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/126618
Scot Harden t ack led the woods and placed second Open Intent. Bernie Schreiber, runner-up in Italy, tackles a section before a crowd , AMA One Day Qualifier Series: Round six " I co u nt m y blessings just to get back h ere. After I got back on the course after getting lost, I had to get gas from two guys just to make it in," complete the first la p or 25 super tough sections on a 20-kilometer course with 58 marks lost, seven fewer than both Lejeune and Burga t. . Resu lts Lejeune had started well , scorin g the only two dab ride on th e opening section of the trial, a lo n g winding rock stre wn stream tha t set th e p at tern for th e da y's event, but then he faltered over the next four sections to complete the opening group on 15 lost, while Schreiber had quickly got his act together an d lost just ni ne, With Schreiber taking the firs t lap lead, it loo ked as if he was settled into the swing of the event and could take victory, bu tit was not to be for Lejeu ne had a tremendous seco nd lap of j us t 42 marks , which in cluded 10 sec tion cleans, to snatch victory from Schreiber's grasp o nce again . This yea r more than at a ny o ther time, Ca lifornian Bern ie Schreiber loo ks to be th e fut u re World Cha mp ion . H e has th e style, th e bal ance a nd poise tha t he possessed w he n he wo n in 1979, a nd even thoug h Lejeune just has the measu re o f h im , wit h eight rounds still to come, Schreiber is the proven stayer, while L ejeune is sus pect over a lo ng period. Also competing in I ta ly were Americans Scott H ead a nd Mo rgan Cavanaugh. Scott once again p ro ved that he cou ld ride well, and even though he was di sappointed wi th hi s 25t h p lace, pe rseverance should eventually succeed, an d he could add to his two points sco red in the opening round in Spain. Cavanaugh was another who rode in Spain , a n d enjoyed it so much that he took the opport unity to return to Europe a nd o n a Bu ltaco borrowed from the British importers, he fin ished within time (t here were 30 or so who d id n ' t) and ach ieved ex pe rience that will stand him in good stead. Dwaine Willia ms wasn 't so lucky as h is fell o w Americans fo r h e suffere d excl usio n for being a u t of time a fter setring a first lap sco re j ust a few marks o rr H ead a n d a few better tha n Ca vanaugh. a Cunningham blitz continues in Michigan By Tom Kolnowski Photos by Peggy Benoit and Kolnowski ROSE CITY, MI, MAY 23 Team H usq varn a 's Terry Cunningham grabbed the top gold for best individual scorer in ISD E qualifier action at the 18 Bentwheels Qua lifi er held in the no rthern woods of Michigan . Cunningham has now won three consecu tive O ne Day events in a row. He won the Ala bama and Ohio ro unds of the series, along with grabbing the overall at the O kl ah oma round at the start of the season . It 's definitel y not a secret that Cunningham thrives on poor weather conditions, and this event proved to be his cup or tea with a steady down pour starting four hours befor e stan time a nd co n tin uing Ior m ost or the da y. " I liked th e weather co n ditio ns, traction wa s good, and there wasn 't an y dus t, That rain was reall y nice," said Cunn ingham after his win . The next closest rider to Cunningham 's winning score or 1194 wa s Kawasaki Team Green's Fritz Kadl ec, turning a score or 1229. " It wa s sure a lot or miles, and definitely a lot o r fun . It 's just like riding in Ohio, with all the mud. I guess I was doing pretty well. I didn 't see any problem at all with th e co urse," said Kad lec. Kadlec is now riding a KX250 MX er modifi ed slightl y for en d uro-type competition. The sponsoring Ben rwheels Competition Club laid out a 165 mile course, which gave riders a good taste of nearly every type of terrain Mi chigan has to offer. Much of the trail was tight single lane, wi th some virgin woods thrown in for variety. The roll ing terain i n the area also has its share of hi lls, with Bull Gap H ill causing problems fo r many riders, since the sand was water-saturated from the heavy rai n s. The infamous pipeline hill section before th e 10th check serv ed to wear down the riders even more as they headed to ward th e fini sh . The co urse was la id o u t with three loo p s, with two gas chec ks locat ed a lo ng th e fir st loop of 92 mil es. The seco n d a nd third loops were sho r ter, wit h some o r th e sa me trail used for all th ree loops. The gr as s tr ack specia l tes t was run twi ce by all rid ers. T he Iirs! ro u nd was held for o ne rider a t a ti me immediately after th e fir st loop, with a three-lap MX at th e co ncl us io n o r the event with 10 riders per mota. Laid out at the stagin g a rea, th e grass track consisted or 1.6 miles o r very tight corners linked by sh o rt stra ig h taways, run over mostl y flat ground. Trees were used to mark many co rners, with the course wide enough to a llo w passing nearly everywhere. Some of the best dicing i n the MX came in the heat between Cunni ngham and Wa lly " Wa ldo " Wilson . " Wa ll y and I were running real close, and neither of us wanted to shut off Ior the co rner, so we tangled and nearly went down ," said Cunningham. Wilson 's effo r ts netted h im the Open Intent class win an d third overall in th e final results. Scot Harden took his T eam Husky 430XC to seco nd in the Open Intent class, and fourth overall for the day . This wa s the first time he ha s ridden th e Michigan woods. Harden said, " It 's bir chin ', just gr eat riding up here. Those sand whoops were great! It 's lot s better than riding in Baja like I'm used to . I didn't get lo st at all. Now I've got to get back and stan pre-running th e course Ior the Baja 1000 wh ere I'll be teaming up with Brent Wallingsrord." Getting lost was a co m mo n topic among riders in all classes. Most canIusion resulted because or the looptype la yout of th e co u rse, with the sa me bla ck-an-white arrows being used for a ll loops. Cunningham wa s o ne or the few Intent riders who did not lose a n y route marks. While th e event was run under the slower tim e schedule du e to the rai n y weather, most riders lost route m arks due to getting lo st rather than trail condition or mechanica l problems . Mike Mel ton won the I25cc Intent class, bu t took a wrong turn along the way . " I just made a wrong turn and got lo st. By th e time I figured out which wa y to go I had lost six mi nu tes, and the way the trail was yo u could n't m ak e it up. " Drew Smith had a good da y going until th e last loop, where he got tu rned around and lost the right trail. 125c c I: 1. M ik. M.lton (Hus' 1600: 2. Dw ight Rudder (Hus) 311 3. 1750c I: 1. J.N Fred.n.ISuz) 1670: 2. John Mor · tin IC·A) 45 20: 3. Tim Rocha IC·A) 5337. 250cc I: 1. Terry Cunningham (Hus) 11 94: 2. Fritz Kadlec (Kawl 1229; 3. K.vin Piasecki (KTM) 1344 ; 4. J.rry Harr is (YamI1573; 5. Kally Gor" "i (Kaw) 1822; 6. Gray Leonard (Ma i) 19 29; 7. Ray Mayer IKTMI 244 2; 8. Draw Smith (Kaw) 2243. OPEN ,: 1. Wally Wilson (Hus) 1235; 2. Scot Hard.n (Hus) 1245; 3. Ray Coogrove (Mai) 1280 ; 4. Joe Lojak (Hus) 1284; 5. Marlt Hyd.{HusI1 523; 6. Marlt Hyn.sI 620; 7. K.vin M itch. II IHus) 172 7; 8. K. vin LaVoi. {KTM) 2072. 4-STROKE I: Randy M U 1;n (Honll 54 5. World Champ'ionship' Observed Trials Series: Round four Lejeune nips Schreiber in Italy By Mike Rapley VAL DI LED RO , IT AL Y, MAY 16 J ust four rounds o ld, the World Champ ionship Trials Series is developing into a crucial battle between three men , Belgian Eddy Lejeu ne, Am erican Bern ie Schreiber and Frenchman Gilles Bu rgat, In Italy, it was again Honda-mounted Lejeune who scored the wi n , with a n arr o w seven-mark victory over Sc hreiber on the Ital ian SWM, with Fantic ri der Bu rga t in third p lace. In th e fou r ro u nds to da te th ese .three riders have bee n do mi na nt, with the current Champ ionshi p positions: Lejeu ne 57 p oin ts, Schreiber 5 1, a nd Burgat 38. After th e two and one-half month recess; with a ll th e World Champ ionship co nten de rs brough t to a pitch by th e Sco tt ish Six Days Trial th e week before, Schreiber particu larl y loo ked to be in tre me ndous for m . H is Sco tt ish wi n had gi ven h im th e boost he felt he n eeded to take the World Cham pions hi p, a n d on the first lap, Bernie soon developed a h ea lt hy if narrow lead, to Results 1. Eddy Lej.un. (8.lgium - Han) 107 marlts; 2. Bernie Schreiber (USA - SWM) 114; 3 . Gilles Bur. glt (France · Fan ); 4 . oanilo Gal.lui (Italy · SWMt 137; 5. Thier ry Michaud (Franc. - SWM) 140; 8. Ton i Gorgo t (Spain · Mon) 140; 7 . Renata Chiaberto (It.ly - Ou ) 187; 8. Yrjo V.n... rin.n (Finl and· 8ul l 168; 9. Ulf Karl son (Swadan - Man ) 170; 10. M.rtin Lampkin (Bri tai n· SWM) 171 . WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTSTANDINGS; 1. Lajeun. (57); 2. Schr.ib.r (51); 3. 8urga t (38); 4. Gorg01 (18); 5. Gal.a..i (16); 8. Chari.. CoUlard (14); 7. Karlson (131 8. V.... ri n. n (1I); 9. Lampkin ; (10t 10. Jaim. Subir. (8).