Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ CIl :i II: 0 0 > Z « > .~ > II: « (:l > CD CIl ~ 0 ~ 0 00 O'l ....... J: l1. ~ ~ ~ .... (1,) ..0 0 ..... U 0 The organizers went all out to provide a colorful ceremony.. Modem drellS as well as traditional costumes was the hallmark of the bands and marchers. Jeff Fredette (47). ran trouble free in water and sand. enabling him to take over as top American on day six when problems struck his rivals. 59th International Six DaIs Enduro Dutch take Trophy, East Germans win Vase By Gary Van Voorhis ASSEN, HOLLAND, OCT. 1-6 Holland, hosting the tSDE for the first time, took advantage' of that honor and chewed their way back through the ranks from a day three setback to win the World Trophy competition. East Germany, leading the Silv.er Vase standings from the onset, took their win by a substantial margin. 18 The U.S. Trophy and Vase squads, struck with problems from the start, both finished sixth. FIM Jury member Hugh Fleming of the AMA's amateur activities department failed to catch an apparent error in the final Vase placings which listed the U.S. in sixth with a score good for fifth. Fleming telexed the FIM for a revision upon returning to .the U.S., but then found a rule in the FIM regulations which places a team not finishing all its members, despite the score, below teams finishing intact. Je££.Fredette led the four gold medalists with Geoff Ballard, Fritz Kadlec and Larry Roeseler the other recipients. A total of eight silver and seven bronze medals went to the American team with 19 of the 22 starters finishing. In all, 48 gold medals were won by 293 finishers in the 413 rider field. The event was well run according to the riders although some complaints surfaced about the time check workers slowing down when punch- _ ing cards and thus adding an unwarranted 60 points to more than a few scores. Unlike the two most recent ISDEs I l ( t in Czechoslovakia and Wales, the riders didn't have to worry about being stuck in a line of riders trying to negotiate a slippery hill. There weren't any. The terrain in the area of Holland where the event was held is tabletop flat. For some that made it hard to remember the trails since sections looked basically the same. The two special tests per day and an extra terrain test each day gave the edge from the start to the Dutch and other riders with riding experience in deep sand. The special tests were held at MX tracks. The final makeup of our Trophy squad was in question until the team reached Hollan~i. Fleming, U.S. team manager John Morgan, Trophy Team manager Dick Burleson and others made the decision to replace injured Ed Lojak with Australian Ballard and move Wally Wilson into injured Mike Melton's position to join Kevin Hines, Mark Hyde, Fritz Kadlec and Larry Roeseler. The move of Ballard and Wilson to the Trophy team left two vacancies on the Silver Vase team with Kevin Brown taking Ballard's place and Dave Bertram replacing Wilson. Fredette and Drew Smith completed the Vase team. This was the first IS DE run under new tire regulations which ban the use of MX knobbies in favor of rear t. r t l... l l ) J • I I ~ 4 I I, • 1 tires with tighter knob patterns which do less damage to the ground. The first time American riders used the tires was in practice sessions during the three days before impound and all agreed they would take some getting used to. The "new" tires weren't available in the U.S. Front tire choice was left up to the indiyidual rider. The organizers were very strict in tech inspection conducted prior to impound. A majority of riders from all countries failed the sound test at least once with others being caught for speedometers and lights that didO' 't work, and trying to undercut the minimum weight for their displacement class. Fortunately, the organizers allowed the riders to return as many times as needed to pass. In Kevin Hines' situation, that meant five times. The road racing facility op one after clocking in six minutes early. Wheatley used extra time in the work area and didO' 't start on his original minute. He was given a new number, but under the new timing/ scoring system a rider stays on his new number if he is late.and does not try to gain the time back. l£ a rider clocked in five minutes early, the penalty was exclusion and Wheatley found out the hard way that he didn't totally understand the new rules. The change in the rules, which were used during the European Two Day Qualifier Series this year, was designed to cut down the racing .between sections and make each section a test in itself. t" l. - ,- • 'J Canada lost a second Trophy rider,. Gary KI.ilssen, just after the first spe-' cial test and that ended any challenge they hoped to mount. Starting problems plagued many riders with American Vase rider Dave Bertram, in his first ISDE, having one of the 'most frustrating times. Bertram's Husqvarna 400 wouldn't start in his allotted minute so he rolled the bike 30 yards past the starting line to the work area and began kicking. When that didn't do any good, Bertram began lopking for the cause of the problem. When none readily appeared, he pulled the spark plug, turned the bike upside down and began kicking the engine over by hand, hoping to clear the cylinder. Unfortunately, this probably led to more problems since Bertram had poured two-stroke oil into the exhaust pipe in a successful effort to pass a very tightly run sound test during Friday's impound and turning the bike upside down probably let some of the oil run back to the engine and clog it up. In all, it took Bertram 17 minutes to finally get running. He was four minutes late at check one (one minute of grace - changed from two minutes at previous IS DEs - plus three minutes of penalty) and also picked up a 6O-point infraction to not starting within his minute (supplemental regulations by the Dutch raised the normally lO-point infraction to 60). The 240 points set the hopes of the Vase team back before the event had really ·evp.n started. "I rode so fast on the road sections to the first check to minimize the time I would lose that I was constantly scaring myself," Bertram said at the end of the day. Larry Roeseler, on a Husqvarna 501 TE four-stroke, also got docked 60 points for not starting within his minute. Roeseler, like the rest of tht. American team, thought tbe penalty was 10 points as it has been in the past. At Monday evening's rider's meeting everyone found out different. Because the terrain available to the Dutch was not aU that demanding, they decided to include an extra terrain test each day for the first fiye in addition to the acceleration test right after· the start and two special tests per day on MX tracks of sand, sand and more sand. The Dutch sand was of such fine consistency that, when mixed with water, it became almost soupy and covered everything. This quickly turned into a problem for the liquid) .., I:) r I" J , 1 I • J1 I ~ ;'

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