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Schmelzle's Most Nimble at Kimball!
Rocky Mountain Enduro Circuit
Round 2, MotoAdventure Qualifier
Harrisburg, NE | April 29, 2007
Story & Photo by George Pennington
Unseasonably warm weather combined with moist, grassy soil offered up stunning conditions for over 200 racers at round two of the Rocky Mountain Enduro Circuit's Championship Series. This event is quickly becoming a must do on the RMEC calendar, as the events close proximity to the metro Denver area and the racer friendly terrain and non-timekeeping format are attractive to a wider range of rider than the typical enduro. With this being the second running of the event, the MotoAdventures Kawasaki crew put their past experience to good use, improving over last year with a longer loop and fun, yet challenging tests featuring a combination of fast and furious grass track, tight, sandy wash's and a plethora of tight single-track sections, all dust free today!
It's the tests that separate the men from the boys, the winners from the losers, and when all is said and done, it's Ron Schmelzle once again standing atop the results with blazing test scores, putting to rest any questions about his ability to adapt after switching to KTM this year. Recording his first overall win of the season was not without challenge though, as Dave Neumeister followed closely behind, just 35 tie breaker seconds separating the two riders. Neumeister seemed to have some advantage in the early going, just a second separating the two at the half-way point, but as the trail and lines got burned in,
Schmelzle kicked out the jams, opening the gap an average of 12 seconds per test to seal the win. Scott Bright posted a solid ride, finishing third AA today and completing a KTM sweep of the AA podium.
Brian Fortman emerged atop all the A riders with a score good enough to place him at third overall for the day and ahead of second placing Open A rider Kevin Butts by a whopping 11 points! A much tighter finish in the Four-Stroke A’s as Kyle Summers, Cody Schafer and Ben Jansma freight-trained to the fifth through seventh place overall and of course first through third class finishes respectively, the trio sitting on equal points scores but separated by tie-breaker seconds.
Vet rider Keith Novello showed the B class how it's done as he bested all of them with a low 91 point score. Levi Scena kept it close, the Open class rider actually outscoring Novello in four of the six tests, but of the two he didn't, he dropped a full point in one, unwittingly handing the overall to Novello.
C class action was dominated by Vet riders, the first four overall positions in fact. Darrin Parkin came out on top a full point ahead Mark Enloe who managed to stay ahead of Scott Fry by a tight 15 seconds while Dolbert Bostock followed up, just another nine seconds behind Fry. Fred Copeland topped the Four-Strokes at fifth overall, Greg Jackson upheld Senior honors at sixth overall and Husqvarna CR125 mounted Tyler Pennington took his first RMEC class win, topping the 200's at ninth overall.
Results:
AA: 1. Ron Schmelzle (KTM); 2. Dave Neumeister (KTM); 3. Scott Bright (KTM); 4. Bernie Frederick (Yam)
200A: 1. Donny Murray; 2. Paul Nafziger; 3. Dirk Hale; 4. Aaron Turner; 5. Mike Diesburg
250A: 1. Jeremy Henley; 2. Matt Larson; 3. Dan Harmon; 4. Nicole Bradford (KTM); 5. Josh Aumiller
Open A: 1. Brian Fortman; 2. Kevin Butts; 3. Dave Anderson; 4. Kris Brunson; 5. Brady Van Matre
4-Stroke: 1. Kyle Summers; 2. Cody Schafer; 3. Ben Jansma; 4. Jeremy Rice; 5. Mike Decker
Vet A: 1. John Little; 2. Mike Harvey; 3. Jeff Hernandez; 4. Marc Reynolds; 5. Todd Harrison
Sen. A: 1. Rob Weiher (Yam); 2. Kevin O'Leary (KTM); 3. Kevin Stamen; 4. Keith Ray; 5. Gary Miller (Suz); 6. George Pennington (Hus)
200 B: Adam Donaldson; 2. Jake Heyden; 3. Tim Pfisterer; 4. Spencer Weidman; 5. Michael Trumble
250 B: 1. Billy Innis (Suz); 2. Colte Ross; 3. Trace Armstrong; 4. Dan Donaldson; 5. Tyler Heggie
Open B: 1. Levi Scena; 2. Dan Buchneit; 3. Jeff Markewicz (KTM); 4. Steve Sadler; 5. Lonnie Holl
4-Stroke B: 1. Justin Warning; 2. Brian Brinkman; 3. Kyle Weaver; 4. David Boonstra; 5. Ryan Bellrose
Vet B: 1. Keith Novello; 2. Forest Smith; 3. James Robinson (KTM); 4. Chris McPherson; 5. Brett Montgomery
Sen. B: 1. PJ Marquez; 2. Doug Duncan; 3. Dale Tanaka; 4. Kevin Brunson; 5. Larry Jamison (KTM)
SS Long: 1. Kenny Perkins (KTM); 2. Jary Penny; 3. David Schadle; 4. Greg Gibson; 5. Mike Fortman
200 C: 1. Tyler Pennington (Hus); 2. Kyle Schafer; 3. Ricky VanDuyn; 4. Ethan Morefield (KTM)
250 C: 1. Sean Jelosek; 2. Blake Fastnacht; 3. Chase Woirhaye; 4. Joshua Wewerka; 5. Kimberly VanDuyn
Open C: 1. Tyler McLeish; 2. Tom Stillwell; 3. Richard Walker; 4. Bill Flynn; 5. Colt Curdy
4-Stroke C: 1. Fred Copeland; 2. Kyle Blakley; 3. Adam Swanson; 4. Chad Wilcox; 5. Chris Muhler
Vet C: 1. Darrin Parkin; 2. Mark Enloe; 3. Scott Fry; 4. Dolbert Bostock; 5. Shane Brown
Sen. C: 1. Greg Jackson; 2. Roger Ryburn; 3. Steven Thoene; 4. Doug Armstrong; 5. Rob Anderson
SS Short: 1. Gary Schmidt; 2. Randy Bright; 3. Scott Nix; 4. Jerry Coy; 4. Rusty Riggs; 5. Marshall Cook
Super 60: 1. Rudolph Bradley; 2. Lawrence Schmelzle; 3. Ed Kistler; 4. Marv Donaldson (Hon)
Women: 1. Maggie Kunz (Kaw); 2. Hilda Bowman
Under 16: 1. Eli Goff; 2. Brenton Bauerkemper; 3. Austin Lang
Sportsman: 1. David VanDuyn; 2. Jay Goff; 3. David Bauerkemper; 4. Mike Kunz (Kaw)