Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

'!\ctually, it [the race] was a big mystery for me," Salminen said. "I didn't know how to think, and I really did not know what to expect. I rode one race here last summer, but when you are making just one race, then nobody cares because it won't matter for the points. If you win, it still doesn't matter. But now, everybody knows I am going to make the whole season, so it is a different situation all together, and I was a little bit nervous about that." As with any series opener, there is always a certain amount of speculation about who the front-runners will be, who trained hard during the off-season (and who didn't), and who "all of the sudden" learned how to go fast over the winter. But this year's GNCC Series had more than its share of question marks hanging over it. Fueling the debate even more was the fact that several major players were coming back from injuries. Am Pro Yamaha's Jason Raines, Lafferty and the rider at the top of most pundits' lists of potential firstround winners, 2003 GNCC Champion Barry Hawk, were all on the mend from injuries that had kept them out of last year's title picture. Throw in an impressive list of foreign entries including Salminen, Kearney and Mexican Champion Homero Diaz, and the plot thickens. Many thought, however, that a three-hour GNCC event was far too different from the series of special tests or "sprints" ridden in World Enduro and ISDE events for these guys to keep pace. Even the riders themselves didn't know what to expect. "Our enduro races in Australia are more like the ISDE - kind of short sprints. So a three hour race is totally different from what we're used to," said Kearney, who helped the Australian team to a fourth-place finish in the Junior Trophy class at this year's International Six Day Enduro. Clouding the picture even more was the fact that the defending GNCC Champion, Rodney Smith, broke his leg just weeks before the Texas opener and would miss at least three rounds. And finally, the last-minute privateer entry of Shane Watts, who arrived just the night before the event, raised a few eyebrows. For the 2005 season, the factory teams had spared no expense when it came to stacking the deck in their favor with talent, so imagine the surprise when a privateer, two-time AMA National Hare Scrambles Champion Doug Blackwell, nailed the holeshot and led the pros into the woods for the first time. Blackwell's glory was short- lived, however, as Lafferty and Salminen were qUickly through to the front after a brief battle with Kawasaki Team Green's Chuck Woodford and KTM rider Watts. By the end of the first lap, Lafferty, Salminen and Kearney had engaged themselves in a three-way battle, which carried them 30-seconds clear of a group that consisted of Team KTM's Robbie Jenks, Woodford, KTM rider Virginia's Stephen Edmondson and Throttlehead.com Kawasaki's Steve Hatch. Among the first-lap casualties were Am Pro Yamaha's Barry Hawk, who DNFed when a rock broke his front brake line, and Fred Andrews, who aboard a new Suzuki RM-Z4S0 was forced to pit when a rock punctured his radiator. For a couple of laps, Salminen seemed content to follow Lafferty and study the pace. "That speed that Mike [Lafferty] was riding was really easy for me," Salminen said. "I just followed and tried to relax. Then I tried to make my move early, and I passed him two or three times, but every time I crashed or made a mistake. So then I planned to just follow Mike and try it again." An unfortunate series of events would ultimately contribute to Lafferty's undoing, as the six-time National Enduro Champion tangled with a lapper while leading, then fell again while trying too hard to make up ground. "Last year was pretty much a disaster for me, and this year I really wanted to start out strong," Lafferty said. "It just fell apart on me in the end. I tried to get a little aggressive, and I got tangled with a lapper and fell. Then I started rushing around, and when I did that, I fell again. I've just got to settle down and ride my bike. At the start, I was setting the pace, being smooth and letting the race come to me. But it turned around at the end when I was too aggressive, and a situation like that can take you from first to third." By the next-to-Iast-Iap, Salminen was in front, for good, and cruised home with an easy victory, while Kearney got around Lafferty for second at the finish. "It was a good feeling at the end," Salminen said, "because I feel I could have pushed harder, if I needed." Certainly, many questions were answered at the opening round of the series in Texas, and for the moment, Salminen, Kearney and Lafferty have to be favorites in this year's series. However, they have to be wondering if the outcome might have been different had Hawk not experienced his freak DNF or had Raines not been returning from injury. There is a four-week break until Florida, but the four weeks may give Raines the needed time to heal up as well. So, perhaps in the minds of the contenders, there may have been more questions that arose out of Texas than answers. Most are certain, though, that everything will be answered in a few short weeks. eN BARNWEll MOUNTAIN RECREATION AREA GILMER, TEXAS RESULTS: FEBRUARY (ROUNDS 1/2 OF 13, 2005 13/10) Pro: I. Juha Salminen (KTM); 2. Glenn Kearney (Suz); 3. Michael lafferty (KTM); 4. Chuck Woodford (!

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