Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

t tvr Am Pro Yamaha s Earry Hawk took full /_\advantage of a good start and went on to collect his llrst win of the year at round four of the Parts Unlimited Off-Road Motorcycle and ATV Nationals, in Rio Grande, Ohio, on May 14. After duelint bri€fly with Honda- mounted Paul Whibley, Hawk trabbed the lead for good on the first lap of the Pirelli Coal Miner Cross Country and slowt but steadit motored away on his Factory Connection/FMF/MSR Y2250 to earn the winner's $ 1000 prize. Charlie f4ullins, Hawk's Am Pro Yamaha teammate, also enjoyed a good start and moved into second place on the second lap of the muddy and very slick race. But in a rituation reminiscent of round three, Mullins got rtuck in a muddy, rutted bottle- neck on rhe last lap. That Save two-time and reigning OMA champion limmy rarrett the break he was waitinS for, and he found a way around the bottleneck on his Andrews Cycles/Maxxis/Moose RM250, giv- ing him second overall, two mi utes behind Hawk after two and a half hours. lvlullins would han8 on for third, just over a minute behind Jarretc. Whibley maintained his quick pace to claim fourth on his Summers RacinB/FMF/Moore CRF250R. while local hero Travis Green rounded out the top five on his Team Green/Dunlop/Moose KX250. 'All day I ,ust tried (o ride mistake-free and not do anything stupid," Hawk said. Mullins hung alose to him unil after lhe halfway mark, when he got hung up in a creek section, allowing Hawk to open up his lead substantially for the first time. "There were actually a couple sections that got really gnarly there, like this one down in the walley and one other one," Hawk said. "lt made you think. You had to pick a Sood line. You couldn't just blow through it. lt was fun." Mork lhriyo Borry Howk won his first roce of the yeor ol lhe OMA event in Ohio. Josh Gront dominoted rhe Prequel cr Glen Helen on his Hondo cff450f. o o o Grant Thkes Prequel After demonstratint supremacy at the Four- S(roke World Championships several weeks ago at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California, Honda's Josh Grant returned to the scene to score the overall win in the 250 Pro class durinS the third annual Prequel showdown on May 14. Grant won both motos, turning lap times nearly trvo seconds faster than his competition to establish early leads before settlinS down to consistent. error-free rides, The scramble for the runner-up spot wasn't decided until the llnal laps when Brazilian Honda rider Antonio Balbi took the spot with his 5-2 tally over Kawasaki's Darcy LanSe's 2-6. A llerce 125 contest ended with neither moto winner reaching the podium. Jason lawrence won the first moto, and then parked his Suzuki for the second moto - only to find out that pay- ofI was based on the overall and not per moto. Georgia's l''lartin Davacos, loth in the first moto, was never in the overall hunt, but he did win the second moto. That left Yamaha's Brett Metcalfe to take the win with a pair of se

• Cover