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/128310
course, made up mostly of dry red dirt and loose rocks, produced a lot of close racing and many lead changes , too many to count. But it was Smith, Kiedrowski and Hatch who held the point the most throughout the race. It was enduro champ Mike Lafferty, however, who led off the start, but the KTM 250 EXC pilot would quickly realize that he had chosen the wrong suspension settings and would soon find himself out of the hunt. Once he was out of the way, Smith , Kiedrowski and Hatch took over and settle d into a comfortab le pace , and they swapped pos itions during the next couple of hours. At times, other riders latched o n to them, including motocro sse r Ryan Hughes, Hare Scrambles champ Jason Raines, Haw k and multitime GNCC champ Scott Summers. But, for the most part, Smith, Kiedrowski and Hatch controlled the top positions and the pace of the race. For much of the first half, Kiedrowski led the way, while Hatch ran second a lot of the t ime (and vice versa). Smith, meanw hile, had the case of the crashes. "I was sitting comfortably in third a nd fourth, " Smith said. ''The n [on the first lap] Hughes came up and passed me , but I was con tent w ith that, as long as I could see the leaders. On the second lap, I got up to second and took the lead from Steve [Hatch]; then I crashed. Actually, I crashed three times. Every time I worked up, I'd crash and went back to th ird eve ry time." Briefly... David Pearson says he's going to team up with his cousin Nick Pearson in the upcoming Best in the Desert team race in Laughlin, Nevada. Pearson hasn't ridden in about a year since breaking his iaw while practicing on a motocross track. Nick Pearson's brother, Russ, says that Nick has been riding mountain bikes a lot and should be in pret ty good shape for his first race back. Former ISDE rider Gary Hazel and eighttime National Enduro Champion Dick Burleson laid out the Lo ne Star GNCC course. Most of the riders said that they enjoyed the I I-mile course and appreciated their efforts. "It [the course] was good," winner Rodney Smithsaid. "It was a little fast but stilltechnical. Sometimes I felt like a pinbailout there because of the rocks." The dry conditions, however, left many sections quite dusty, but the GNCC crew did what they could to keep the track damp, even if that meant water- ing it down by hand. Former Hare Scrambles Champion Doug Blackwell signed with Team Suzuki OffRoad for the 2004 season . Blackwell'sbikes come from Sportseycle Racing of Athens, Georgia, but he receives full support from Suzuki. Hawk came on strong toward the end. "I didn't get a good start; I was around ISth or 20th," Hawk said. "I was on t he ve rge of panicking, but I got so me guys he re and there, and by the e nd of the se cond lap, I was at the end of the lead group. The n I relaxed." Hawk eventually put himself in contention for the win when he caught up to fourth and was right behind Smith, Kiedrowski and Hatch going into the last lap. The long race boiled down to the last lap. Hawk set his sights on Hatc h and eventually got him for third when the Kawasaki rider went off the track. "On the last lap, I got into third and caught up to MK [Kiedrowski] and Rodney," Hatch said. "I tried to get by MK, but I got out of shape through a mud hole, hit a rock that kicked me into these two trees. I tried to get those guys again but made one more mistake with three miles to go. A lapper got in my way up this hill , and it [t he bike] popped into neutral, and I had to push it up the hill." Now it was a three-rider sprint to the finish. Smith was st ill in command but couldn't shake his teammate Kiedrowski, who nearlygot passed by Hawk just before the finish. "We were heading up th is hill, and a la pper was ahead of us at t he bo tto m," Kiedrowski said. "Rodney just got by him and shot up the hill. He [the lap pe r] cut www.cyclenews.com KTM'sSha ne Watts finally found a clothing sponsor. Two weeks ago at the WORCS opener in Nevada, Watts wore all black gear in the race. In Texas, however, Watts was clad in Fox gear. Scott Summers showed up in Texas working out of his own box van and came armed with a very trick and highly modified Parts Unlimited/Moose-backed Ho nda CRF450R race bike. While many of the to p riders traded in their four-strokes for lighter two-strokes for this race, Summers was one of the few who chose to stay with the big thumper. Summers said compared to the old XRs that he used to race, where the goai was to make them more powerful and lighter, he has to "detune" the CRF4S0to make it mellower and easier to ride. Some of those engine changes include instailing a 17-ounce flywheelweight, a lower compression piston a longer-stroke and heavier . crank, and mounting up a very quiet aftermarket muffler. The bike also feature conventional-style forks and a taller seat . The to p-finishing A rider was Kawasaki rider P.A. Allen of Vanleer, Tennessee . Afte r three hours of racing, Allen finished just 20 second s ahead of fellow 2S0cc Aclass rider Brett Zofchak of Washington, Pe nnsylvania. CYCLE NEWS . FEBRUARY 11, 2004 23