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/125987
; IlG -= ~ t 10 rO'l ,...., \.0 ;>- • ro ~ By Charles Morey PELL CITY, ALA., APR. 19 -20 Team Ossa rider Kevin LaVoie turned in the best overall score of 1289 points at the Two Days In Alabama ISDT Qualifier, leading the three-man Yan kee Motors squad to the first Manufacturers' Team Award placing as well. Teammates Don Cutler and Max Markowitz offered strong backing with 1303 and 1313.5 scores, respectively, putting the th ree of them far ahead of the second p lace Penton Imports team. Cutler's performance put the team captain at the head of the 25 0c c class standings , while Markowitz ran a close second in the 200cc category, being edged by Pen to n rider Dennis Vandecar's 1294 total. Day one, despi te being dampened by light showers and being 60 miles lon ger than the second day, proved to be the easier of the two. The terrain consisted mostly of open woods roads with only a few areas of face-slapping woods riding. Wheelies were the order of the day among the faster riders with th e record goin g to Carl Cran ke 's 55 mph 200 yard unicycle ac t down the highway at the third gas stop. Not everyone shared in th e fun 'n games, however, as the 204 mile co u rse ch o p ped th e en try list from 170 starters t o 96 still in the runnin g by Saturday nigh t , There were m any ta les of ch ain failu re due to the rel atively h igh speed tr ails. Penton Imp orts te am in Th e part icular was all smiles an d sp o rt in g perfect zero scores after th e first day. To m Penton followed up his ride by se ttin g th e fastest time in the gras s track sp ecial test, and J ack Penton and Carl Cranke weren 't far behind. At that point they led Team Ossa 0-67 . Day two would signal their downfall. Dane Leimbach had th e top spot ea rmarked for the Austrian built "American " marque in the I OOcc class, alth ou gh he h ad a close call at losing it through a first day error in organization . Leimbach, sta r ting on the fourth min ute , soon p assed all earlier riders to bre a k trail for the en tir e run. At one point, just before th e first gas stop, th ere was sup p ose d to h ave b een a co urse cre w member to direct the riders up th e hi ghway into the gas stop /ch eck ; but speedy Dane beat the cre w to the tum, sh o t acro ss the road an d picked up th e arrows o n the other side . Had he be en on a lar ger bi ke, it 's dou btful that he'd have m ade i t to th e second gas st op , but, lu ckil y , the Ii ttle 100cc Penton proved itsel f a gas mis er. He was later found faultless of s kip ping the ch ec k and not p enaliz ed. Tom Penton led the 125cc class by virtue of perfec t zero scores on the course and fastest time on the grass track., although eventual second placer, Dwight Ru dder , wasn't behind far en o ugh that Pen ton could relax. In the 200cc ranks Penton ride r Dan Young held a slim 3.5 pain t lead over Dennis Vandecar thanks to Young's faster run in the acceleration special test. The score cards were filled with riders still riding on Gol d ; the special tests making the all important difference. Jack Penton held a narrow advan t age over several potential Gold Medalists af t er the first day in the 250cc class with a 427.5 total. Tom Shaw, Frank Piasecki, Don Cutler and Lars Larsson all ran within easy strikin g distance in the 440 range. Carl Cranke, Kevin LaVoie , Ron LaMastus and Jim Hollander all looked capable o f ca p tu rin g the 3 50cc title. In the Op en class, both Barry Higgins and Dave Eames held o ff even t ual winner Frank Gallo. Higgin s ' time on th e grass track set him 16 p oints o ver Gallo, wh ile Eam es ' only sligh tly be tter sp ecial test m arks sandwiched him between t he pair at the end of day one. Can -Am rider Billy UbI d ro p pe d out on th e first da y with a seized motor . as di d Hercules rep Doug Wilford. Both were working on Gold Medals wh en their m o un ts failed. Day two d awned clear an d sunny, b u t a co m bin ati o n of ti ght trails and th e fast "A" sch edule cast a cloud o ver many of Saturday 's potential winners. Of th e 96 com pet ito rs who finished th e fi rst day , only 59 co m p le ted the second; and many of th em did it only with gre atl y in creased penal t y mark totals. Although Dane Leimbach maintained his 100cc win for Penton, he racked up over 25 00 points total for the two day s due t o a repair of a badly ripped tire on th e ti gh t second day sche d ule . Dane 's perfect % (ro u te marks /p oints) score for day o ne leaped to 2 1/ 12 6 0 on the sec o n d day . Only three 100cc clas s riders were able to com p le te both days : Leimbach , J am es Mize an d Ric k Grant. T om Penton co n tin ue d t o ke ep a grip on th e 125cc pro gram, and for th e second time put in t he quickest ride of all clas ses in th e grass tr ack sp ecial test. Dwi gh t Rudder an d Gary Edmond follo we d Penton 's 1434 score with 1540 and 1783, resp ectively . Dan Young lo st his lead wh en his chain b roke in th e second d ay of 200cc The Chepachet (Rhode Island) Charge r, Kevin laVoie pu t his New England endu ro riding skills to work to gamer the best overall score at the Albama ISOT qualifier. Lisbon (Ohio ) Cycle Center's Frank Gallo topped the Ope n class. co mpet i tio n. With Young's score ro cketed up in to the 4000 point brac ke t, Dennis Vandecar kept the Penton brand on top , just sh u ttin g out Ossa teamster Max Markowitz by 19 p oin ts : 1294 to 131 3.5. J ac k Penton als o suffer ed chain failure , and it also cost him a chan ce at the 25 0cc win. His problem was wo r th 2286 p oin ts and im medi at ely dumped him down to 14th from a probable fir st . Don Cutler's Ossa ran faultlessly as did David Hul se 's Montesa and Frank Piasec ki's Husky . They took th e top th ree pl aces with all th eir sco res falling within a ra nge of 16 pain ts. Kevin La Vo ie took first place in the 350cc sta n din gs with the best score of the even t: 1289. Carl Cranke was delayed by a flat tire, and the unforgiving "A" schedule took a he avy to ll poin t-w ise, d ropping him from a p otenti al class win to fourth. Penton rider Ron LaMastus to ok seco nd with 13 57 .5 points ah ead of Rokorr 's Jim Hollander in third with a 1362.5 total. Barry Higgins ' Maico led the Open class at the Sunday morning start, but be fo re th e first gas stop the bike 's gas tank went dry and completely robbed Higgin s of an y chance at sco ring co m pe ti tively. Fran k Gallo took over 13