Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~. ~ c:<"'l '\ 00 0') ....... ~ eo ....... ...... ... . ~ 0.. -< In the MX-style fi nal t est . Ed Lojak (2 7 5 1w as paced to ultimate v ictory by Tim Coombs (471 I: AMA ISDE Ogalifier series: Round 1 Tennessee opener to Lojak By Gary Van Voorhis Photos by Tom Kolnowski & Van Voorhis TE L LICO PLAINS, T N, MAR . 27 Ed Loj ak, 'Amer ica' s lea din g scorer in la st year's In ternational Six Days Enduro, kicked off the '83 ISDE Q u a lifier Seri es with the best ride in th e T ennessee One Day. Husqvar n a support rider Lojak edged o u t fell ow Husqvarna rider F k S bv i . ht r~n ' ra cy y Ju s t e!g t pom ts (seco n ds) 9,7. ';) to 985. 7. T he tw o fin ished 1-2 in the 250cc Intent class . The O p en Intent class win and 0":; 14 th~ rd be scor e went 10 Husqvarna 's st Mlkc .Mel.ton . Melt on was one top lin e rid er In th e Intent class to ben efi t from a p rot est whi ch resulted in the excl us io n o f th e fifth ch eck, Meh an had lost 60 p oints a t tha t chec k. Wall y Wil son . ridi ng o ut o f h is shop - Wh eel Sport H usqva rna in Reyn oldsbu rg , Ohio, lost o u t o n th e pro lest as h is sco re whi ch had been post ed as th e Open Intent winn er wh cn he left th e even t. ac tua lly put him fourth overa ll and second in th e cla ss, Fifth o vera ll fell to Kevin Lav o ie, newl y m oun ted o n a Husqvarn a , afte r being KTM mo un ted las t seaso n . LaV oi e was a lso riding in th e Open Inten t class. The I25ccIntent class went to Husqvarn a's Mark H yde whil e Drew Sm ith, ridin g in H onda 's su p port program , was rhe Fo ur-S tro ke class winner. Sco ring in th e A, Band Trai lrider classes was held up by th e p rotest. T he sponsori ng Volunteer Riders p ut together a 131 miIe jaun tth rough th e mo untain s. vall eys a nd strea ms of rite' Ch~rClke~ -N:trion:lt Fores t.rRahr began fall ing over 12 hours before th e 7 a. rn. key tim e. By the start, the downpour was th e steady, drenching kind a nd wa s whipped a bo u t by gus ting wi nds. The Trai lrider and B class rid ers wer e th e fir st o u t with the Intent classes foll owing an d then the A cla sses. This proved to be a mi stake in some a reas as bottlenecks develo pe d in tw o ver y hilly section s. The rain sto p pe d by th e time the last rider left the starting a rea. bu t had left th e gra ss track slick and the trai ls very muddy in so me areas. Sco res from th e gr ass track a nd accelera tio n rest put LaVoie and Terry Cun ni ngham a t the he ad of the field wit h less th an o ne p oi nt separati ng th em . "It's a good ru n so far, " said Ed Loj ak a t th e fir st o f three gas stops. "I've ' go t no p roblems other tha n bein g so a ked and a bit co ld." The Loj ak pit crew had plenty to do as famil y members J oe and Ro n were al so riding whil e St an , plus friends , wives a nd girlfriends hand led th ga ssing cho res. The first Int en t rid ers into th e seco nd gas stop at check five were, for' the most part, ea rly . Mark H yde had four minutes 10 spare. " T ha t was th e, • worst section so far," said H yde. "They hi t us 'With some deep creek -:-It cro ssin gs and som e steep hill s cou ld be bad for riders - wi th lat e numbers ." H yde was right, for it was Melton who ca m e into th e Slap at a bl isterin g pa ce after slow er riders had stopped -h is cha rge on on e h il l. Melton hit Hie ch eck o ne min ute out of his two min ute grace p eriod a nd was assessed 60 points. Wi lson , Cunningham a nd LaV oi e lost no p oints. Mai co' s Ra y Cosgrove was OUI a t this point with chain problem s. "T he ch ai n gal loose and jumped off th e sp rocke t a number of limes, " sai d Cosgrove. " I fixed it , but when it knocked o ff th e cha in guide it became a losin g battle." " I t's so rt o f an R&D program ," sa id J ack Penton a bo u t hi s rid e on a wat er-cool ed I25cc Cagiv a, " I' m giving th e importer some feedb ack a bo u t dia ling th e bik e in for t he Am eri can market. It 's a fun p iece of mach in ery." T he section prior to th e fin al test had a no ther of the hi lls th e T en nessee event h as becom e famo us for. " T here was a rut wide eno ug h for one rider wi th th e h ill goi ng stra ig h t u p o ne side a nd straight down o n the o the r, " sai d H &H Mai co 's Barr y Higgi ns. " I ga l stuc k a nd tha t cos t me a go ld medal. " T he top posi tions in every class we re up for gra bs wh en th e rid ers rea che d th e fin al test area . Darryl Kuenz er, th e fir st o f th e Intent riders in a h ea t, dem olish ed his com pe tition . H e even gave th em a ten second sta n wh en hi s engi ne wouldn 't fire on th e sta n . Hard star ting motor s were th e o rder of the d ay since th e orga n izers gave th e ride rs n o warm- up p eri od . In two cases-s-Penton 's a nd Cunningh am 'sit ma y have cost eac h heavily . Pen ton was left o n th e lin e fur' io us ly kick ing his bik e in h is h eat as H yde led Lav oi e, TirrrHopev and Drew Sm ith aro un d th e tra ck for th e three lap duration. Penton mov ed throu gh traffi c to an event u al fifth , but Hyde's sco re wa s go od for the ,I l2 5cc class win. Sta cy had hi s hands fu ll earl y in h is heat with J eff Fred ette and Ron Ribo lzi. Stacy event ua lly broke aw ay a nd 'went on to open a large margin of victory by th e fini sh. Cunningham saw hi s hopes o f th e Open cl ass win a nd, perha p s, th e top sco re go aw ay wh en h is cngi nc wouldn 't Ii re, " I kn ew I wa s i n tro u ble wh en we co u ld n 't wa rm up th e engi nes belor e th e dead-e ngine sta n, " said C u n ni n g-

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