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/128641
(Left) Steve Hatch ran as far back as ninth in the Hamel 100, but, once the former National Enduro champion got acclimated to the speed, there was no stopping him. Hatch finished second to Kiedrowski, trailing by only 30 seconds. (Above) Destry Abbott finished fourth in the Hamel 100, and took a win in the 250cc event. (Below) KTM's Scott Myers led nearly every race he entered throughout the weekend, bu1 bad luck and crashes kept him ou1 of the winners' circle. Th omp s on and th e s t art th at runs down La k e E lsin ore 's Mai n Street. before heading southwest towa rd the lake . "I c a ug ht him back in a little bit , but th en I started go ing slow aga in . He rod e well. " Luckily for everyone els e, afte r win n ing t he 12 5cc race , Th om p s o n packed up a nd he aded for Florida to com pete in the Mini Olym p ics. Watts and Abbott headed back to the pits to prepare for the noon 250cc race, as did fourth-place finisher S ha ne Espo s ito a nd fifth p laced Mike Ba ker , both of who m obviously saved a little energy in their eight h- liter outing . By the tim e th e 2 5 0cc event wa s o ne la p o ld , it wa s Abb ott , Es posito a nd Ba ke r le ading the field . Last yea r's 250c c winner, Watts , was nowh e re in sight (a nd ne ither was Scott Myers ). They both got great jumps off the line at the start. "I was going across the o verpass , just coming in to o fast o n the first lap and I wadded into the ba rriers ," said Myers . "I crashed my b ra ins out. I turned arou nd and Watts was doing the same t h ing right by me . By the time I stood up and turned around , he wadd ed through the barriers. I think we both went in a little too fast. " Myers p icked his bike up a nd com pleted the first lap in eighth . Watts ro de ba ck to the KTM semi , as did ISDE World T ro p hy rid er Pat Ga rra han , after completing just fou r la ps . "It se ize d," sai d Garrah an , o f his KTM 250 . "I go t on the pavem ent a nd it just died on me. It's the first tim e I've e ve r been to Elsin or e . I th ink it's gr eat how th e y hav e it in town . It' s almost like a fa ir instead of a motorcy cle ra ce . The onl y part I don't like is pav ement. Pa vem ent is fo r road "He [Espo s ito] pa ss ed m e o n th e s econd lap, " ex pla in ed Abbott. "We had the s ame gea ring , he just got a be tter dr ive com ing o ut of a c orner." Quick corn e ring and a gu tsy move put Espo s ito in front of Abbott on the s e c ond lap , bu t Abbott was ju st as determined as his te ammate . " It was gr eat , " s aid E sp os it o . "Des try got the start and it was jus t wide open . You jus t got to ta ke the race rs . I hate pavement. I don 't m ind ro ug h; I don 't mind bumps. I like a ll th e trail part of it." As Ga rraha n was coming to terms with the ta rma c , Te am Green team mates Abb ott a nd Espos ito we re giv ing the spectators on the ba ck part of the racecourse a he ck of a s ho w. Th e t wo KX250 ra cers fl ew o ver th e famous tabletop ju m p - that c a n be seen from Interstate 15 - s ide by s ide . c y c I e n e vv s NOVEMBER 29 , 2000 7