Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

I OFF-ROAD Rou nd 1 Grand N ational Cr oss Country Series AMA National Hare Scrambles S er ies Feb. 1 ,2004 I~ whole time ; he knows the pace at the end." Haw k, on the other hand , wasn't all that happy w ith third . "T hey flat- o ut beat me ," Hawk said . "1can 't say enough a bout t hem; they rode good." Hatch ended up finishing fourth , while a front-fenderless Hughes finis he d over three minutes behind the w inner. "1 fell o n the first lap," Hughes said. "1 clipped a rock and was do wn before I knew it and broke the fender. Riding w ithout a front fe nde r is tough. Overall. it was fun but a lot of work - de finite ly tough. I (Above/ While battling for the win an the a st lap, Steve Hatch ran into a lapper on a hill and was farced to push, ending his bid for a victory. (Below) A fenderless Ryan Hughes was fifth overall. My OWN 3 felt like 1 was faster than them in the fast stuff, but they were faster in the tight stuff. It was a good lea rn ing experience." eN BARNELL My. RECREATION AREA GIlMER, TEXAS R ESULTS: FEBRUARY 1, 20 0 4 (ROUND 1 OF 13 ) O/k I. Rodney Smnh (50,); 2. Hoke IGedO"O""k; (Su.); 3. Barry Hawk Jr. (Y am); -4. Steve Hatch (Kaw); S. Ryan Hugt>e.(KTM): 6. Robbie Jenks (Yam): 7. Chuck WoodlO«l (Kaw); 8. Scott Summen (Hon); 9. Fred And rews (Su.); 10. R.." "I Pe.non (Yam); I I. Brian Garrahan(KTH); 12. Doug Blackwell (Suz); 13. Cole Calkins (Kaw); 14. Randy Hawkins (Y am); 15. PA Allen (Kaw); 16. Doby Lecoerd (KTM); 17. B"" Zofchak (Kaw); 18. 5tephen Ed mondson (KTM); 19. D. vKl Pe.non (Kaw); 20. Nathan Kanney (Y am). RACE Mike Laffe r ty 30th The five-time National Enduro Champion has traded his 4S0cc fourstroke for a 2S0cc EXC two-stroke fo r the 2004 season, but he still has some dialing in to do. Despite nailing the holeshot, Lafferty soon pulled into the pits. "Suspension issues," Lafferty said. "I came in on the second lap. After that I was pretty much o ut of it." Lafferty said he set the suspension up way too soft and was getting beate n up. 12 Chuck Woodfo rd 7th Chuck Woodford, who is known more for his tight woods talent, was happy with his ride in the more open and rocky (not to mention dusty) Texas terrain. The Kawasaki Team Green rider ran inside the top 10 all day and avoided any major problems en ro ute to a seventh-place finish. 18 r ight into me . and Barry had the speed and was right there at the top." The two crested the hill side by side . but Kiedrowski had the faster inside line and hel d his pos ition with less than a mile to go . "1 went up that hill two gears highe r than anybody had all day," Hawk said. "I actually passed him [Kied rowski]. but he had the inside ." Fro m there, the three r ide rs chased one anot he r to the finish , w ith Smith, Kiedro wski and Hawk flying across the finis h line , 1-2 -3, in quick succession. "Tow ards the end, I didn't think we had a great pace going and thought, 'We gotta go...· Smith said . " But no o ne ever ca ught us , so when I saw the white flag, I ke pt the same pace. Halfw ay into the las t lap, though, I saw someone [Hawk] behind us and thought , 'I have to go now.' "I'm real happy," said Smith , who finished off last year's GNC C season w ith a w in. "I've never been ab le to come out of the gate early in the season, so this is good fo r me." Kiedrowski was also happy w ith his strong ride . "My whole gam e plan was to be in fro nt at the end; I'm pretty sto ked," Kiedrowski said. "I just followed Rodney the 24 Shane Watts Do ug Blackwe ll 12t h "It we nt decent." said the new Suzuki team rider. "I was in the top 10 at the start. but I rode too tight and got arm pump rea l bad and fell back to about 21st or 22nd . But I started feeling better and started to work my way up and got back into 12th." 4 Ro bbie Jenks 6t h T he Yamaha YZ2S0 rider had a st rong finish despite cras hing off the start. "I got a good jump, but somebody swa pped into me and knocked me down." Jenks said. "I got up about 14th and tried to make up time in the dust. Everybody was so together, so I was able to catch up to the lead pack . Me and Ryno were riding together until I made some mistakes on the last lap." Jenks finished out the race 13 seconds behind Hughes . 8 Ra ndy Hawkins 14th Randy Hawkins was a little beat up after finishing 14th. "I hit my knee really hard, and a rock broke my water system on the second lap, so I had no water," Hawkins said. "I got into survival mode; the last two laps I was just trying to hang on. Michael [Lafferty) rode with me at the end. He kind of helped me keep my pace and keep my mind okay. My knee is fine, just sore." 11 2 Russe ll Pe a rso n 10th The National Hare & Hound Champion rode a two-stroke YZ2S0 FEBRUARY 11, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS 11 Jimmy Ja r re t t 68 t h Jimmy Jarrett got off to a good start on his Y amah a YZ2S0 and led for a while befo re slipping back. He was ho lding down 13th o n the last lap when he ran out of gas. 1 Ja son Ra ine s 40th Anniversar y D NF Yamaha's Hare Scrambles National Cham pion had a ro ugh time in Texas. Raines was runn ing in the lead group for much of the race before disappearing. At first, it was thought he had run out of gas, but he was instead found out on the course with a dislocated shoulder and was eventually transported to the hospital. D NF For the second major race in a row, the Australian made an early departure - but th is time not by choice . While running near the front on the second lap, Watts came into the pits with a severely smashed exhaust pipe . "I was passing a lapper and got off the line," Watts said. "I got out of shape and hit a tree. The pipe was so smashed, it would barely run , but I got it in [to the pits]' We changed pipes , and I went back out. but the bike quit. It turned out that the smashed pipe melted the ignition wires." 9 for the first time in a long time and was con tent with his ride . "It was fun," Pearson said. "I got pushed out off the start but worked my way up. Then I had a mishap in a water hole - went too slow and dropped the front wheel in and got stuck on the seco nd lap. I went from sixth to abo ut 18th. After that I just used my head. The 250 was a lot of fun, easier in the trees and does n't wea r you down." 16 Scott Summers 8th The long-time GNCC hero was back in action in Texas after suffering a long string of injuries. Ridinga highlymodified CRF4S0R, Summers got off to a good start but lost his front brake right away when he believes a rock bent the rotor. Later, a vine wrapped around his neck and nearly pulled him off the back of his bike. He cooled it after that but still pulled down a respectable eighth . 5 Fred Andrews In his first race on Team Suzuki, Fred Andrews had a bad encounter with a lapper. He and another rider collided, with both riders going down. Andrews injured his knuckle, but the ot her rider suffered a serious gouge in his back, so Andrews stayed with him until help arrived . 14 Andy Shea 27th The Team Green rider was just happy to be racing again after breaking his femur in a Nat ional Enduro last year. "1had tr ouble getting into a rhythm today, " Shea said. "It' s been about sixth months since I've ridden , but I would've liked to have ridden better." 111 David Pearson 19th A flat tire let the air out David Pearson's ride. "I was about 10th or 12th off the start but got up to fifth or sixth," Pearson said. "But going into the third loop, my front tire went flat, so I had to go in to change that. It was my fault. I should've used a Mousse [foam insert] , but I didn't th ink it was going to be this rocky."

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