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check at the finish of this test. Junior came through at the 30-second mark of his minute, making his statement for the day. Jenks was a little hot for emergency points and broke the flags just 10 seconds into his minute, but at least he didn't burn the check, which is something he has done a lot of lately. Hawkins was the only other rider in the field to zero check two, as he came through 51 seconds into his minute. Lykke was the next-fastest rider at check two, as he dropped just one point and missed the flip of the cards by only two seconds. Lykke said he was struggling a little bit in the morning, and his test scores proved it. His afternoon ride was a big improvement. Eric McEachern also rode to a one-point score at check two, but he just barely got in before the flip of the card, crossing the line at 59 seconds. carry seven points into the afternoon section, that was pretty much my day." Hawkins went on to say, "It was slick, definitely slick in places, but I gotta hand it to the promoting club. They did an excellent job dealing with the conditions and the Band Criders. They didn't hammer on them too hard in the morning, and at the end of the day, I don't think there was a AA rider in the bunch that would say they were too easy on us." Lykke was happy with his fourthplace finish, as it bumped him up to fourth in the overall standings to date. "You know I haven't been riding at all lately," Lykke said. "It's been raining at home, so I just haven't been able to ride at all. I crashed out at the last GNCC after about 20 minutes, and that's all the riding I've done in the past month, so struggling a little IAbove) Randy Hawkins was delayed by a faulty ignition but still held on to finish fourth and stay in the title hunt. ILeft) Stephen Reed overcame a number of nagging problems to land fifth overall. IRight) Nolan Knight finished eighth overall. McEachern, riding a Yamaha, said he also got lost for a little bit during this first test, making him one lucky boy, as he still scored one of the better scores in this section. Stephen Reed, winner of the Georgia National, came through this check two minutes down, just seven seconds after the top of the minute. A short reset and a gas available led riders into the second test. This 12-mile test at 18 mph was zeroed by most of the fast guys. But later in the program this test would be the big points-taker of the race, run at 24 mph. After a four-mile reset, the racers headed toward the start of the third test. Check five was a little sneaky and managed to catch a few riders a little hot, giving them an extra pair of points to add to their tally. Jenks, who could be referred to as "The AA King of Burns" this year, actually zeroed this check! However, Reed and McEachern were among the burners going into the last test of the morning. Check six, 18 miles later, saw Lafferty exiting first, besting the field by dropping only one point. Hawkins and Lykke both scored a three, while Jenks dropped a four. At the midday break, Junior had the best card by mph in the morning but now was bumped up to 24 mph. Again, the ace KTM pilot, Lafferty, had the fastest run, dropping a five. Jenks turned a six, and Lykke and Hawkins went seven. McEachern beat Reed owning only one point on the day. Hawkins had a three for his total so far, followed by Jenks and Lykke with fours. The rest of the competition was here by dropping a nine to Reed's 10. All riders dropping more than 10 points here were going to carry these already many points behind. It was here that Hawkins' luck took a turn for the worse. He was experiencing some problems with his machine. Suspecting possible ignition problems, they switched out some parts, and by the time the job was complete, Hawkins was seven minutes late into the afternoon sections. At the next check out, 18 miles later, Hawkins had made back one minute and dropped only a six at check eight, but that was 13 more points than all the rest of the fast guys; he essentially knocked himself out of contention for a podium finish. The following test was run at 18 points into the next test, because the reset here was only 10 minutes long. Serious fatigue was affecting all the participants, and there were no rests to help matters. At the final check, it was Junior again with the lowest score, dropping an impressive three. Jenks followed with a four, Hawkins a five and Lykke a six. Jenks, on the Sport Cycles Racing Yamaha, was glad to be on the podium. His second-place finish moved him up to third in the overall standings, and he is looking forward to the next round in Ohio, which will be located just minutes from his home. "I had some mechanical problems today," Hawkins said. "When I had to cue I e bit in the morning was not a surprise. I'm glad I was able to smooth it out a little in the afternoon." Reed had another strong outing but had many hiccups along the way. "I enjoyed the race today, even though it was really slick out there today," Reed said. "I ripped a Bark Buster off, smashed my pipe closed, but I managed to stay on two wheels for most of the day. Burning check five was a bummer, but I wasn't the only one." eN St. Joe State ORV Parte Parte Hills, Missouri Results: May 18, Z003 [Round 4 of 10J O/A: 1. Mike Lafferty (KTM); 2. Robbie Jenks (Yam); 3. David Lykke (Yllm); 4. Randy Hawkins (Yam); 5. Stephen Reed (Suz); 6. Eric McEachern; 7. Steve Leivan; 8. Nolan Knight; 9. Matt Slavish; 10. Chris Nesbitt; 11. Rich Lafferty; 12. Chris Theile; 13. Steve Vollmar; 14. Ryan Moss; 15. Andrew Stokely; 16. Dylan Debel: 17. Clint Carr: 18. Jim Bates: 19. Dwight Rudder; 20. Drew Chandler. AMAlFMF RACING NATIONAL ENDURO POINTS STANDINGS (After 4 of 10 rounds): 1. Mike Lafferty (103); 2. Randy Hawkins (82): 3. Robbie Jenks (75); 4. David Lykke (70); 5. Stephen Reed (62); 6. Barry Hawk (53); 7. Nolan Knight (33); 8. Eric McEachern (31); 9. Russell Pearson (30); 10. Richard Lafferty (29); II. Mathew Slavish (26): 12. Michael Grizzle (21); 13. Clay Boreing (20); 14. Rodney Judson (15); 15. Steve Leivan (14); 16. (TIE) Jan Hrehor/Brian Sperle (13): 18. Matt Stavish (12); 19. (TIE) Doug Masencup/Billy Russell/Curt Wilcox (12) n e _ S • JUNE 1 1. 2003 49