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/126635
• to replace most of th e co u rse arrows over th e three loops that totalled 137 miles. (Top left) Frank Stacy charged to th ird overall. second 250cc Intent. (Above) larry Roeseler slid to fourth. and second 500cc Intent. (Top right) Mark Hyde won the 125cc Intent class. 26 aro u nd th e cos t or riding th e qual ifiers . But I'm not to sure, regardless of the co st, that it's a good idea. A rider ca n' t drop out of th e Six Days and ge t hack in . We might he tea chig these guys th e wrong th ing. Really wh a t it boils down to is, if yo u're going to have tough Six Days, you've got to have tough qual ifiers." The Tulsa club had th eir experien ce a nd trail savvy tested (this is th eir fourth qualifier )a nd were eq ua l to th e task when week-long rains turned the special test grass track in to a quagmire a nd wind gu sts o ver 50 mph Friday nigh t made it necessary Day one Day one dawned clea r a nd windy bu t the wa ter damage to the tra ils had a lrea dy been do ne . T o save th e spe cia l test grass track, th e ea rly morning test was cu t a lo ng with eigh t mil es o f th e loop that crossed Turkey Creek. Events chairma n Randy Ral s, a lo ng with trailrnaster Paul Rodd en p u t th e run o n th e B schedule a nd condi tio ns never im pro ved to th e poi nt th at th ey co uld mo ve to th e A sched u le. Mar k " Poss um" H yde. riding on th e sevent h minute. turned second best tim e throug h th e l .S-rnil e specia l test g rass track, that would deteriorat e badl y as the day woreon , the n c harged h is nimbl e 125 Hu sk y th rou gh th e MX coures just five seconds o ff Cu n n ingha m's bli stering top MX sco re of 142 secon ds. That , p lus being free of any co urse ma rks, ga ve Mark th e best sco re o f the da y. " If they wou ld just end thi s th in g today," sai dasmi ling Hyde, " I would have m y first three-da y best sco re." J ack Penton took-adv anta ge o f the reim po un d in g rule whe n his watercoo led 125 Cagiva chewed up a tire on th e infamous .O klahoma roc ks. Jack sa id. "This will be a good test for th is machine. but 1don't have a ny pa rts if 1 should break some thing." Penton broke hi s expans ion chamber on da y two . Gary Johnston. a little known KTM rider o u t o f Laurel. Miss .• turned in th e best sco re in the 250cc Intent class with a tot al of 749. b J eff Fr ed et e had th e best tim e th rough th e grass track with a tim e o f . 587 but th en fell on the MX test for a 157 a nd a n 804 total. (Fredette a lso dropped a co urse mark for 60 points a fter cha nging two flat tires. " I can ' t beli eve these rocks. I hope I have enoug h tires and tubes," he said.) Barry Higgins o f H&H Mai co had a p roblem with th e roc ks. H e caugh t hi s left foot in o ne, severely twis ted hi s kn ee a nd had to drop out. Fritz Kadlec, wh o fini shed sixth with 766 on a 250 Kaw asaki said , " I' ve go t to do good in th ese three days. I j us t can' t affo rd to travel that much this year." John Fer o , wh o wa s free of any route marks but 151 seconds behind Loj ak and J ohnston , slid out severa l times durin g the MX test and wound up talking to himself. " I seem to lose my concentration. I'v e tried talking to myself and some of the language is pretty strong. I know it' s mental but I've got to do better in th e special tests. I don 't have a n y trouble with the trail riding." Cunningham headed up th e 250· 500cc Intent class with a total score o f 744 plus the best score of th e da y on th e MX test. H e was being kidded by teammate Larry Roes eler, who had fin ished second with 785, about his wid e-open style that usuall y had a t least one foot off th e peg . Cunn ingham sa id. " Show me one pl ace wh ere it says I have to have m y feet on th e pegs. " R oesel er picked up 10 penalt y po ints whe n his Husk y too k six m inu tes of priming, kicking a nd a new spa rk plug before it came to life. Stephen Bartley on a 250 Yamaha and Roeseler were th e on ly two to pi ck u p pen al ty points on da y o ne fo r lat e starts. . Drew Smi th has found a real frie nd wit h h is XR500 H onda. Drew was the o n ly one in th e O ver 500cc Fo ur Stroke class wi thout route marks. Day two Da v two's wea the r would be the best o f a ll three da ys. At 8 a.m . th e temperature was in th e hi gh 40s with no wind. Th e B schedu le was agai n run with 94 of th e or igina l 169 starters mak in g it to th e line. An d th ere was a flu rry o f activity in the im pound work area as the Oklahoma sa nd. mud a nd rock s ex tracted a heavy to ll in cha ins. sprockets a nd tir es. Cunnin gham turn ed in th e best score (1144) on the second day with o ut a ny problem s. Roeseler didn 't co llec t a ny pen alty po ints a t the start but was still 47 seco nds ba ck in seco nd place wh en the day was over. Mike Melton was th ird with 1197. Ray Cosgrove was having problem s keeping his Mai co's rear axle aligned and lost his chain twi ce. pi cking up a route marker a nd dropping off gold. Bruce Ogilivie, riding a box -stock