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/128233
G le n H elen 24 Hou r s wat er for cutti ng o ut th e dust. A s th e li gh t di m med, h e ad lam p s were n 't en o ug h , a nd l i k e a d om in o e ffec t , o n c e o n e r id e r go t h a l t ed t h r e efo urth s of th e way up , each oncom ing par ticip ant got snagge d and stopped li k e a fl y in a web . Nearly a dozen rid ers m ad e it nearl y to th e top before adding to the tr affi c ja m . Race officia ls flagged th e approaching field at th e base of the hill , includ ing Hengev eld , who had near ly a two m inute l e a d when the pr obl ems began. It was co nfusion all around as po s ition c h a nge s oc c ur r e d w he n some rid er s we nt t he full co urse and o t he rs the sho rt wa y . He ng e ve ld 's lead was red uced to nea rl y not hing. An attem pt to reo pen th e hill sid e was ag ain ham pered by sim il ar problem s an ho ur lat er , and the sit uation was repeat ed. Heng ev eld had rebuil t a tw o -m inute lead but was affo rded it on the restart . When th e hill was aga in ope ned so on aft er , it rem a in ed o pe n but a th orn in th e sid e of offic ia ls att empt ing to so rt thing s out, sta nd ingswise. As te m p e r s w ere g ett ing hot , so was the fact or y Hon da's cooli ng syst em . A wa ter pu mp seal bega n seep in g in the m id dl e of th e ni gh t. " We w ere trying a hi gh -p ressure rad iato r ca p," sa id Be ll , " an d it might hav e been too m uch for th e sys tem ." Th ey d ec id ed t o p it t o c ha nge th e cl ut c h cover t o fix the leak . They lost seve n m inut es in the pit s. W it h th e l ead b ac k , F owl er t o ok t im e Sunday m orn in g to assess th e defendi ng cham pi on 's positio n. " We' re do ing good," Fowl er said. " I c rashed th e last time out, and we go t d o wn ab o u t t h ree o r fo u r m in ut es , and Rya n and T y have got us bac k 45 seco nds a head. I t h ink we c an m aintain it. " On the othe r side of the pits, Bell and Hon da were sti ll upset. T he offi- Entering the pits is slow, but when the fresh rider hits the course, he's on the gas. cia l word had co me d ow n that w ho eve r cro ssed th e finish li ne firs t wou ld win. Said Bell : "W e got screwed those two m inutes." Wi th sun- up approaching, the cool ai r g a ve G l e n H el e n a c ha nce t o regai n its co mposure with m ost of the early leaders still top p in g their classes. Th e k ey exce pt io ns we re in th e Ove r 3 0 Ex p ert c lass, in whic h the Yamaha team o f Brad Belc her, Glen Ho ll i n g h e a d , D av id C rain , Lan d o n Carter , Robi n Du Bo se a nd J o h n n y Borders we re now leadi ng , and in the 251-0pen Expert, which now had the Ho nda -ca m paig n ing t eam o f J ason In g ersoll , E rik W ol f e , Mike Co lvin, J as on T rub e y , E r i k Mattson a nd Steve Og ren unoffi ci all y leadi ng afte r working th eir way from seventh at the six-hou r m ark . But as soon as th e sun ca me out, With the water shortage, this was a rare sight during the race. 48 S EPTE M B E R 2 4 , 2003' c u e I e n e vv s t em p era t u re s b eg an t o ris e aga i n , espec ia lly in t he Bi erman/ Spectrum pits . What KTM had heard on Frid ay nig ht , M ik e B ierman learn ed Sunday m orning. "We j ust found out we're not going to ge t th e O ve ra ll ti tl e ," sc reamed Bi erm a n . " We ente re d th e 6 Hou rs Grand Prix , an d we entere d th e 12 H o ur ridi ng th e 2 50 Ex pe rt class . KTM rode in the Ope n Exp ert Class. W e both c a m e he re k nowi ng there wa s do ub le points in the Pro Class ... We b oth en tered th e Pro cl ass . We both went into this rac e knowin g th at if we beat KTM , we'd win the ti tle; if KTM b eat u s , t hey ' d win th e titl e . No w we're third ove ra ll, and they 're way down abo ut 29 th ove rall . " So now they' re go ing to give separate ti tle s in our p ro spect ive classes. We've go t the 25 0 Expert Class, and they 're the Open Class , whe n in fa ct we shou ld be the Endur anc e Ser i es Cha m pi ons." Mean whil e, Zip -Ty wa s nursin g the Yam aha alo ng with a lead of 90 sec o nds but feeling the pressur e from th e Honda speed ste rs. D avi s adj ust e d , c ha n g i ng r i d er s e v e ry fi v e l ap s instead of four to incre ase track ti me. It was payi ng off . With a f e w l aps r e m a ini n g , Hen gev eld hand ed the Hon da o ver to a n ai li ng Sp u d Wa l t e r s , a lth ough Sp ud was still strong eno ug h to rid e t o the end , t ak ing o ve r fo r an even more ill A ndy Gr ider, who was st ruck ap pa re ntly with the f l u d u r ing th e eve ni ng session . He sat o ut the Sun day a.m . showdown. T he lead was ins urmountabl e, with just abo ut tw o mi nutes' sepa ration at Some riders even tortured themselves by rid ing playbikes for 24 hours.