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/128376
en-time World Enduro Champion Juha Salminen had answered most of the questions posed against him in the Suzuki Grand National Cross Country Series. By winning two of the season's first three rounds and taking a big points lead back into his KTM semi, Salminen proved he could adapt to the three-hour GNCC format, handle a variety of terrain, and handle most of the competition at the front of the pack. There were few obstacles he had failed to surmount, but one, apparently, was a high-flying Barry Hawk. Hawk, the 2003 GNCC Champion, was the odds-on favorite to win this year's title after he ended the '04 season on a three-race win streak. But for whatever reason, he has not been the same rider this year as he was last year, and, as a result, newcomer Salminen has seized control of the series. But after a big win at the Pirelli Big Buck GNCC, Hawk is trying to get it back. "We made some changes to the bike, and I finally feel like I did at the end of last season," Hawk said of the Am Pro Yamaha factory off-road team. "We had to make some changes to get it back to the feel we had last year. I never want to say I'm going to win, but I definitely feel like I was a different rider today. Now I just need to get a few wins in a row here to try to get back into this points hunt." Hawk finally returned to his old form T 48 MAY 4,2005 • CYCLE NEWS while his competition made too many big mistakes to hang with him. Salminen finally looked a touch human when he crashed in a big mud hole. His KTM teammate, Mike Lafferty, also went down hard, and it was a crash that resulted in an unfortunate broken collarbone. A third KTM contender, Shane Watts, also had a crash of his own on the last lap that knocked him off of the podium. Hawk, meanwhile, held on, while FMF Suzuki's Glenn Kearney put in a great ride from the back of the pack to finish second. Salminen survived a knockdowndragout duel with Watts to finish third, relegating Watts to fourth and another KTM rider, Robbie Jenks, to fifth. "It's good when you have a bad day and still end up on the podium," Salminen said. Early in the Big Buck, the races were not much different from what they have been so far this season. Holeshot master Jimmy Jarrett grabbed the early lead, but soon Lafferty was up front showing his impressive speed. Salminen got a bad start, though he was able to work his way up qUickly. "Yeah, my start was something else, something goes wrong," Salminen said. "I was really behind, and on this track it's really difficult to follow and pass." Still, he did it, but he was met by Hawk along the way. "I got a bad start," Hawk said, "and I now I had to charge because those guys