Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

(Above) Kevin laVoie pushed his KTM through the mud to win the 500cc class. while Drew Smith (below) won overall on hiS PE250. the prior week dust had piled about a foot deep on many of the trails. The rain turned it into a foot or so of mud most places. It was loose and sloppy, but not so deep as to be unrideable, just a lot of work. The trails were tight and demanding, and So was tbe schedule, same times for Qualifiers ("letter-of. intent" riders) and B riders. Many of the "B's" were wishing lustily and loudly for their own schedule and their own separate scoring. "Good enduro," was the comment from Marion Dukes, who seized his 370cc Bultaco about II miles from the finish Saturday. "About l5 miles of first gear between Gas two and three." "It was muddy, rutty, brush hanging down," said anotber rider. "Guy who laid it out was on a trials bike." "Reminded me of the spring enduro Everett used to put on," said another. Carl Cranke, asked which sections were good, replied, "None I want to remember." Dane Leimbach buzzed into Gas three Saturday, grinning, telling his pit crew, "I need a dry jacket. All the water's from the inside." John Morgan, Suzuki team manager, summed up his feelings Saturday evening: "Actually, we needed this kind of event. Of all the qualifiers so far, this is the first time we've really been tested. This is a taste of ""hat the guys are actually going to face in the Six Days." And tested the Suzuki team would be. They had already lost two on Saturday. Don Cichoki came up with a gearbox full of neutrals in the MX test, after running on Gold all day. Dave Holtz. who had picked up a flu bug during the week, made it into impound dehydrated and running a bigb fever. He'd be too sick to continue Sunday. Then at the very end the team would see two Open class Golds flyaway when Randy Martin and Gary Edmonds missed a tum just four miles from the finish. On the plus side, they'd have the overall win and Mike Rosso's first in the l75cc class for "consolation... AMA Two-Day ISDT Qualifier Series - Round five Drew Smith wins muddyMt. Baker By Lane Campbell BELLINGHAM, WA,JUNE 16-17 Drew Smith, on a PE250 Suzuki, turned the hottest set of special test times to win overall in AMA Two-Day ISDT Qualifier that was a true test of ISDT mettle. There was roughly a 50% attrition rate both days. Primary factor: fatigue, plain and simple. The Mt. Baker M.e., according to coordinator Fred Boettner. 20 had taken tbe pages directly out of AI Eames' book in laying out the club's first two·day. When it rained both days of the event, the trial turned into an enduro proper. Actually, the rain was a mixed blessing; withouf it, the run would have been a worse dust bowl than Trask. Boettner told eN that during Virtually the same trails were used both days, with Sunday's loops run backwards. The main gas pits (Gas one, three and four) were in the foothills about six miles by road from the Mt. Baker club grounds, not far from a rendering plant. (Luckily the wind was in the right quarter. The locals say it can get pretty ripe in there, sometimes.) There was a long loop out to Gas two and back, plus two more shorter loops terminating back at the main gas pit for just over 140 miles per day. One spot that got particularly hairy was a single dirt-covered log over a creek not far from the Main Gas. Very easy it was to slip off, and it was about lO feet straight down with vertical banks. John Fero was one who went off into the water; and it was here that his weight lifting really came into play, as he bodily lifted his Yamaha and practically threw it back up onto the trail to hit the next cbeck still on his grace. Saturday night, the club workers moved in and beefed up the bridge, adding several logs on both sides. Even so, riders were treating the crossing with an extra measure of respect on the second day. Saturday had two injuries reported on the CB comm-net (replay from Lady Bird to Dirty Bird to Big Motor to Clubhouse). Ray BrO<;kman nailed a tree when his grip came off; figured . he'd been hurt when he kept falling down in places he shouldn't. The club's traveling Emergency' Med·Tech (circulating about the course on a BMW with a Red Cross flag on it) got to him and had him lie down for awhile before packing it in. Yamaha rider Mike Rosser was reported to have injured his leg on the trail, tearing some ligaments. Ted Leimbach wrenched his back near Check seven, made the check, but burt too badly to continue. Chris Carter crashed and also burt his back. Seven riders stopped at Check four, and three more quit at six. Steve Church (Yam) lost the top of a finger when he was clipped by a passing rider. Each day the riders ran two grassrrad special tests. plus a five-lap motocross heat. There was an acceleration test thrown in on Sunday. Tbe grasstrack was, indeed, a grass ttad - laid out in a meadow through grass that stood waist-high, topped with brilliant yellow buttercups. What with the rain, the grass was wet. slick and wild. The crew altered the course slightly each time the riders came through, throwing some chicanes into the longer straights (which cut down the corner-entry crashing consider· ably). Drew Smitb was fastest through here on Saturday's second run, getting down to a record 150 seconds on an altered course that should have been slowerl In Saturday's· motocross test, Drew Smith blew away his heat, setting fastest time (879) to finish with 1184 points total, on Gold and in the overall lead. In another heat, Ray Cosgrove (KTM rider out of Camanche, Iowa) won a tight three-way scramble after Randy Mastin (KTM, Ohio) ate a berm trying to pass him. Terry Cunningham hung on for second, although his Maico was starting to death-rattle in the final lap. Mastin restarted in time to take third. Al Zitta, Cycle Dyanrnics owner from Massachusetts, used bursts of big-bore horsepower to keep his KTM ahead of Mike Rosso's 175cc Suzuki in their MX heat. Ken Maahs rode his MX test with a broken clutcb lever dangling from his Husky, to finish on time and with a shot at a Gold. Canadian Dave Evans had a rear wheel collapse on the MX track to put him out, and as mentioned earlier, Don Cichoclci came up with no motive power during his MX heal. Greg Davis, out of Westerville, Ohio, literally blew his MX heat into the weeds on a 125cc Husky, turning 881 , just two seconds slower than Drew Smith's 250! Even with 60 route points picked up at Check eight, Davis' performance gave him a slim 125cc class lead over Dane Leimbach (SWM) who was clean on route time. In all, 64 bikes would make it into impound (some of them pushed); but of those, just over 50 actually started Sunday. If Saturday had been rough, Sunday promised pure misery; for the rain began again in earnest just as people were rousing out of bed for a 6:00 a.m. riders' meeting and a 6:30 key time. For most of the survivors, the service area maintenance amounted to lubing and de-mudding; although Suzuki teamster Gary Edmonds changed a rear tire. Mike Rosso did likewise, and Randy Martin had his 400 Suzi on its side, hammering out some bent foot controls. Kevin LaVoie, number 105, sauntered into impound with minute "02" showing to set some sort of mark for laid-back readiness. Cranke, grinning: "Early, hub?" LaVoie, also grinning, "Yeah, everybody.woke up at 6:10 ... " Both made it out on their minutes, with a minimum of flap. Steve Van Watermeulen's Maico refused to start on its minute; but even with the 50point penalty, "Vanwater" managed to finish with a clean route card and a respectable second in the Open class. Two riders, Ed Davis (Hus) and Harlan McDougal (KTM) got into taillight trouble and had to get the

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