Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

-=="...,...,----------~---- ,t ,- -~ ------------------it ~ Z ..J o " :E o ... > III Ul o l5 :z: CL Mike Melton (226), the 600cc Intent cia.. winner, dices with Jeff Fredette in one of the special test section•. Cen-Am'. Geoff Bellerd took the overall win in Michigen, beating Mike Melton by e slim five point./second.. - A.A ISDE Qualifier Series: Final round Ballard breaks away in Michigan Three-Day By Tom Kolnowski ROSE CITY, MI, JUNE 8-10 Australian Geoff Ballard climbed to the top of the score sheets midway through day three then set the fastest time in the MX-style final special test to emerge as the overall winner of the Michigan Three-Day Qualifier. Ballard, mounted on a CanAm 250 MX LIC, accumulated 2,406 points over the three days to best Husqvarna's Mike Melton who scored a 2,411, by a slim (ive point . Ballard won the 250cc class, with Melton finishing atop the 500cc ranks. Melton led the overall scoring after day one and day two, with Ballard running a strong second overall bolh days, But on day three, Ballard fully made up the deficit via his better performance in the acceleration test, then topped Melton by three seconds in the final MX to sew up the victory. "This feels great!" the man from Down Under said when he learned of his win. "It sort of makes up for a few of the times this year when I felt I should've won but didn't. ow all I have to do is to win an enduro probably the toughes! of the lot with another grass track test, with day three having the usual MX-style final test. After a few miles of easy trail came the first special test over an approximately two-mile course which meandered through a parcel of grassladen rolling land, with a section of woods thrown in. While most bikes and bodies were just beginning to warm up, Roeseler was definitely hot - he turoed the fastest ti me of the morning at278 seconds on his Husky four-stroke. Melton followed only a second off the pace with a 279, while Ballard notched a 281 for third best. Kevin Hines and John Martin tied for fourth with 284. Most riders were stili running strong through the first half of the day. The time schedule was such that most had several minutes to spare at each check, suHicient time to do simple maintenance. Team Husky's Terry Cunningham, however, was not one of the lucky ones. "1 was doing pretty well," said Cunningham, "but the exhaust pipe on my bike (a 125WR) plit right at the seam. I kept going and the hole gOt bigger and bigger, but I finally got a new pipe at one of the later checks and put it on. But I lost a bunch of route points (2040) before I got it fixed." Drew Smith set the fastest time in the acceleration test, held on a shady two-track trail. Melton planted his rear wheel in a patch of grass, and launched oU the line to the second fasteSllime. Hines, also in the500ccclass with Melton, matched Melton's time. But after the first gas stOp problems set in for many, most of which were brought on by a time schedule many thought was too tight and moreover, inconsistent. "I came through check seven two minutes out _of my grace," said Roeseler, "and I feel that the time they gave us in that section was way orr. I was having time to spare earlier, so I maintained the same pace and came through late. I hauled it as fast as I could to the next check and made it on time." Section seven had a stretch of bikewallowing mud, and lots of tight woods trail. "I stuck my bike in the mud pretty good," Ed Lojak said. "By the time I goot it out and made it to the check I was two minutes late." Husky rider Wally Wilson zeroed check seven and screamed "I made it'" as he braked to a stop at the £lags. Wil on later said he "took the cautious approach to the mud. I picked my lines carefully and had no problems." Team Husky's Dave Bertram, riding in only his second qualifier also adopted a wait-and-see altitude. "When I came to the mud I saw several riders stuck pretty deep," said Bertram. "Melton came up behind me and so did Roeseler. We all looked at each other as if to say, 'After you. ' Melton left and rigged and zagged his way across and made it, then Roeseler and I followed his line and it worked." In the final grass track test, run just prior to impound. Ballard was on top of things and smoked to the best time of 277 seconds. Melton was only a whisper away witb 278 and Martin at 282. Roeseler, king of the test in the morning, turned a !III. "I was still extremely upset about losing the points on the trail," said Roeseler, "and I fell twice." After all the scores were totaled, Melton led the day's tally with 6L!1to Ballard's 617, with 250cc class rider Martin third overall ahead of Hines, 625 to 626. Day twO was run on the slowest "rain" schedule, although the weather at tart time was dry. Rain, however, was expected to move into the area later in the day, The trail was slightly shorter than day one at a tad under 124 miles, and made a large loop to the outhwest of the staging are.il. Witb the predominantly sandy and nfriendly" terrain, tire changes for the 68 starters were few. KTM's Mike Rosso, who was plagued witb a rash of seizure problem on his l25cc machine, looked feverishly to find the problem. Unable to diagnose the malady, Rosso rode orr but would later retire when the problem resurfaced. It was Roeseler again with the fastest time in the morning grass track, this time clocking through with a 269. Hines at271, Melton at 272 and Ballard with 27!1 followed. Even with the slower time schedule, many noted it was necessary to go flat out to make the checks on time. Michigan rider Alan Randt said, "I had my Husky 400WR tapped out in top gear on most of the fast sections. You had to do that to make the checks on time." Husky's Mark Hyde, who led the I25cc class standings on day one, had trouble early with his 125WR. "I smacked into something and broke the water pump housing," said Hyde. "I rode it without water for a while. Thanks to Husky dealer rep Tom Pantalone, I was able to get a new (Continu~d to page 20)

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