Cycle News

~ ~ ~ - ..... 00 0') -- ~ 0 ~ ~ 0.. Team Husqvarna's Ed Lojak (right) pits; he led unt il a loose silencerforced a stop f or repairs. (Below) The C class start. z en w w Z ~ 0 X Q. '" ~ > ... ... ::> en Can -Am's John Martin finished fourth overall . third 250cc A, at the Olympia National Hare Scrambles. Teammate Geoff Ballard won. AMA National Championship Hare Scrambles Series: Round 2 Ballard scrambles to another win By Paul Nielsen OLYMPIA, WA, MAR. 17 T eam Can-Am's Geoff Ballard scored his second victory in a row as he took the check- ered flag just seven seconds ahead of Team Husky's Ed Lojak in the second round of the AMA National Championship HareScrambles Series at Olym- pia ORV Sports Park. Ballard overlook Lojak on lap five and never looked back when the Husky rider encountered min or mechanica l problems.T hird overa ll was Husky's Mark Hyde; fourth went to Can-Am's John Martin, who placed second to Ballard at th e series opener in Florida. T his round of th e series was hosted by th eSea Fair CityM.C. , which took advantage of the park's motocross track and open tra il layout to crea te a cha llenging 12-mile-long race course. As 'race tim e drew near, competitors were a ll warmed- up and ready to go. A gun would be used to signal the dead-engine sta rt . When th e gun went off, Hyde 18 screamed into the lead on th e moto- cross portion of th e course, with Lojak on his rear fender. Back in th e d ust by several bikelengths were Bal - lard and Martin , whi le Randv Haw- kins (Hus) and T eam Husky's Kevin , Hines were in fifth and sixth. Hyde and Lojak spent the rest of th e first lap swappi ng th e lead between th em- selves, but at th e home chec kpoint, it was Lojak in front by 10 seco nds . On lap two, Hines broke a shock and lost time pi tting as it was replaced. Anoth er T eam Husky rider, Dave Bertram, also had bad luck whe n he fell and injured hi s hand, forcing him to retire from th e race . Ballard was bus y working his way up as he pa ssed Hyde then set hi s sig hts on Lojak . Local fan s had reason to be excited during la p three of th e 10-lap race- three Washington riders were in the top 10.Open Arid ers Kevin Bethards (Hus) and John Nielsen (Hus) were sevent h and ninth overa ll, respec- tivel y, and 17-year -old 250cc A rider David Rhodes (Hus) was 10th . As he flew in th e lead positio n, Lojak 's Husky sou nd ed crisp, but that all changed on lap five when his si lencer came loose, Lojak had to pit and lost 40 seconds before he was able to ge t going again. But th e lead changed for good as Ballard went by. T here was no rest for th e Can-Am riders as th e rest of th e pack was in hot pursuit, among them Lojak, who was quickly making up for lost time. At the finish line, Ballard raced to th e flag with a seven-second lead over Lojak for the overall win . Third went to Hyde while Martin made a last - ditch effort to overtake him to place fourth. Hawkins grabbed fifth over- all while Stan Lojak (Hus)moved up to sixth. Seventh overall went to Guy Perrett (Hon), who managed to get ahead of Nielsen towards the end. Duke Dowell (KT M) scored ninth for th e dav, and Bethards was 10th. Ala'; Barker of Gainesville. Flor- ida, leadin g the four-stroke cla ss on his 560cc Can-Am until hi s fuel su pply was used up; Matthew Cul- lins th en took over on his Honda. Mike McCarren came from Butler, Pennsylvania , to ride his Yamaha for a first place in the 200ccAclass, while c.J. Pittman won the over-Sfis. B and C class riders raced for two ho urs on a shortened six-mile course, wh ich used most of th e motocro ss course. including a sma ll bit of fire road with the rest trails. At th e riders meeting th e start sig- nal was not disclosed, bu riders were assured they would hear it. As the sta rte r was trying to get th e Bclass to shut off th eir motors, somebody's bike backfired and th e class roared into action! The sta rt grid generated a lot of dust and, th ose not in front had to slow up and wait, then play catch up. Leading th e pack to th e first check was Rudy Smith (Kaw 125); in close second was J im Gasseen (Hon 500) . with Rick Sparks (KT 1\I 250) in third and Craig Albert (Yam 250) fourth, and Jay Gibbons fifth . Smith and Gasseen hit the check th e same minute and Gasseen was leading after lap two . On lap four, Smith took the lead as Gasseen pit- ted, Sparks was third and being pursued by Gibbons and Albert. Gas- seen finished fir st, taking Overall B honors, followed by 125cc B class winner Smith, 250cc Bwinner Sparks. OverThe Hill cla ss winner Gibbons, followed Albert, second in th e 250cc B class , made up th e fifth rider to make seven laps. - Results OVERALL: t . Geoff Bellerd (C·AI. OPENA; t . Mert

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