Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Moose Western Regional Cross Country Ser ies Round 9: The Lilliputian Hare Scrambles s es e S T O RY AN D P HOT OS BY C HRIS G HIO NE SACRAMENTO,CA,NOV .2 W ith th e Moose Weste rn Reg ion al Cross Co u ntry Ser ies w ind in g down , eve ryone ex pecte d the racing action to heat up , but no one expec t ed Pro m ot oc ro sser Stev e Lamson to m ak e an appearan ce . Lams on n o t on ly sh ow ed up , th e Hond a/Work s Connec tio n/Terce O il ri de r stole th e sh o w , t a k ing t he o v era ll w in at th e Lilli put i an Hare Sc ram b les he l d at Prair ie City St ate Recr eati on A rea. Clo se to 500 p art i c ip a nt s we re t reated t o nearl y p erf ect co nd it io ns ; with ra in j ust a day o r two earlier, th e g r o un d w as m o i st b ut n ot mud d y . T he Dirt D i gg ers No rt h M oto rc y cl e Club put to gethe r an 'l I -rn ile co urse that inc lu de d just about everyth ing the area had to o ffe r, including section s o f th e H a n g t o w n N a t i o n a l Mot oc ross Track . St art ing off quic k ly was F aultli ne Sus pen sion /G PR/ lronman Sprock ets back ed Bri an Sperl e, who, alo ng with Honda ri der Rob ert Fouts and Suzuk im o unted J eff Bauer . got on the ga s rig ht from th e get -g o. The trio ju m ped out front ea rl y , but Lamson qui c k ly m o ved forward , and by th e end of t he fi rst lap he had m oved int o the lea d. "I was pretty sq uirrell y th e first lap , b ec au se I' m not used t o th e arrows and stuff ," Lam son ad m itted. "I found m ys elf a coup le t imes wh ere I didn 't see any arrows , I didn 't see the turn . and I k ept going . The first lap , I' d get by a bun ch of guys, and t hen t he y 'd get right back by m e." After fig uring out the co urse , Lamson qui ckly began to pull away, leav ing eve r yone else to battle for the sc ra ps . Spe rle, Fouts and Bau er we re all close after the first lap, with Dam i a n Ga lf ord a nd Jeriah Gu rley just a sho rt way ba ck . No rCa l Motorspo rt s/ Fl y Gear / A ria Helmets -sp o nso red Er ic DuCray ha d a difficult first lap, fa lling on th e start a ft er nearl y grab bing the hol esh ot a nd the n getting turned arou nd and lost on th e m ot ocr oss tr ack . However , after the rock y start, Du Cr ay beg an a charge forward . Al so m oving qu ickly thro ugh the field after a poor start was Moose/ Honda Pen ins ula of Sun ny v ale /Fa u lt line Sus p ens ion j o c k ey Gr eg Ghi on e. After str ong ea r ly rid e s, b oth Bauer and Ga lford were k nocke d out of co nte ntion by m ech an ical troubles. (Ri g ht ) Pro motocrosser Steve Lamson showed up the Lilliputian Hare Scrambles at Prairie City State Re creation Area in Sacramento, Ca lifornia, and promptly scored first overall. " Ev ery bo d y was ki nd of a ll o ve r the p lace ," Ghion e not ed . "One guy wo u ld fall o r m ak e lit tl e mi st ak es . I tr i e d to b e a s fla w les s as I c o u l d t hr ou gh ou t th e wh ole first l a p , an d after that I j ust ki nd of put m y head down and went for it. " Gurley ca me home fifth a nd had n oth ing but co m p l i m e n t s f or t h e eve nt's org ani zers. "I t was a g reat da y ," Gurley sai d . " T h e b i k e wo rked great. Could n't hav e aske d fo r a better co urse - the b est o ne I th ink I'v e eve r see n o ut here." eN (Left) B rian Sperle stayed ahead of the rest of the pack for a solid second at round nine of the Moose Western Regional Cross Country Series. (Below) Greg Ghione had h is best f inish of the season , p la cin g fourth overa ll. P",irie City Slate Recreation Area Socrament o, California Results: November Z. Z003 [Round 91 Sp erle and Fo uts had a lon g bat t ie for seco nd pla ce before th ey ta ngl ed w ith each o th e r w h il e try ing t o g e t b y a l ap p er; th e fa ll p ut F o ut s out for t he day . A lth o ug h th e cont act was acc identa l, Sp erl e felt very bad abo ut the in cid ent. " He got in between a la p per and kind o f push ed him down. " Sperle expla ined, " and I was try ing to pass him on the ins ide, and I k ind of ju st ran right in to the side of him . We bot h we nt down , but he wen t down q u it e a b i t h ar d e r than I we nt d o wn . T h a t ' s ra c i n g , bu t I d on 't e v er wa nt to end an yb od y 's da y li ke that." By th e ha lfwa y point, Lamson w as o u t fr on t and c r ui si n g . H e r od e unc hall enge d all the way to th e finish. "It wa s actually fu n ," Lamson said . " I don 't d o thes e thi ngs very ofte n . I've don e Elsi nore Grand Pri x, a n d tha t 's about it. It was fun to co me o ut here ." Sperl e rode al o ne in seco nd for th e remainder. Al thou gh he m ov ed away from th e res t o f th e field , h e w a s unable to cut into Lam son's lead . O /A : 1. Steve Lam son (Hen): 2. Br ian Sperle ( KTM); 3. Eri c DuC ra y (Yam ) : 4 . Greg Ghi one ( Ha n); 5. J eri ah Gurl ey ( KTM); 6 . Dav id Fis h (KT M); 7 . J .R. Ma son (S uz); 8 . Nol in Irwin (KTM): 9 . Bria n Toline (Hen ); to. Luke Noble (Han) . A 20 0 : 1. Nolan Irwin (KTM) ; 2, Curt Wilcox (Kaw); 3. Rya n Goldthread (KTM). A 250 ; 1, Brian Sperle (K TM ); 2, Er ic DuCray (Yam); 3, Nolan Irwin (KT M) . A OP EN : 1. St eve Lamson (Han) ; 2. Ja me s Gard (KTM); 3. Shaun Wilcox (KTM). A 4 ·STRK : I. Greg Gh ione (Han ); 2. David Fish (KT M); 3. Brian T otin e (Hon). A VET: I . J. R. Mason (Sea): 2. Garr ett Bins (Hon): 3 . J ohn Sidey (Hon) . A SR : I. Mik e Sco tt (Yam) ; 2. Michael Sage (Yam) ; 3 . Mike Brumi t (KTM) . A S /SR : 1. Bo b Bowers (K T M) ; 2 . Robert Hershey (Ha n); 3. Jerry Johnson (Hon ). A GEN T : 1. William Craig ( KTM): 2 , Do ug McCaleb (KTM ). A WMN: 1. Susan Hellman (Ya m ): 2. Heat her Wilson (Kaw ). B 200 : 1. Charl es Rand (Kaw ) : 2. Jason Smith (KT M); 3 . Chris Derrer (K TM) . B 250: 1. Rya n Rosseau ( Ho n); 2. Jared Orrock (KTM ); 3 . Jason Orrock (Yam). B O PEN: 1. Jason Lulis (Han ); 2. Kelly Knipe (KTM) ; 3. Jacob Mah ler (Han) . B 4· ST RK : 1. Sha wn Alaway (Hon): 2 . Ja mes Stanley (Hon ); 3. Josh Lewis (Yam ). B VET: I. Shawn Frei ling (Ka w) : 2. Ste wart Ferrie (Yam ); 3 . Ron Fecc teno (Han). B SR: 1. Ron Matteri (Ya m ); 2 , Randy Rob ert s (Han) ; 3 . Sco tt De La Montanya ( Yam) , B S / SR: 1. Ja mes B rindos (Ka w); 2 . Mich ael Schultz (KTM) ; 3. J ames Long Sr. (Kaw) . c 2 0 0 : I . N ic F itc h ( K TM); 2, D a rren Sc ott (Yam) ; 3. A dam Caps (KTM). e 25 0: 1, Robert Rowland ( Yam); 2. Ric hard Morton ( Han ); 3 . Ryan Perry (Han) . e OP EN : 1. Randy Mill s (KTM ); 2 , Robert Mill s (K TM ): 3 . Dustin Martin oni (Yam) . e 4 - STRK : 1. T o n y D a vi s ( Ho n): 2 . D u stin Perbet sky (Kaw) ; 3 . Keith Rose (Yam ). e VET: 1. Gebe K ilby (Kaw ): 2 . Marshall Mendes (Hon) ; 3. Denni s Gay ler (Yam ). e S R : 1. J eff A k er s ( Ka w) ; 2 . Tom Pe r r ei ra (K TM); 3 . Willi am Cosby (KTM ). C S/ SR : 1. A lla n Qual e (Ha n); 2 , Brian Wi llett (GG); 3 , Robert Hennessey (Han) . c GENT: 1. Te rr y Fi sh (KTM ); 2 . Bo b Co ll ins (KTM) ; 3. Charles Watson (KT M) . C WMN : 1, Je n na Pi nto ( H o n) ; 2 . M eg an Arm brust (Hon) ; 3 . And rea Kern (5 uz). IM X of Ha yward/ Sun st ar Sprock . ets ' Jeria h Gurle y was ri ding well, but a t mi dway he c o u l d n ' t h ol d o ff D u Cr ay a nd Gh ion e , w h o h ad bo th finally gotte n throu gh th e pa ck and were c harg ing fo rw ard. The duo battl ed un til the last la p, when DuC ray made a f in al pass sti ck o n the m oto cross tra c k , giving him th e third spot. Ghione 's smooth rid ing ga ve h im the fourth posit ion . cu e I e n e vv s D EC EM BER 3 . 2 003 29

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