Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Lake Pleasant, AZ . Febr"'Uery 27. 2000 AMA/FMF Racing National Championship Enduro Series Round 2: Desert Mountain Enduro (left) Hailing from South Carolina and riding a fourstroke at a National Enduro in the Arizona desert did not stop Randy Hawkins from carding the lowest score, for the second weekend in a row. (above) On the third loop Destry Abbott (26) passes a slower rider en route to fourth overall. (below) A burned check on the second loop may not have totally ended Ty Davis' hopes for the overall, but a empty fuel cell on the third loop did. Davis forged on to claim third. By MATT FREEMAN PHOTOS BY MARK KARIYA T he opening round of the AMA/FMF Racing National Enduro series marked Randy Hawkins' 59th career national enduro win. Round two in Lake Pleasant, Arizona marked an impressive 60th. Before round one, Hawkins had not carded an overall national win since May 17,1998 in New Waverly, Texas. Ironically, the Texas event was not even a traditional American rules time-keeping enduro - instead it was a two-day ISDE qualifier that was part of the '98 series. The significance to the six-time champion's success after the first two rounds this year is the fact that, believe it or not, they are his first aboard a YZ426F. Hawkins went from 1986 to 1998 on Husqvarnas, Suzukis and Yamahas, always taking an overall, but always on a two-stroke. In '99, since moving over to the four-stroke full time, the Javelin has had a dry spell, until the first two rounds this year. "To start out with, Yamaha has made some great changes to the YZF this year," said Hawkins about his recent success. "Plus I've been working really hard with Factory Connection, White Brothers and Bridgestone tires getting everything dialed in. 22 MARCH 15, 2000' II: U II: •• There's nothing different about the way I'm riding, I'm just getting better help. It feels really good to win some events on this bike." The Arizona Trail Riders laid out a three loop, approximately 11 O-mile course that actually posted 164.8 route miles on computers and odometers when the third loop was completed. The entire event was held on a 24 mph speed average, but no one was able to stay on time, even on the second loop. The 31-mile first loop was challenging for the C riders and the 33-mile second loop was challenging for the B riders. After the second gas stop, the C riders called it a day and the rest of the competitors headed out onto the third loop. Approximately halfway through the third loop was a trail split sending A riders one way and B riders to an easier route. Before starting the final loop every competitor, including Hawkins, had dropped at least one point on the second loop. A short, but tight special test towards the end of loop two' cost everyone some time, but some n e vv s more than others. The real test for the overall, however, started at the AlB trail split on the third loop. KTM's Michael Lafferty rode second best in that particular section. Finishing second overall on the day, Lafferty led the minute-23, AA charge through the third loop. The rest of his serious AA competition filled the minutes behind Lafferty, so the young New Jersey rider was the first of the front-runners to carve through the sand washes, plunge down the waterfalls and pick through the miles and miles of rocky goat trails that make up the Desert Mountain Enduro. Lafferty carded a 26 to Hawkins' 25 when all was said and done. "I rode really well. It was the first time I felt comfortable out west. I rode all week before hand around here and got comfortable," said Lafferty, who finished third in round one. "The third loop was pretty rough, but I felt pretty good afterward." Going into the 44-mile third loop, Lafferty,Hawkins, Team Green's Destry Abbott and Montclair Yamaha's Ty Davis were all poised for the overall, even though Davis had burned a controversial check on the second loop. Normally a burned check in a national enduro will cost you the overall, but as Lafferty and Hawkins know so well, Davis is a force to be reckoned with in the desert. "We're in the desert, which I'm not fond of and those guys do a great job in the desert," said Hawkins about his chances going into the somewhat dry and warm event. "Ty and Destry just kill us in the desert normally." Davis' loop-two burned check turned out to be a mute point as the defending champion, and last year's event winner, ran out of gas less than ten miles from the final check. He received gas from Rick Daniel, a Vet A class competitor, but only after it was too late. "I didn't have any problems all day long except for running out of gas," said Davis. "I was going to complain about the check I burned on the sec-

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