Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125878
• menca teams Belgian m ov es ov er fo r a Du tchman runn ing late. Texas CN crew must hav e decorated these lo cal damsels. By Jack Mangus CAMER INO, ITALY, SEPT. 15 The Czechs, as expected, took home the trophies from the 49th International Six Days Trial, but fourth place finishes by both the American Trophy and Vase Teams were outstanding performances consi deri ng the conditions presen t in Italy. Headquartered in the small city of Camerino, the l.OOO-plus mile test of men, mach ines and politics ran through incredibly scenic, mountainous terrain. Riders' opinions of the co urse ranged from Tom Penton's "the most difficult IS DT I have ridden," to Dave Eames' "not as difficult as Massachusetts." Wh ile riders' opi nions of the co urse's degr ee of di ffic ulty may have varied, th e opinion of the organization was unanimous - pro-Italian , Larry Meyers, Manager of th e Pen to n Trophy Team, and Jack Lehto, Manager of the Husqvama Vase Team, were pleased Doug Wilfo rd mounts so me new rear rubber in a h u rry. 6 American J. Barker makes a sidehill course correction. with their t eam 's performances un der what J o h n Pen t on d esc ri bed as "black and whi te co ndi tions. .. ~ The trial may have been pro-Italian, but the Czech team p ro ved their superiority over representatives of 17 other nations. Three hundred riders started the six days and they faeed constant schedule juggling. Even the initial stage was run under a "B" schedule although the course at that part was not difficult. Arrivals at checks ran early, and only a few riders retired on the first day. Day two brought about the first serious injury as a West Ge rman tro p hy team m emb er suffere d a broken wris t. The West German team wit hdrew from the trial on the following day in p rotest o f the hospi ta l treatment of their rid er . In the words of one unidentified Italian, " in an Italian hospital you either die or survive. " American riders who retired during J ack Penton takes t ime out for a fu n-f o od snack. the trials were: Rod Bush o n d ay fo ur, Jo hn Sitton on d ay one, Do n Cutler on day five, Char lie Vincent o n day four, Do n Stover on day three , Mark Adent on day fo ur , T. Shaw on day fo ur an d Ben Bower o n day one. Gold medals were won by Trophy Team members Tom Penton, Jack Penton and Carl Cranke; Vase team members Dick Burleson and Malcolm Smith and Can-Am m o un t ed Bill Uh l. Taking silver medals back to the U.S. were Trophy Team me mbers Joe Barker an d Paul Danik, Vase Team members Dave Eames and Ed Schmidt, Pe nton m oun ted Eric Jensen and H usky mounted R o n Bo hn. Ame ricans awarded bron ze medals Were Trophy Team m embers Dan e Leimbach, Penton m o u nted Da n Young, Bo b Ismalof and Ron Lamastus, Pu ch 's Doug Wilford, Ossa mounted Dave Latham and Husky mounted Ken Maahs. Billy Uh l (C-A ) found it easy to stay on Gold standard.