Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

O ctober 21, 1992 ( 3 M S E 2 S 20 OFF-ROAD 1992 AMA Wiseco/Yamaha/Yokohama Grand National Cross Country Series: Round 11 Local rider Doug Blackwell (5) led Jan Hrehor (177), Terry Cunningham (3) and the pack off the start. Blackwell had a substantial lead when the race was red-flagged. Czechoslovakian Jan Hrehor scored his fourth National victory in a row. After the race was restarted, Doug Blackwell rode to a third overall finish. Hrehor aces Starvation Point National By Davey Coombs ELIZABETH, WV, OCT. 4 or the second cross country National in a row Czechoslovakian rider Jan Hrehor guided his Suzuki RMX250 to the overall victory, this time at the contro versy-plagued Starvation Point GNCC. When combined with two recent National hare scrambles overall victories, however, Hrehor has four National wins in a row. In West Virginia the 28-year old Hrehor won a shortened race of just more than one hour after the run was red-flagged and restarted after two laps. Honda's Scott Summers, who had already clinched the series title, raced to second overall with local favorite Doug Blackwell finishing third. Blackwell was more than two min utes ahead of everyone when the event was stopped after more than one hour of racing due to a directional mix-up on the trail. Steve McSwain finished fourth over all, while 29-year-old Gary Roach, a Honda XR250 pilot from Ohio, rounded out the top five. Class winners included Ron Palermo in the Open A ranks, 250cc A class series points leader Gene Onail, Robert Tominello in the 200cc A group, and Pennsylvania's Steve Holbert in the Four- Stroke A division. Starvation Point, a motocross/super- cross/hare scrambles facility organized by DBL Promotions, was making its debut on the cross country schedule and by most accounts is a worthy venue for National caliber racing. The mostly virgin trail mea sured a dozen miles per lap and featured a brief jaunt around the motocross course. Perfect weather and a tacky trail greeted the nearly 200 riders who attended the race. The problems with the race were a result of every woods racing organizer's nightmare: Over-zealous spectators and unknowing riders altered the trail and caused many riders to miss more than half the track after one lap around the 35-min- utes long trail. A section just after the start was bypassed on the first lap so that the pack would not be sent down a mile-long tram road while still bunched together. From that point on riders were to make a left-hand comer on to that part of the trail. However, when the riders returned for lap two, spectators who did not attend the riders' meeting stepped in to direct the rid ers straight down the same shortened trail they followed on the start. Several riders still followed the assigned trail, causing a chaotic scene all around the track. "I started down the start trail after the first lap and then remembered the changes that they told us about at the riders' meet ing," admitted Tominello, the 200cc A class winner. "I turned around to go back and Mark Hyde and a couple of other guys were right behind me. I guess every one just started following each other down the wrong trail." Organizers quickly called a halt to the proceedings and asked the riders to return to the pits to await further instructions. It was decided at a second riders' meeting that the race would be restarted with rid ers lined up in single-file rows according to their standing after the first completed lap. It was also determined that the re started race would last two laps, which would take just more than one hour. "I don't know that the decision that they made to restart was the right one," said Team Green's Terry Cunningham. "Avoiding the straight off the start was a case of trying to do the right thing, but it caused even more problems. It was the fault of the people who did not listen at the riders' meeting; they should've been penalized instead of everyone else. It was stressed time and again at the riders' meet ing and every rider should have known where to go." The greatest injustice might have been done to Blackwell. The Team Green Kawasaki rider was more than two min utes ahead when the event was red- flagged, but at the restart he was not accessed any type of time advantage; he was merely placed first in line after building his lead over the course of 90 minutes. He led the first lap of the restart with Summers and Hrehor following but then banged a tree and fell off, allowing ؛׳ his pursuers back into contention for the second time. With the wind visibly gone ؛ ' from his sails, Blackwell lost the lead pace and finished a disappointed third overall. For the record, Hrehor captured the overall with room to spare. "The restart helped me because Blackwell was far ahead when the race was stopped," said Hrehor. "After that I was able to go faster because that is the type of race I am used to in Europe." Summers also admitted that the restart helped his cause. "I was pretty much out of it by the time they red-flagged the ׳first moto,׳" said Summers. "We all got back together for the restart and I was able to do much better. Still, I think it was a bad situ ation for everyone because no one likes to race that long for nothing." Hrehor led Summers by 50 seconds at the checkered flag, while Blackwell fol lowed more than a minute and a half later. McSwain placed a season-high fourth on his '93 Suzuki RM250 Suzuki, while Gary Roach rounded out the top five overall on his Honda XR250. Conner recovered from his early fall to finish sixth overall. "I got messed up right after the restart," said Cunningham, who was forced out after the restart. "I made it to the first big hill behind Doug and Gary Roach and the rest. Tom Norton fell and Duane moved to the right into my front wheel and I went down. We were so close together that it was impossible to get back up there, then I got a flat tire anyway. It was unfortunate the way it turned out because it was like a dash-for-cash. Everyone was going wide open." Palermo's Open A class victory was his

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