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/128232
(Left) Barry Hawk claimed he let h is mind wand er, but he still managed to wander int o the runner-up spot at the finish. Ro bbie J enks (b elow) and Rand y Ha w kin s (b ottom) fi nishe d f o urth a nd fifth overall, respectively, In C linton , South Carolina. the route sheet. Making things even tougher , the weather was h ot and humid, and each test was equ ipped with c heck-i n and che ck- o ut book end s. Ev en th ough th e tra ils were rough , the tr ail conditio ns were good, as there was no dust. Th e fir st test of the da y measured 14 mil es in length, and on ly three riders came o ut of it with j ust on e po int on th eir scorecards. Th e tie breakers showed Rain es c om ing th rough check three fiv e se c ond s into the minute, Ha w k 18 se con d s, a nd Lafferty 2 5 seco nds . T he sec ond t est o f th e morn ing featured a dee p chec k-i n , wh ich was u n ch ar a ct e r i sti c of th e c l u b. Thi s tr ic k ery , h ow e v er , did n ' t fr a y th e results much , as m o st of the fast guys wer e st ill ab le t o zer o th e c he c k -i n tha t wa s loca t ed four mil es into t he forest. At t he c heck-o ut, so m e 12 mi les l at er , o n ly Haw k was ab l e to m atch Rain es' sco re of one . " He is fin all y healthy . and t hat is why he is ri din g so well ," Hawk said o f Ra in es , wh o is no t o nl y g etting over a broken leg but a brok en c oll arbone, as well. He suffered that inj ury at this ye ar's Wisp GNC C. La ffe r ty ra c ed t o th e on ly two po int sco re at c hec k fi ve. He c om m en t ed that he w as p acing hi m self for the d ay , as he kn ew it would be a lo ng and t ough ride. After th e first gas sto p , riders were tr eat ed to th e lo ngest sec t io n of th e da y , an 18- m ile spr in t. Rain es was th e only rid er t o dr op a t wo at chec k seven and was beginning to establish h is domi nan c e fo r th e da y . Lafferty was abl e to m at ch Rain es ' thr ee and started t o separat e t hemselves from th e rest of th e fi eld , as only Hawk ins and J enks wer e able to score fours . An other gas stop led racers to th e final tw o test s. Here , after chec ki ng in at th e eig ht h chec k of the day , Raines took o f f w ith h is head d own and throttl e twisted . He came to th e c h ec k -o ut , 13 miles later, only 11 seconds short of burning the check. If he was an y faster, and because he didn 't have a computer mounted on his b ike , Rain es m ight have burned that c he c k th at nobody else c ou ld e ve n zer o . The fina l test of t he day wa s th e shortest, just ei g h t m il es in length , but it se em ed pl enty long en ou gh f or all th o se w h o were still i n th e game. Hawkins st art .", ed t o pi c k up th e pace - as h e a lw ays d oes - " ' .~ / /1 ~".'-I. a nd m at c h ed '/'!:1~ z bec aus e now I only wa nde r for a mi le o r so , as before I wo uld los e focus fo r lo nge r period s of tim e." Haw k ins, o n the othe r han d , kept a sha rp eye on th e " J ug ." " J aso n and I had one goal in m ind , and that was to bring the Little Brown Jug tro p hy ba c k down from Yan kee Land , and th at we did. " These gu ys put on a gre at race as usu al ," Hawk in s added. "but I think it th e sco res o f Rain e s a n d L a ffert y . Hawk was sufferin g from ripped blis te rs o n his hands and was ho ldi ng o n wi th o nly hi s fin gertip s. At th e day 's end, all th e rac ers were worn o ut and spe nt. Th e traveling Li ttle Brown Jug t roph y wa s g o in g t o be k ept o ut of Yank e e L a n d a n d w i l l sta y d ow n south with Rain es. But Laff er t y too k the c h am pio nship troph y home to New J ers ey . " I was st ruggling wi th the heat a little b i t today ," Laff e rt y ad mitte d, was a litt le eas ier tha n w hat th e y usuall y do . Mayb e it was bec aus e of th e heat. " eN " but the KTM was runnin g well . I wa s focusing o n w inn in g th e cha mp io n ship and no t necessar il y th e eve nt, so I didn' t really pu sh mysel f that ha rd . J aso n is riding really well righ t now. and tha t is good for him." A s fo r Haw k , he sai d he had tro ubl es co nc entra ti ng to da y . "I had p rob l e m s i n t h e midd l e t e st , th e lo ng one ," he sai d. "It seem s I still let m y mi nd w a n de r in th ese eve nts a nd have a hard time stay ing focu sed on racing . It' s getti ng b ett er , tho ugh , cu e I e n Liltl. Brown Jug Clinton, South Carolina Results: August 31, 2003 [Round 9] O / A: 1. Jaso n Rai n es (Ya m) ; 2 . Bar ry Hawk (Ya m): 3. Mi k e Laffert y ( KTM); 4 . Robbi e Je nks (Ya m); 5. Randy Hawk ins (Ya m); 6. J ason Chanc ey ( K T M) ; 7 . D a vid Lyk ke (Ya m); 8 . Ste p he n Ed mo nd so n ( KT M); 9. All en G rav itt ( KT M); 10 . To m my Veator (KTM ) . A MA/FMF NATIO NAL CHA M PIO NSH IP ENDURO SER IES POINTS STA ND IN GS ( Af te r 9 of 10 ro unds) : 1. M ik e Laffert y (232 /5 w ins) ; 2. Rand y Hawkin s ( 184) ; 3. Da vid Lykke ( 166); 4 . Robbie J enks ( 144); 5. Barry Hawk (103) ; 6. Stephen Reed (98 /1 w in ) : 7 . Ric hard L a ff e rt y (82) ; 8 . Er ic McEachern (69) ; 9. Rodn ey Judso n (57) : 10. Nolan Kn ight (5 5) . e vv S • S EPT EM B ER 17,2003 61