Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

55th 'lIf.,.Uo.'Six Day. T....' talians retain World Trophy; USA disappointing fenth By Gary Van Voorhis BRIOUDE, FRANCE, SEPT. 22-27 taly, for the second year in a row, topped the ISDT World Trophy standings. However, this time it was no contest as the six rider powerhouse saw three team members take class wins and the remaining . k d . f h tno ta e seCO? ~n two 0 t. ose classes and third In another In a eruly amazing display of superiority. A week·long, see-saw battle in the Silver Vase competition saw West Germany lose the lead after the first two days slip to third and then rally to topple Sweden from the top of the l!eap on the f:nal day. Lady Luck did not smile on U.S. entries in either World Trophy or Silver Vase competition as rider tirements, a tight trail time schedule and only adequate special test times mbined to leave both tearns mired in tenth place in the final standings of the event which was held in central France. Individually, the price of gold medals was very high as only five Americans earned them. There were 14 silver medalists and six who earned bronze. Larry Roeseler, for the second year in a row, was the best American scorer. Roeseler, riding for Team Yamaha, was sixth in the 500cc class and 20th overall of 228 finishers. Husqvarna rider Mike Melton posted the second best individual American score, taking fifth in the 250cc division followed by fellow 250cc competitors Jeff Fredette (sixth); aboard a Suzuki, plus Dick Burleson (seventh) and Terry Cunningham twelfth) of Husqvarna. Although weather for the actual Six Days was clear and dry, two days before the start torrential rains dampened spirits and nearly brought about the cancellation of day one. So heavy were the rains that a dam burst Sunday afternoon on the Allier River· . the main tributary through the area - before officials had time to relieve the pressure on it and inundated many areas. FIM Jury members called together by the mayor of Brioude debated starting the event since medical, police .and armed forces personnel were involved in helping with the disaster. Although alternatives were discussed, the final outcome was to start the ISDT as scheduled. The American squad decided to dedicate their effort to Teddy Leimbach who was to have ridden on the Silver Vase team, but was critically injured in an automobile accident less than twO weeks prior ro the departure date for the team. Dane Leimbach, Teddy's older brother, carried the flag in the opening ceremonies. The entrance of the U.S. squad was marred when busses carrying nearly the entire contingent got lost on the way to the ceremonies and those arriving early marc~ed in a~ USA 1 with the. remamder entenng later as USA 2. On day four it was learned that Leimbach had succumbed to his injuries and that cast a somber note over the final two days. . One of the unsung h~roes of thIS year's ISDT was Doctor RIchard Myer, known to m~t as "Crazy Richa~d." He worked overtime not only keepmg the American squad healthy, but also some En~lish and Australian ride~ as well. ThIS was no n,tean feat smce nearly a dozen U.S. nders and about an equal number of support personnel came down with a two day flu bug that put the majority out of action or severely cut down their effectiveness. If there was an award for Rookie of the Year honors it would go to Husqvarna rider Rusty Reynaud. He was the only American 125cc rider to finish and took fifth in class which netted him a silver medal since his final score was not within ten percent of the class leader. (Silver medals are awarded to those whose score is within 40 percent of the class leader. Bronze medals go to those who finish out of gold or silver medal status.) Mike Rosso, riding for Suzuki on the Silver Vase team, topped the American contingent in the 175cc division with a ninth place finish which earned a silver medal. Mike Melton and Larry Roeseler took 250cc and 500cc class top American spots. Our best placing overall came in the Club Team competition where the squad of Husqvarna rider Terry Cunningham, Maico's Steve Van Watermeulen and Yamaha's Bruce Ogilvie combined scores to put the Six Pence M.C. into third place in the final standings. A pair of Czech teams took the top two spots. The Manufacturers Team standings saw Yamaha I USA with Rick Munyon, Larry Roeseler and Jim Fishback finish in 14th. Day one With one kick, Kawasaki's Dane Leimbach got the USA on the road. It was 8:42 a.m. In the work area things were routine until Dean Joyner, a first year rider aboard a Suzuki, discovered he had a flat front tire and earned his baptism under fire even before starting the event. "Another day, another dollar," said Trophy rider Dick Burleson to team manager John Morgan prior to his starting time. The day was run on the B time schedule (approximately five to ten percent slower than the A schedule) and only a few riders lost route marks although there were stories of mammoth hills where helping hands were the rule rather than the exception. One rider who had high hopes of finishing in a top position was Can-Am rider John Martin. Early in the first loop Martin, in his first year of ISDT competition, hit a check five minutes early earning himself !loo route points (60 points/seconds per minute) and hitting the bronze standard before he really even got started. "I wrote my check arrival times on duct tape with a pen and it smeared. I mistook a seven for a one and thought I was going to be late," said Martin after the day was over. "I rushed to the check, saw minute three was up and figured I could still get in on my two minutes grace. I really felt bad when they stamped me in five minutes early. It was one of those things. I learned and I won't do it again." The real importance of just how costly that mistake was didn't really sink home until the end of the event. Subtract those !l00 points from Martin's score and he would have turned in the best American score. J'he special test, a two mile snaking uphill, downhill and across hill maze staked out across the steep sides of two mountain hillsides and across the connecting valley gave many riders fits. Trophy team rider Frank Gallo had his Husqvarna trailing ~treamers from an off·course excursion as did Vase team rider Jeff Fredette of Suzuki. Trophy team riders Ed Lojak and Frank Stacy were in trouble. Lojak repaired three flat tires· and managed to drop only 60 points/seconds in route marks. Stacy threw a chain on his KTM in the second special test and balooned that score to 100 seconds over his first. That dropped our trophy team to eighth. By the end of the day it was time to swap stories. Carl Cranke blew a shock, but managed to get it fixed and lost no time; Vase member Mike Rosso stalled his bike in the second special test, nearly highsided and "found out 1 was too short for the bike at the wrong time." That bobble dropped him to silver. Bobby Pearce had a screw back out of his ignition. He nursed it into the final check one minute out of his grace and that should have been it, but he rode day two and part of day three under protest until his bike quit for good. Chuck Miller slid down easy, got up and continued on until he discovered a hole in the right side case of his Yamaha. He nursed it to a check, used epoxy and duct tape to seal the hole and then waited on the trail for help. Unfortunately, a course marshall came along first and that ended that. "I did the kind of endo you only read about," said Kevin LaVoie. "I was running flat out and got launched over the bars. 1 must have rolled 20 yards." "I must have been sleeping," said Greg Davis, "because I lost a minute on the trail and I never should have." For most it was an uneventful day. "They broke us in easy," said Jack Penton. "The best days are when you can say nothing happened." "I had this Italian on my minute," said Dick Burleson. "He was a banzai rider and always playing pass and repass. The highlight of my day was to leave him eating my dust in a drag race we had on one of the paved sections of road ... The acceleration test for day one was dropped when it was found that the timing equipment was not functioning properly. Italy and West Germany led the Trophy and Silver Vase standings, respectively. The USA was eighth and seventh. Jeff Fredette was top American scorer. Upon reaching the work area before impound in the Parc Ferme, LaVoie had tom down the, top end on his Kawasaki. He had upped the displacement of his 420cc engine to 460cc, but was having gasket problems. He would have ten minutes in his morning work period to do a top end job and start if he wanted not to lose any points by starting late. "Sure, it's only ten points for starting late. It's the principle that counts. I'm going to practice tonight with Jeff (Hill, Silver Vase team manager) and we'll be ready," said LaVoie. o 00 O"l ~ Day two True to his word, LaVoie did his top end in less than ten 'minutes -- about 15 seconds less. It took five kicks to get started and he was away with five seconds to spare. He got a round of applause from everyone watching. Dane Leimbach had noted that his Kawasaki wasn't running up to par when he ended day one. A long uphill section on day two ended his ride. "I was working my way up this steep section and the bike got hot and seized. That was it," he said. Jack Penton left the Silver Vase squad one rider short when his Kawasaki decided to quit. "Everything was fine yesterday and today nothing goes right," said Penton. Frank Gallo was in trouble with a flat between checks in the tightest section on the trail. Tha,t cost him five minutes at the next check and dropped Gallo to silver. Despite having to replace his throttle assembly, Ed Lojak managed to move back to gold. "I can't have any more bad luck, can' I?" questioned Lojak at the end of the day. Kawasaki rider Mark Hyde was plugging along in the 175cc class on gold. "I worried about tire changes," said Hyde. "But I dld them in plenty of time on day one and today. The worst thing that's happened so far is that I broke the rubberband that held the centerstand up." . Problems cropped up for John Ayers and LaVoie Ayers refueled with the engine running and LaVoie was hassled by a course marshall when he tried to receive tools. Both problems were resolved in the riders' favor during FIM Jury meetings. Suzuki rider Knin Brown, who had the second best score on day one dropped to silver after losing six minutes on the trail with tire problems. Bill Berroth crashed his KTM in one special test and slid to silver. John Martin cleaned the course and put in two excellent special tests to climb from 88th in class to 69th and from bronze to silver. KTM rider Carl Altier had a costly flat tire which, added to his three engine seizures on day one, put him on bronze. Losing a minute on the trail and a slow second special test put Yamaha's Rick Munyon down on silver while Maico's Steve Van Watermeulen pulled himself back to gold with fast times in the special tests. Yamaha's Jim Fishback turned in nearly identical special test scores, but in the highly competitive 500cc class they weren't good enough for him to hold his gold. Frank Piasecki changed his front tire at the end of day two replacing a bad tube. However, the replacement tube also went flat on day three. Drew Smith, still recovering from the broken bone in his right wrist that caused him to sit out part of the enduro season, said that it had begun to ache. "It hurts, especially when we ride those rocky sections and they all seem to be like that," said Suzuki rider Smith. "They've thrown everything at us that I expected," said Trophy team managerJohn Morgan. Day three will be the test. If they go to A schedule a lot will not make it on time. We've got a lot of physically tired riders, but I worry that they may also be mentally fatigued. If so, that causes mistakes." l!') ~ 1-0 Q) ..0 o ... u o 15

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