Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AM AlIFMF Nationa l C hampionship Enduro Series F ina l R o und : Stu m p .Jumpers N a t iona l E n d u r o (Left) He lo ok s a bit f uzzy i n this photo, but Mike Lafferty was as solid as he has been all ye ar. closing out the s ea son with a title -affinnin g overall w in. IAbove) Bria n Garrahan r ac ed t h rou gh the d ark M ichig an w o ods t o f ourth ov erall. Garra han , Da vid Lyk ke , and - fresh off of h is s e c ond pla c e a t th e Millfie ld , Oh io, GNCC - Chu ck Wood ford. Wh at wa s a rg ua bly th e dee pes t fiel d fo r an e nd u ro th is ye a r wo ul d a ll b e ch a s in g La fferty t o try a nd kno c k off th e ne wly c rowne d Na tio na l c ha mp . Abs ol ute ly pe rfe ct wea ther h a d e ve ryone s m iling in the morn ing , and trail boss Al a n Ra nd t gav e a fe w more peop le rea so n to s mile whe n he a nno unced at th e riders' me eting that he was pu tt ing up a $300 cash pu rs e for th e winner, $200 for second , a nd $1 0 0 fo r th ird . S in c e La ffe rt y wa s goi ng to be riding a n unfamilia r bike (a 2001 KTM 400 EXC fo u r-stroke) , Edmon dson a nd compa ny had to be co unti ng the mo ney . Right o ut of th e gate , La ffe rt y let everyo ne kn ow h e cou ld r ide a thum pe r in the wo od s . Th e firs t se ction was five miles long , and Lafferty was th e only one with a score of two a t th e c heck -o u t. Edmo nd s o n , Wo odfor d , the Ga rrah a ns , Hawk ins and o t he r h ot s ho es went thre e o r four , and we re alr e a dy p la ying catc hu p . Th e seco n d ra c e sec tion wa s n ine m iles long , a nd wa s th e tough - B y BR IA N S O U T HW O RT H P HO T O S BY B O B B I E M A RR WOLVERINE; M1; SEPT. 17 L TM' s Mich a e l Laffe rt y h ad ~ a lready c linched the title ba ck in Jul y at th e T exas round , but at the time, no one was s ure wheth er or not th e J e rsey resident ha d rea lly don e it. Of course th e AMA m a de the official a n n ou nc e me n t a co u p le of wee ks lat e r, but the ne xt (a nd final ) rou nd wa s s t ill about t wo m o nth s awa y . That e ve nt , held in Michigan , wa s the first oppo rt u n ity m an y ha d to co n g ratulate Lafferty , a nd he also used it t o pro ve h im s elf d e s e rv in g o f t h e c row n , winning t h e ove ra ll in co nvinci ng fashion . Laffer ty bea t a s ta r-s tud ded field to win his sixth Nation al En du ro o f the year, and to s how a ll who is the best e nd uro ride r in th e c o unt ry right no w. De s p it e t he fact t hat the t itle was al re ady d e c ided , th at big -n ame c om petit io n s ho wed up in Mich iga n to d o b attl e , in cl udi ng mu lt i-tim e Nat io nal End uro C h am p io n Rand y Haw k ins , fo rm e r wo rl d End uro Cham p io n a nd GNC C winn e r Pau l Ed mo n dson , KTM' s Pa t a nd Brian I One of the reasons that GNCC and hare scrambles regulars like Paul Edmondson and Chuck Woodford were on hand was because of the unique format, which didn't require any time-keeping. This year's race consisted of a mixture of new singletrack race sections run on private property and two-track free territory connecting all the race sections. Each race sect ion had a restart and an out-check, with no possible way to be ea rly at any time during a race section. All one had to do was fl oor it from the restart to the check-out, and then cruise to the next restart. All the race sec tions were fun to ride but still took points from the best riders, and the transfer sections provided time to ride and catc h one's breath before the est of t he d ay . La fferty p osted fast t ime wit h a 6 :03 , Edmo nd s on went 6 : 13 , a nd Woodfo rd po ste d a 6 :22 . Ha wki ns ' d a y bega n to go down hi ll fro m her e , as his cl utc h starte d a c ting up a nd c a us ed a s core of 7 :26 in this s e ct ion . The next thr e e ra ce s ections we re mu ch e a s ie r t ha n th e firs t tw o , a nd Laffe rty a n d E dm o n d so n ti e d. Hawk ins ' day ca m e to a n ea rly e nd in o ne of th es e s ho rt s ect ions, with his c lut ch fin a lly throwing in t he tow el. Edm ond s o n was s til l d o wn a p o int go ing into the fo ur-m ile sect ion with th e two - m ile g ras s t ra c k . Woodfor d h a d dro pp ed o u t e a rl ier w ith a m ec ha nic al p ro ble m, so with two sec tions to go, a si ng le point sepa ra ted Laffe rty a nd Edmondson. T his four - mile se c tio n wa s Ed m o nd s o n ' s be st c ha nce to m a k e tha t po int bac k up, as the two -mil e grass tra c k at the e nd of th e sectio n had the Eng lishma n's name a ll o ver it, bu t when a ll wa s s ai d a nd done , Edmond s on we nt 2: 01 a nd Laffe rty we nt 1:5 4 . Laffe rt y h ad ridd e n . th e whe els off his 400EXC to go up two p o in t s with o n e fi ve- mile sec t io n remain ing . Lafferty a nd Edmon d s o n were th e o nly t wo r id er s t o ze ro th e fi n is h c heck , an d Laffert y t o o k hom e t he and the m on e y wit h a s c or e of 14. Edm onds o n hu ng to ug h in h is first AMA Na t ion al Endu ro a nd was second with a 16 . Pat a nd Brian Ga rrahan a nd Lyk ke a ll tied wit h a 2 1, with Pat besting Brian o n tie -bre a k e rs fo r th ird and Lyk ke settli ng for fou rth . eN Stump Jumpers National Enduro Wolverine; Mi chigan Resutts: Septemberl l ; 2DDD O/A: I. Mike Lafferty (KTM ) 14. M HI-PT: 1. Paul Edm ond son (Kaw) 16 . A HI-PT: 1. Jeff Fredett e (Kaw) 27. B HI-PT: 1. Brett DeHate 37 . C HI-PT: 1. Trav is Tudetho ut 33. A A : 1. Pat Garr aha n ( KT M ) 2 1; 2 . Bria n Garraha n ( KTM) 21 ; 3 . Dav id Lykke 2 1; 4 . Craig Hcla sek 22. A 200: 1. Ron Scherpo m 25; 2. Nath on Knight 26 ; 3 . Aaron Wegn er 28 ; 4 . Leo nard Keen 29 ; 5 . Aaro n Barth 35 . A 25 0 : 1. Blai r Bersano 22 ; 2. Richard Lafferty 24; 3. Eldon Keen 25; 4. Nolan Knight 26; 5. Mark Hol asek 28 . A OPEN: 1. Scott Hoffm an 28; 2. Todd Weav er 33 ; 3 . David Vandecar 38; 4 . Georg e English 38 ; 5 . Duane Lemoine 4 3. A 4 -5 ; 1. Robert Benne tt 28; 2. Corey Calk ins 3 1; 3 . T i m Roon e y 32; 4 . Rand y Ma st i n 35 ; 5 . Jonatho n Funk hou ser 38 . A VET: 1. Scott Bri ght 27 ; 2. Jeff Kirchner 29; 3. Stev e Wi ll ey 30; 4 , Wi lli am Catron 41 ; 5 . Aaron Turner 45. A S R: 1. J ohn Love 34; 2 . John Farrar 36 ; 3 . Leo Sch wab 37; 4 . Mark Smi th 37 ; 5 . Dena Sko las 40 . B 200 : 1. And rew Stokely 40 ; 2. Brett Jaminson 42; 3 . Kati e Campbell 48 ; 4 . Jay McLeod 48 ; 5. J am es Keeniha n 5 1. B 250 : 1. Robert Heinzerlin g 38 ; 2 . Derek Sevens 42; 3 . Mik e Hubert 46 ; 4 . Richard Laughli n 49 ; 5. Mark Marh am 50 . B O PEN: 1. Eric Croy 48 ; 2 . Gord on Robare 53 ; 3 . Shanno n Javis 56 : 4 . Sandy Shelto n 67 : 5. Mik e O'B oyle 7 I. B 4 · S: I. Ken Eby 50: 2. Randy Woodward 55: 3. Jo hn Helrnsderfc e 57 : 4. Mark Quado r 6 1: 5. Daniel DeVito 70 . B VET: I. Ron Balzer 42 ; 2. Anthony Wadsworth 42; 3. Mik e Vokes 44; 4 . Darryl Schultz 44 ; 5 . J ames Gourash 49. B SR: 1. Kendall Westveer 49; 2. Jerry Pekel 56 ; 3. Pete Sheneman 58 ; 4. Lance Larsson 63; 5. Albert Lehre 65 . C JR: 1. Jo hn Nelson 51 ; 2. J esse Dele te 52; 3. Dan iel Ab ney 57 ; 4 . Garrkk Beach ly 95; 5. Jo rdan Zambon DNF . C SR: I. J oe Mapes 4 7: 2. Rob ert Frank III 60 : 3. Chuck Davis 60 ; 4 . J ohn Carlson 62; 5 . Jo e Kuick 69 . S/ SR: 1. Dick Burleson 31; 2. Chuck Koshiol 52; 3. Gre g Da vi s 5 6: 4. Denn is Wegne r 59 ; 5 . J ohn Bom byk 60 . MST RS: 1.Per Lillernoen 71 ; 2. Carl Scha rpom 73 ; 3. Gordon Whit e 88; 4 . Corky A tchis on 93; 5. Irvin Prange 127. BRIEFLY. •• The o ld g uy s were running strong. as Senior A rider Je ff Fredette was sixth overall with a score of 27 and Dick Burleson WOrt the Super Senior class with a score of 3 1. next section. The FMF semi made the long trip fro m out west for the final round of and personnel we re selling product s and answe ring technical questions. Trail bosses Alan Randt and Rob Howery laid out seven race sections for the riders, with the longest being nine miles and the shortest four miles. That short section consisted of two miles of new trail and the coolest two-mile grass track this side of Europe. A nice area was roped off for the pro pits . and Yamaha's Randy Hawkins. KTM 's Mike Lafferty. the Gas Gas learnand others were handing out posters and autographs to all the fans. 34 O CTO BER 4 , 2000' cue • e n e VII So the series it sponsors.

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