Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

my Own Race ® Barry Hawk 5th The series points leader has looked nearly unstoppable lately, but the Virginia mud finally held him up a little bit. "I just made a few mistakes and got stuck a few times," Hawk said. "I was trying to pass Freddy [Andrews], and we got to this rut, and he must have taken the last fraction of an inch of mud off of it. He got through, and I got stuck." ~ Shane Watts 13th The Australian supertalent gave a hint of his old skills when he led early. But his lack of riding time fmally caught up to him. "You have to be confident in the mud," Watts said. "There's a difference between going fast where you're just floating on top of stuff and going slow and just hitting the bottom of everything. The first lap was, I hope, an indication of what's to come. Then I was deteriorating as bad as the track was," ~ Steve Hatch 10th Steve Hatch keeps demonstrating the speed and tenacity that made him a consistent podium dweller, but he continues to be hampered by small incidents. After a bad start, the FMF Suzuki rider crashed trying to be aggressive, bending his bars and levers. He finally straightened them, only to bend his rear brake pedal. After stopping in the pits for a few minutes, he was back out and flying through the pack. "I didn't give up,· Hatch said. "I was going superaggressive trying to work my way through. If we had another lap, who knows how far up I could have gotten.· 1] ~ Andy Shea 1] ~ Mike Kiedrowski 6th After missing the early part of the season with a foot injury, Andy Shea took another top- 10 finish in his second race of the season. "I learned last year that if you ride fast in the first lap and crash, you'll never be up there," said the young Ohioan. "I got bad start, but everyone crashed in the first tum, so I was okay. Then I just rode strong, but my bike started to overheat in the mud. On the last lap it would barely pulL" 12th The "M)( Kied" finished this one, but his Califomia motocross roots didn't lend themselves to riding in the mucl He ran with the battle for fifth early, but several big crashes saw him cross the line out of the top 10 overall. (Above) Mike Lafferty paddles through a deep rut. His enduro skills helped him along to a second-place finish. (Below) Fred Andrews got a bad start and was covered In mud as he climbed up through the pack to finish third. "I can't seem to get off the line," Woodford said. "I lined up too far to the inside. I got pinched off in the first turn and was running about last. There were tight sections out there, and I really couldn't get around anyone. Guys were roosting me everywhere; my goggles were ruined. This is three races in a row where I started off nearly last. But it's working out. Maybe I'll fall down in the first turn in all of them for now on." Lafferty had trouble lighting his KTM 450 thumper, and he came out late, too. But he moved up incredibly well, taking the lead on the second la p. Eventually, Woodford joined him at the head of the field, and they thrilled the crowd with a terrific dash for the win. "Chucky rides good in this stuff," Lafferty said. "Once he got me, I wanted to stay with him and learn his lines. But it's tough; he wanted to use different lines than I did. He's on a different style of bike, too, since I'm on the big thumper. So I learned a little bit watching him, like how he approaches ruts. He rode well. He deserves it. I wanted to win, but I'm content with second in a muddy race like this." o Jason Raines 9th Jason Raines struggled again, and the Am Pro Yamaha rider from Washington doesn't appear to be enjoying it. "I don't know; I'm just not aggressive enough in mud," he said. "I just don't want to get stuck. When it started raining, I couldn't believe it. Can we have one dry race this year?" After strong, consistent finishes all season, Raines has struggled through the last two rounds. "I just want to survive and get to the summer break." Andrews' charge to the front was tough, too. "I got a bad start, and One rider who did have a good sta rt for once was former series there were guys everywhere and mud flying everywhere," the popular Pro Circuit/Kawasaki/Thor rider said. "I champion Shane Watts. The oft- was riding like a wussy. So I turned it and a leg iojury have taken their toll on. When you get a bad start, you say to yourself, 'Man I suck. I need to he showed flashes of his old self, tak- injured Australian dominated the series a few years ago, but a wrist on the popular rider. But in Virginia, prove myself.' So then you get going. That's what happened to us today." Fourth place went to Yamaha pri- ing the early lead and holding it through the first lap. "I came here to win," Watts said. vateer Jimmy Jarrett, while fifth was series points leader Barry Hawk. "I felt good, but I just made a few "Otherwise. I'm just wasting everyone's time. So I was up there, and it felt good. But the conditions were just dumb mistakes out there," said Hawk, who finished off the podium for only the second time this season. deteriorating badly. I'm not strong enough yet to fight through this." Watts hung on for 13th after three "The last time I got fifth, I won the next two races, so I hope I can do that again." hours of racing. Watts was happy to finally finish a race again. Someday, FMF Suzuki's He doesn't need to do that to keep his championship hopes alive, since the Am-Pro/Morgantown Yamaha/ Rodney Smith, the defending series champ, will have that feeling, too. MSR/Bridgestone rider still enjoys a nice points lead. His teammate Jason Raines, second in points coming into the event, struggled again and finished ninth. Lafferty's runner-up fin- Smith's clutch tightened to the point ish has now vaulted him into second said Smith of his clutch troubles. in points in the MSR/Klotz/FMF/Dunlop/Maxxis/Yamaha/Wiseco-backed his old speed, but he's only finished series, but he's a full 43 points down on Hawk. cue I e where he couldn't pull the lever in anymore, and he suffered an improbable fourth-straight DNF. "I don't know what causes this,''' The Californian appears to have three races in eight rounds so far this season. It's an improbable run of bad n e _ S • JUNE 25, 2003 35

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