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/128620
A MA,/Wiseco/Yarn aha/ Dunlop /IM S / M S R / F M F / K lo tz/ M axxis/L a e g e r Grand National Cros s Country S erie s Rou n d 9 : Brown s v ille G NCC STOR Y A N D PHOT OS BY PAUL CLIPPER BROWNSVIllE, PA, JaNE6 he weather was the big equalizer in Brownsville , Pennsylvan ia, this weekend, after showers that wouldn't go away lubricated a GNCC course that was a lready well -watered from a wee k of ra in . A few of th e GNCC competitors can cla im to be mud specialists, but Kawasaki's Paul Edmond son is the kin g of th em a ll, and he triumphed ov er the field this day , almost m aking it look easy . Edmondson , sponsored by Kawasa - T 54 J U LY 5 , 200 0 ' eye I e k i , Moose, Alpinestars , Shoei and SRC , took a good start and made it payoff, stay ing in a safe second place position for most of the race, and then making h is mo ve on t h e last lap . "I'd been going steady most of the race ," Edmondson sa id , "p la y ing it safe . I just basically kn ew it was going to be a lon g, ha rd d ay , but I didn 't expect the rain to com e aga in like it did ." Following Edmondson in were a very muddy and tired Rodney Smith a nd Barry Hawk. n "o 'UV S T he Brownsville GNCC lived up t o its name, and Pau l Edmondson negotiated the mud better than anyone else to score the overall w in . The ra c e could have gone much greener, if it wasn 't for a la s t - la p mishap that a lmost took Edmondson o u t , and definitely moved Fred Andrews a few places backwards. It happened when the lead pack caught up with tired lapped riders early in the last la p, and Andrews had the b ad luc k to c o llid e with one of them . In the fast -moving pack it caused an ins ta nt ch a in reaction . "I ta ng led with my te ammat e Fred Andrews ." said Ed monds on. "He h it a la p pe r, t hen I hit Fr ed , then Rodne y got by a nd a few othe rs . We just had to keep plugg ing a wa y, that's a ll, just try to raise the p a ce on the last lap ." Before th e coll is ion And rews had le d eve ry la p exce p t th e fifth , a nd a fte r the crash he was fou r m inutes down and settling fo r fifth overa ll a t the finish . The common enemy to a ll th is day was mud, and lots of it. A week of ra in pr ior , and then on and off s ho we rs on Saturda y and Sunday made su re that the tra ck n ever dri ed out e no ugh to make it even slightly e asy on the r iders . A th ird o f t h e w ay through the three hour ra c e , the sun c a m e out , and it loo ke d lik e we ' d ha ve a gr eat finish , but aft er an other hour it was pouring aga in, and a final shower just after the c h e c kered flag fell ma d e sure th e fun w as o ve r befor e it started . Suzuki's Smith sta yed within strik ing distance m ost of t he ra c e , a n d wa s having fai rly good lu c k o n t he co urse, until he cooke d h is brak es . "It was my race , m y Suzuki wa s wor king good ," Smith sa id . "With two la ps to go I stoppe d fo r gogg le s an d dropped b ack to fifth , t he n I reeled them in and to o k o ve r t h e lea d o n tha t lap. The mu d wa s ug ly out th ere , a nd I was riding th e bra kes rea l ha rd , and wh en the br ak es we nt a way I sta rted crashing. I cra sh ed abou t four times on the last lap." Crashes and t he re s u lt ing b ik e abuse were the bane of Sm ith te amm at e , S t ev e Hat ch , w h o b efo re Brown sv ille wa s s itting in s e c ond pla ce in th e point s . He wo und up finis hi ng 16 minu te s be h ind Edm ond son 's tim e, in only 12th place points . "This is go ing to be o ne of those d a ys whe re t ire c ho ice a nd e x perience re a lly count," he said be fore the start. "It's scar y o ut th ere ." Hawk s pe nt m ost of th e da y circulating a t or near his th ird overa ll fin is hi n g pos it io n , tai le d c lo s e ly ' by Suzuki rider J im J a rrett. "A co u p le of m ist a ke s kept me from winning today , bu t I'll t ak e a th ird ," sa id Ha wk. Jarrett sta yed cons ist ent throughout and finished up with a fourth pla ce . The s ixth -place finisher for the day was Randy Hawk ins , who fe lt good enough in the mud to set the fastest lap time on the second lap. One fast lap wasn 't going to do it , however, and mi nor crashes, much like everyone else , kept him from improving his position better than sixth , after a 15th-place start. Once again riding a strong race and ove rc o m ing the 60second differ enc e in st art t imes , Kawasak i rider Chu c k Woodford of the 250cc A class broke into the top ranks and finished seventh ove ra ll. If Woodfo rd keeps up the pace h e 's been setting, he'll definitely start next season with a s ingle-d igit number.