the banjo bolt that had come loose. Garrahan went back out on the track and was running fourth when the motor sucked in some water in a mud hole and locked up. Brian Brown DNF The former Hare & Hound champ only lasted a lap. "I got a terrible start but worked my way up as people fell back," said Brown, who borrowed a bike from Chuck Woodford. "Then I was follOWing Raines and Garrahan when we came in out of the field and into a ditch. I got stuck and still had the engine running, then Kiedrowski ran into me. Lafferty also came in, and he actually helped me get my bike out." Brown pretty much called it a day after that. Chuck Woodford DNF The Kawasaki rider never figured into this one. Woodford didn't last long before pulling out with a sore shoulder. Steve Hatch DNF "I had a good start, started off in the top five," Hatch said, "then I fell over in the fifth turn. I went from fifth to like 15th. Then on the second lap I kind of picked up a little bit, passed Garrahan, then coming into the third lap, I could see Hawk right there; Jenks was right there; I was 100 yards behind them when I ran out of gas about a quarter-mile back. By the time I pushed it and got it all the way over here, I lost about 10 minutes. It wasn't worth going back out. I didn't want to get hurt for nothing." Lance Smail DNF Washington's Lance Smail said he actually had a good time at Palatka, but be also added that he had never ridden in anything like this before. SmaJJ looked at it as a challenge. Unfortunately, Smail never made it to the Fmish. The Yamaha Tider eventually lost his clutch and brakes.