Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Left) Larry RoeseJer soars through the special test on h is way to the overall win. (Above) Fritz Kadlec and his KX250 were first 250cc lntant. . . (Below right) Second 250cc Intent Kevin Brown. (Below left) Chuck Miller. first Four-stroke Intent. . AMA ISDE Qualifier Series: Round 4 Roeseler finds gold'n Spnr By Karel Kramer SPU R, TX, MAY I Larry Roeseler and Chip HoweII.brought a Team Husqvarna van and a pair of sibling Huskys, a 430W R and a 500XC, to the Spur, Texas, AMA one-day ISDE Qualifier and had to fin d room in th e van for two gold medals an d roo m on thei r gun handles to ca rve no tches - first Open In ten t a n d the 8 overall win for Roeseler and second Open Intent a nd fourth overall for H o well. Two Kevins - Bro wn and H ines - resumed th eir battl e for 250cc Int ent supremacy that th ey had waged th e week before, but a t this week's West Texas Boo ndockers/ L u bbock Trai l Riders-organ ized event, they batt led behind Fritz Kad lec's KX250 wat er -cooled mot ocr osser as h e took th e class win a nd seco nd overa ll. The Over 500cc Four-Strok e Intent cla ss was a Honda sweep as th e five Hondas entered were th e same five Hondas that fin ished. Drew Smith held an a dvantage in th at cl ass for most o f th e da y, but a bad start in th e final specia l test a nd two falls let C huck Mi ller take th e class with h is smooth fina l test ride. Fo ur riders from two extreme sides of the country met in the middle in the 125cc Int ent class. A rider eac h from California and Washington and two from New York made up th e class, wi th Washingto n 's Dan Dill ion ta king the win on a KT M over Californi an Jim Morris on a Husky. Roug h ly 60 mil es of trai l section wa s run twi ce in th e da y in ex tre me dust conditions made livabl e by a normal west T exas wind. Sorne of th e California riders secre tly hoped the dust would be bad, whi le th e easterners hoped just as empha tica lly for ra in . None were too excite d a bo ut the abu n da nce of unhospitabl e mesqui te trees. T he trai l a nd special test motocro sses wound th eir way th rough th e willow y-appea rin g bu sh es th at wield a h idden armor o f thorns wh en th e soft gr een ery is brushed back . Few of th e riders' jerseys or ep idermal layers survived th e day totally intact. Morris led the ri ders into the mesqui te ticket for the firs t trai l loo p that featured a Ha t, but twisty tra il with what passes in Texas for elevation cha n ges. In less than an h our an d a hal f, the first rider was gassed and lined u p fo r the special test. A long, serpenti ne co u rse featured regular and turning jumps, dropaways, off-camber turns a nd one wh ite silt bed similar to those in Baja races, only minia ture. By the en d o f th e da y, th e first rider th ro ug h th e talcum- like dust eac h lap made it look like a bomb going o ff on that sid e.of the course. On ly one of the Intent riders dropped even a poi n t in the opening two tra il loo ps. Roeseler set fast ti me on his opening tr ip th rough the special with a 276-second (p oint) score. Kadl ec was three seconds in arrears 'o n his 250cc. Then ca m e Kevi n s Bro wn and Hi nes. in that order: fo llowed by Maico-mounted David Crai n and H onda XR500-mou nted Drew Smith. Chip Howell's Open H usky was seven th fa stest at 285, then ca me a surprising Tom Kelly a t 287. It was not surprising to see Kell y ride tha t fast, j ust to see an XR 200 going tha t fast. The frame was sto ck . as was th e sus pe ns io n , but in a case of reverse technol ogy tri ckl e-d own, Kell y's engine was hopped a bit by ace th reewh eeler engine bu ild er Curtis Sparks. It so unded very health y, and it needed to be because 200s must rid e in th e 250 cc Int ent class. Kell y' s li tt le thum per was th e fifth fastest 250cc! From th e spec ia l test, th e riders h ea ded o u t on th e seco nd loop. Onl y two types of com me nt s were heard as th e riders gassed up: " It was a blast - a nyth ing is n ice a fter th e mud," and "it was too easy." Again , on ly one rider lost points on th e seco nd trail section. After gas the ride rs h eaded into th e first loop agai n wi th tighter averages to all th e checks. None of th e gold medal wi n ners lost any ro u te points in this section ei ther. After th e section a nd gas, th e ride rs hi t th e special test agai n. Roeseler blitzed th ro ugh the test five seco nds faster than his first try at 27 1 seconds while second fastest Kadl ec eq ualled h is earl ier score of 279. Bro wn a nd Hines were tied at 282 an d Sm ith was fifth with a 283. Kell y wa s next wi th 288, followed by Mark-Mauz with 290. Honda Team Manager Bruce Ogilvie an d Mugen USA' s Bill y Fulmer Jr. , both on X R350 H on da four-str ok es, were tied for eig h th fastest with Dw igh t R udder on a Ma ico . The riders h eaded into the last trai l section with all the averages speeded up, but the last one. It was slowed five m in utes for th e riders who wanted to cha nge tires before th e fin al mo tocross test. The final m otocross was ru n on the same track a s th e special test, but was run for three la ps with a lO-rider, dead-engine start. It look ed like an "A" rider won th e first h eat. Riders in th e bac k ca me arou nd literall y swearing out- loud a t th e d ust. Kell y got hi s XR200 fired up first a nd blazed into the lead of hi s moto. A 250 Husky got close once, but he p u lled away a t the end. Kawasa ki developme nt rider Lee Rodgers led hi s heat unti l Howell ha ul ed into th e lead o n a stra ig ht and took th e win . Rod gers won th e A class by a bou t 250 points over Stan Elbaron from Co lora do. Chuck Mill er go t the holeshot on his XR 500 in h is moto over Larry Roesel er, but Roeseler soon went into an in do m ita ble lead. H e fell in a

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