Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Fritz Kadlec, now with Husky, finished second overall and won the 260cc Intent c1.... M.rk Hyde jumped from third to first in the fin.1 d.y, scoring the first overall win by • 126cc rider in an IS DE Qualifier. ISDE Qualilier Series: Round. Hyde weathers Oklahoma ThreeDay By Gary Van Voorhis SAND SPRINGS, OK, APR. 27-29 Husqvarna's Mark Hyde took advantage of the bad luck of Kawasaki Team Green's Jeff Fredette to win the Tulsa Three Day Qualifier. Fredette, leading by a comfortable margin going inLO the MX-style final test, had his bike's engine g o sour which slowed his pace LO a craw. I . 12 H~de carv~d out the best ~cores 10 the fmal day s speCIal and fmal tests to leapfrog [rom third to first and become the first rider to win an ISDE Qualifier Series round on a 125cc machine. Hyde finished 76 points (seconds) ahead of Husky's Fritz Kadlec, 3270 to 3346. The event, organized by the Tulsa Trail Riders and run on the John Zink Ranch, was shonened on day three by heavy r~in and then halted for a short period when tornados were In the area. Two of last year's ISDE Trophy team members didn't compete. Mike Melton passed up the event to concentrate on the defense of his National Championship Enduro title, while Eddie Lojak didn't participate due to recent surgery on his right knee. The course for day one and two consisted of two loops which were ridden twice each day for a total of 139.6 miles per day. A timed 2.5·mile grass track special test was ridden twice each day before the second and fourth loops. Sunny skies greeted the 113 starters, but for 75 of the riders the day would end in a cloud of gloom with DNF alongside their name on the results sheet. Kevin Hines was among the first riders out of the event, but his problems weren't mechanical. "I was play. ing desert racer the day before I left California for Oklahoma," said Hines. "I was riding in some soft sand, got out of shape and crashed hard. The result was two broken ribs and a badly sprained left wrist. I rode the first loop and then decided it was smarter to park the bike and let my injuries heal for a week before the National Enduro in Illinois." Hines leads the enduro point standings. For many the day's B time schedule was tOO much, too soon. "You really had to ride too hard to stay on time," said George Burch. "Once you got really late it didn't make sense to ride that hard anymore." Burch' was among the day one retirees. A tornado touched down on a remote portion of the course Thursday night and cut a swath through arrowed trees, uprooting many. Many of the riders not finishing day one lost time in the section before finally finding the trail again. Hyde, the first rider out in the morning, was frantically searching for the trail when teammate Terry Cunningham arrived on the scene. "It took us a while to find where the trail began again," said Hyde. "Luckily, we were able to stay on time and not lose any points." If the trail pace didn't take a toll, the terrain did. There were rocks, rocks and more rocks. Not the smooth kind, but ones with sharp edges which caused nat tires by the score. By the .first gas stop at the end of loop one many riders were already in the pit area and out of action. "I got three flat tires right in a row and ran out of air bottles," said Tom Reese. "It gets lonely out there when you have a problem because it seems like you're the only one on the trail." "My engine seized," said Denny Reese. "I waited for it to cool and it started back up, but as soon as it got hot it seized again." Scot Harden was in the pits with an improvised ice pack on his wrist. "I hit a rock and crashed, but not very hard," said Harden. "It must have been the way I landed because I badly tweaked the wrist I broke six months ago while racing in Africa." Kevin Brown was hard at work on his bike at the first gas, but it was easy to tell his heart wasn't in it. "In between two flat tires, I hit a barbed wire fence and that zapped any remaining enthusiasm I had," said Brown. The scores at the end of the first special test showed Fredette, riding a Kawasaki KDX200, was four points upon Cunningham at441 with Hyde and Frank Stacy both at 451. The second loop saw more riders falling behind and arriving well past their expected time at the second gas. Gary Davis was one rider whose luck wasn't running for him. "I've ·had everything except a flat tire," said Davis. "I smashed the exhaust pipe, the cI ulCh is slipping, the throttle sticks, and just about everything that could go wrong has." Fredette t.urned in the top score on the second special test and headed out for his final H.I-mile loop of the blue course with a 22-point lead over Hyde, 846 to 868. Australian Geoff Ballard was one point behind at 869 with Kadlec and Jeff Russell at 884 and 907, respectively. The top five would remain the same as all zeroed the course. Drew Smith saw his chance of a class win in the 500cc Four-Stroke class end with multiple problems on the trail which eventually cost him 55

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