Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

"' 00 C\l l-i Q.) ..0 o .-.,l u o Kevin Hines tied with Steve Hatch, but lost on the tie-breakers and placed fifth overall. some rocks out into the trail so we'll have something to do. I burned the first check, but there's no way they can count that since the cards were a minute off. Then I .started riding 30 seconds into my minute, 'cause I was waiting for them to have an emergency check-in to a test, and I figured the whole enduro could come down to that. " The second loop provided four more checks, but again, most of the aces zeroed .the loop. The last check of the loop was the first tie-breaker in the enduro. Suzuki-mounted local rider Jon King hit the tie-breaker on 30, and had a perfect score going at the completion of two loops. "It's like a family enduro," said King referring to the easy trail. Russell also hit the emergency check 30 seconds into his minute, but he did not complete the loop without problems. "I came into one of the checks, and they had a white T-shirt thrown in a bush, trying to make you think -it was just an observation check (white flags are used to identify oberservation . checks)," said Russell. "They wrote my score on my card, but I still thought it might be an observation check, 'cause sometimes they'll try to fool you (like they do) back East. I didn't know if we had free territory (the three miles after the check) or not." Hawkins was riding on top of his minute and was only able to scrub off 21 seconds at the tie-breaker, nine seconds off of a perfect score. With one loop remaining, King's perfect score had him in the lead, but the "real" enduro still hadn't started. The third and final loop was only a little over 25 miles long, but it was where the outcome would be decided. After three miles down a dirt road at 20 mph, the speed jumped up to 24 as the riders entered a tight manzanita-lined special test that was over 13 miles long. Two miles before the end of the test, the average jumped up to 30 mph. The check-in to the test was a tie-breaker that was preceded by a short section of virgin trail, and no one was able to zero it. King's lead was erased when he hit the check-in two minutes late. Hatch dropped two; and , Hines came within two seconds of dropping two points as well. Hawkins had the best score at the check, hitting it one minute and 41 seconds late, and taking over the lead. "This is the kind of stuff that Randy just rages in," said Team Suzuki's Dave Bertram, who was sitting out the event with a broken wrist that he sustained at the Australian ISDE. "Branches are grabbing at your body, and you always want· to be in a line where you aren't. It's really hard to get a rhythm going, but Randy doesn't need a rhythm; he just heats his rear brake up to about a million degrees and flies." . Hawkins dropped one point at a check that was located about seven miles into the test, as did Russell, Pepper and Hines. Hatch and King each dropped two points. Hawkins poured on the gas from that point on, and turned in the best score at the check-out. Hawkins was only one minute late to the check, bringing his total score to three points. Russell, Pepper and Hines each dropped two points at the check, while Hatch dropped three, and most of the other riders dropped even more. After the check-out, the rider1;i cruised into the finish, but until a decision was made on how to score the event, no one knew who had won. Several different ideas came up as to . what should be done about the problem with the clocks, among them throwing out the first check and .throwing out the first loop. As Russell had burned the first check and dropped one more point than Hawkins at the last check, his most profitable option would have been to have the entire enduro thrown out. The idea was actually discussed by riders and officials, but Russell wasn't in favor. "It would be a shame to have everyone drive all the way out here for nothing," said Russell. "It was a pretty poor excuse for a National, though. It seems like something always happens in California." "I just think we should do what the rule book says," said Hines. "It says if a clock is more than 10 seconds off, the check is thrown out, and all the checks were more than 10 seconds off. " Fator, the club's enduro steward, explained the situation. "We used District 36's check clocks, the same ones that we always do. We've never had a problem in the past, and we put all the right information into them today. They (District 36) just added a new feature where the clocks are all calibrated together, and all I can figure Kelby Pepper overcame a burned check to nab the runner-up position. The finish moved Pepper into second place in the series point standings behind Randy Hawkins. is that something happened when they did that." . "I think the club did a pretty good job," said Pepper. "Maybe they should throw out the first check, but after that, everyone knew about the problem. The speed averages could have been a little higher on the first two loops, but they did a good job of using what terrain they had." . If it'd been wet, we would've zeroed it (the entire course)," said Hawkins. When officials tallied the results, they realized that the top positions would remain the same whether or not the first check and/or loop were thrown out, and the decision was made to leave the scores unaltered. Hawkins' three points were good enough for the overall. Pepper and Russell both had scores of six, but the nod went to Pepper, whose tie-breaker points were three seconds better. than Russell's. Pepper's runner-up finish moved him past Russell in the series point standings, and he now trails Hawkins by 25 points, 145-120. Russell is three points back with 117. Hatch and Hines were one minute off Russell's pace with seven points each, with Hatch coming out ahead on the tie-breakers for fourth overall. Neilson no.tched sixth overall, one position ahead of local rider Glen Martinson, who was breaking trail on minute one and turned in a very creditable ride aboard a Suzuki DR350 four-stroke. "We were sitting at one reset that was right by the river," said Martinson "The sun was blazing down on us and we were all hot and sweaty. I kept looking over at that river and I just wanted to go and jump in." After the enduro, Martinson got his reward for a great ride when he took a long-awaited dip in the river. King finished in eighth overall, and Dave Wood and John Chandler rounded out the top 10. Mark Twiggs, the winner of the 250cc B class, topped all of the B class riders with a score of 18 points, besting Matthew Wallace by one minute. Vet rider Paul Smith completed the first two loops with a score of eight points, the best time in the Cranks. CN Results 01A: I. Randy Hawkins (Suz); 2. Kelby Pepper (KTM); 3. Jeff Russell (KTM); 4. Steve Hatch (SUl); 5. Kevin Hmes (Hus); 6. Dan Neilson (Hus); 7. Glen Martinson (SUl); 8. Jon King (Suz); 9. Dave Wood (Kaw); 10. John Chandler (Hon). AA: I. Randy Hawkins (SUl); 2. Kelby Pepper (KTM); 3. Je££ Russell (KTM); 4. Kevin Hines (Hus); 5. Steve Hatch (SUl). . A 200: I. Scott Welsh (KTM); 2. David Booth (SUl). A 250: I. Dan Neilson (Hus); 2. Jon King (Suz); 3. Dave Wood (Kaw); 4. John Chandler (Hon); 5. David Froman (Kaw). A OPEN: I. Dan Sell (KTM); 2. Ronald White (Hon); 3. Rod Thurley (Hus); 4. Troy Turpin (Hus); 5. Larry Gorman (Hon). A VET: I. Matt Collins (SUl); 2. Bob Stene (Yam); 3. Scott Reynolds (Hon); 4. Brian Patton (KTM); 5. Steve Joyce (KTM). A Sll; I. Don Matheson (Hon); 2. Wade Tuma (Yam); 3. Rick Beckstrom (Kaw); 4. Frank Zanca (Hon); 5. Bill Rychlik (Yam). A S/SR: I. Jim Morrison (Kaw); 2. R.K. Johnstone (Yam); 3. George Johnson (Hon); 4. Bob Kelly (KTM); 5. Dan Welch (KTM). A 4-STRK: I. Glenn Martinson (SUl); 2. Phil Douglas (Hon); 3. John May (Hus); 4. Mark Hosbach (Hus); 5. ~b Holmes (Hon). B 200: I. Doug Duncan (Kaw); 2. Michal Barber (Kaw); 3. James Olmstead (Kaw); 4. Jason Lowe (SUl). B 250: I. Mark TwiggS (SUl); 2. Mathew Wallace (Yam); 3. William Benson (Hon); 4. Bill Summers (Kaw); 5. Robert Weidner (Hon). B OPEN: I. Nick Steele (Hon); 2. David Moser (Hon); 3. Je££ Wilson (KTM); 4. Doug Morettini (ATK); 5. Terry Rush (Hus). B VET: I. Arlie Raber (Yam); 2. Steven Rowen (KTM); 3. Tom Robertson (Hon); 4. David Dellavecchia (Hon); 5. Brad Kohler (KTM). B SR: I. Dick West (SUl); 2. Dwayne Holman (Yam); 3. Lynn Harrell (KTM); 4. Tony Pavone (KTM); 5. Rick Turpin (KTM). B S/SR: I. Harold Sitton (Kaw). B 4-STRK: 1. Raymond Spore (Hus); 2. Tim Heslin (Hon); 3. Jimmy Jamieson (Hon); 4. Daniel Ambler (Hon); 5. Mark Conrad (Yam). C 200: I. Pat Williams (Yam); 2. Tom Barrington (Kaw); 3. Ray Watkins (SUl); 4. Tod Herman (Kaw); 5. Kevin Morris (KTM). C 250: 1. Jonathan Oleander (Hus); 2. Tom Gehring (Hon); 3. Nick Perie££ (Yam); 4. Steve Horschel (Hon); 5. James Callaghan (Hus). C OPEN: I. Mike Lotten (Kaw); 2. Ron Robbings (Hon); 3. Dan Phillips (Hon); 4. Corey Daum (KTM). C VET: 1. Paul Smith (Kaw); 2. Tiro Duncan (Hon); 3. Marvin Tolbert (Hon); 4. Mark Alan Harver (Kaw); 5. Cli££ord Larson (KTM). C SR: 1. David Bowen (Kaw); 2. Robe.rt Jump (Hon); 3. James Murdock (KTM); 4. Randy Hiatt (KTM); 5. Ted Hagler (KTM). C S/Sll; I. Steve Benson (SUl); 2. Ken Boring (Kaw); 3. Cecil Holman (Yam). C 4-STRK: I. Hugh Martin (SUl); 2. Kent Bell (Hon); 3. Todd Sullivan (SUl); 4. Randy Baker (Hon); 5. Paul Caudill (Hon). UNOFFICIAL AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ENDURO SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. Randy Hawkins (145); 2. Kelby Pepper (120); 3. Je££ _Russell (117); 4. Kevin Hines (113); 5. Steve Hatch (79). 19

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