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/126463
o 00 O"l ~ Husqvarna's Greg Davis put in the best 125cc ride. Motocrosser Frank Stacy tried Tennessee and scored Gold. leson Teddy Leimbach. 'Tm five seconds down on Burleson and this new tire is going to do the trick." Many riders chose to put on new rear rubber, change brake shoes or just do routine maintenance before the start. "The schedule we're on is a tight one," said Rosso. "I missed a few spots on the trail and got behind a few times yesterday. You'd be surprised how good a rider you become once you're late." Hey, this is fun," said Frank Stacy. "I zeroed the course. I'm proud of that. The only real mistake I made was doing an endo while cruising into check 10. 1 couldn't have been- going more than two or three miles an hour. over this mound of dirt. Bingo. The next thing I was on the ground." Denny Swartz also enjoyed the trails. "I wish I had more time to sightsee. This is really pretty country. I'm having a good time. My only problem was that 1 figured my card wrong and went into a check one minute early. Other than that I'm fine." "You've got to watch out for these young kids,' joked Lavoie. "I had to help Kuenzer out of a ditch on the way to yesterday'S special test when he cooked into a corner too hot." "I should know better," recanted Kuenzer, "I did the same thing last year. For most the day went smoothly. Teddy Leimbach "Got spit off like I was a rocket" in the morning's special test. Burleson cut tWO seconds off his time from the day before to continue on top of the heap. Yamaha'sJohn Fero got a flat in one of the tighter sections, changed it and still made it in on time. "That tire change by Fero was probably the most impressive thing I saw today," said Lavoie after the event. "Everybody had better watch out for Stacy once he learns a little more about the event," said Greg Davis. "He had a problem - the brake backing plate came loose - and repaired it quickly and just barely lost that one minute. He's cool under fire." And what kind of a day was it for Burleson? "It's a good event," he said shrugging his shoulders. "There's not much to say. You just go out and ride." Finally, the loop was finished and the part everyone eagerly awaited was about to begin. An ISDT-style final test MX has not been a part of the Qualifier Series until now and it comes as one more step into making the events as close to a miniature ISDT as possible. Three laps on the almost-two-mile course with 15 riders going at a time was the game plan. Each rider was timed individually. It was a dead engine start. The first heat found one of the best match ups of the day - Gallo against Swartz. Gallo was first away with Swartz coming on strong, The pair were side- by-side until one corner where Gallo went down and Swartz ran over him. They were quickly up, but Gallo's bars were tweaked. Swartz finished first, Kevin Lavoie was seen waving on the rest of the field to come and race in his heat. They tried, but Lavoie won. Frank Stacy romped to a win in his hea,t which might have put a little more fire into Dick Burleson as he clobbered his line-up by almost a minute. The winning .mugins were deceiving, since most displacement sizes ran in most heats. - Rod Bush won his heat, but it was a costly win. "I had five minutes to work on the bike so I decided to put on a new rear tire, I can do a change in five easy, Only this time I didn't. The chain adjuster wouldn't line up. It ended up costing me 120 points. I had s shot at winning the class (175cc I) until then. " Teddy Leimbach and teammate Jeff Hill placed I -2 in their heat. Jack . Penton was set to do the same until he sheared off the teeth on the countershaft sprocket. "What a bummer," said Penton shaking his head. Mark Maddox went on to take that heat win and wrap up the overall B title as well. Burleson must have known that he had the win in hand during the final test. He was ~en giving Husky teammate Greg Davis the thumbs-up sign as he romped to that win. '" had a good time," said Burleson. "It was a good run and the special test was nice, although I would have liked to have seen them make it a lot tighter so that you had to ride it more than depend on power to do the work for you." '" didn't really want to win the class (175cc I) this way," said Rosso. "Penton and I would have gone down to the wire if he hadn't had the problem." A protest on the assessment of 120 route points on Day Two to Mike Rosso is pending. Should the protest be ruled in favor of Ross - which Suzuki team manager John Morgan feels will be the case - he would have the class win. In the event it goes against Rosso, then Yamaha's Ron Ribotzi would take the class title. Joe McVay, the A division overall winner, figured he had gotten his money's worth. "Saturday was really tough. Today was a little easier since they put us on a slower. schedule. It was a fun ride and worth the trip. That's what it's all about, isn't it?" "Would you believe this is my first Two·Day? I'm really pumped," said B class overall winner Mark Maddox. "I run a cycle shop (Mark's Cycle Sales) in Roanoke, VA, and we're really into dirt. This ~ill pump my dad who runs the shop with me. I'm sorry that Ken Jenkins had the problems he did (a broken shifter shaft) because he was riding so well. " The action now moves to Maplesville, AL, for the next round on April 12-15. • Unofficial results BEST "I" SCORE: Oick Burleson, 1226.IHusJ. BEST "A" SCORE: 1. Joe McVoy. 1917,IKTMI. BEST "B" SCORE: 1. Mark Maddox. 1374. IKTMI. 125cc I: 1. Greg Davis, 1894.IHusJ. OTHER GOLDS: None. SILVER: 1. Gray Leonard; 2. Dane Leimbach. BRONZE: 1. P. Dillion: 2. R. Daly. 175cc I: 1. Mike Rosso. 127111391· (under protest). (Suz); 2. Ron Ribolzl, 1312. (Vam); 3. J. Penton, t 382; 4. B. Goeco. 1390: 5. R. Bush. 1394. other gold: None. SILVER: 1. M. Graham: 2. S. Ely. BRONZE: 1. K. Brown; 2. J. Stevens; 3. S. Read: 4. B. Patridge; 5. A. Senecal; 6. D. Kellenker; 7, D. Rudder; 8. S. Lewis. 250cc I: 1, Dick Burleson. 1226. IHusl; 2. T. Leimbach. 1251; 3. D. Kuonzer. 1254: 4. J. Foro. 1272: 5. J. Hill. 1282. OTHER GOLD: 1. M, Melton; 2. M. Hennon; 3. K. Piarecki; 4. R. Munyon; 5. V. Ely; 6. B. Young; 7. R. Lemastus; 8. F. Stacy; 9. J. FredeMo; 10. R. Reynaud; 11. T. Cunningham; 12. C AVftry. SILVER: 1. O. Moser; 2, E. Schuell; 3. :J. Randall; 4. N. Smith; 5. A. Litte; 6. T. Buckles; 7. R. Sharphorn. BRONZE: 1. R. Mastin; 2. D. SantlCh; 3, J, Martin; 4. G. Barr; 5. K. Costellpo; 6. R. JUflg. OPEN I: 1. Kevin laVOIe, 1264, IKaw); 2. Carl AltIer. 1312; 3, CY.Swaru, 1370; 4. R. Cosgrove. OTHER GOLD: None. SILVER: 1. C. Beindorf; 2. W, Martin; 3. T. Clonninger: 4. S, Loiak: 5. F. Pissocki; 6. B, Sharpless; 7. J. Harris. BRONZE: 1. M. M..kowitz: 2. M. Whatley; 3. Kennedy; 4. F. Gallo: 5. J. Dranginis: 6. K. Putulowski: 7. F. Sunon: 8.T, Harris, 9. R. Smith. 17