Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

cooled bikes since the mixture quickly covered radiators and baked to the consistency of hard clay. Overheating became common and riders from most teams sought ways to remove the cement-like crust at every checkpoint on the route. IS DE rookies Randy Hawkins and Fred Hoess were victims of seized engines before the first loop was over. Hawkins felt the engine in his Husqvarna 125 tighten up during the first special test and then it locked tight soon afterward. Hoess had a water pump seal go on hi~_KTM 250 and the coolant leaked out causing the engine to seize before Hoess realized what was causing the problem. By the end of.the first loop it was clear the Dutch were pulling out all the stops to build up a day one advantage in points strong enough to demoralize the rest of the 15 teams in the Trophy competition and trying the same tactics in the 18-team Silver Vase competition. The Dutch Trophy Team, captained by former GP MXer Gerrit Wolsink, had an average age of 30 and every member counted at least some GP MX experience in his background. By the end of the first loop, Henk Van Mierloand DinandZijlstra were one-two in the 125cc class, Martin Schalkwijk led the 250cc ranks, Henk Poorte LOpped the 500cc standings and Simon Schram and Wolsink .were dominating the Four-stroke class. Their domination and placings would hold through the end of day one. The Italian Trophy Team saw their hopes of winning the coveted trophy for the fourth time in the past six years go away with the retirement of the best known rider on the team, Gualtiero Brissoni, with engine probLems. Bertram wasn't the only rider on the American Vase squad to run into problems. Kevin Brown, on a CanAm 250, was having overheating problems and needed to top up 'the radiaLOr at nearly every check. A throttle cable problem - it became progressively harder LO turn as the week went on - appeared just after .the start and was due, according to Brown, to sand in the throttle slides. Drew Smith, aboard a Honda 600 four-stroke, had a scare at one check when the timing clock malfunctioned, but he didn't lose any trail points. Hyde cruised along until well into the second 92-plus mile loop, bUt then his engine began LO run poorly and seized. Hyde cleared his clogged radiator, let the engine cool down and restarted. He nursed the bike to the work area before the final check, removed the head and put a plastic bag over the piston so he would be able to start work on the engine in the 10 minute work period before the start of day two. Hyde lost a total of 3,180 trail points (53 minutes) which plummeted the Trophy Team LO lIth in the standings at the end of day one. Ballard blistered both special tests for the best showing by an American Trophy Team member, but lost one minute (60 points) on the trail nursing an overheating engine. Kevin Hines, on a Husqvarna 430 - a 400 with a larger bore, had a strong first day ride with no real problems as did Wally Wilson and • his Husqvarna 400. Other than the starting penalty, Roeseler had an easy day. Wilson's claim LO fame on day onewas that he crashed into a .canal - fortunately it was a dry one. Silver Vase rider jeH Fredette found out how much traction the new tires provided early in the morning. "The first time I hit a grassy section," said Fredette, "I was on the ground so quick I didn't realize what was happening. Other than that, I really had all easy day." Fredette, on a Kawasaki Henk Poorte (88) led the Dutch Trophy team to victory and posted the best individual score of the 293 finishers. KDX200, spent most of the time he had LO spare before the final check cleaning his bike and checking it over. The Dutch, supported by total domination of the acceleration, terrain and special tests, held a strong advantage in the Trophy standings over East Germany, 96.72 points to 560.69. Last year's Trophy winner Sweden, held third. The U.S. was a distant 11th. The Silver Vase standings saw the East German team on top. Despite the eHorts of GP MX stars Gerrard Rond and Kees van der Ven, theoreticall y the strongest special test riders on the entire Dutch entry, the Dutch trailed. Rond got caught on the trail for 60 points while his teammates Arjan Vrouwer and Peter 'Van Der ieuwenhof racked up 120 points each. Italy held third in the standings while the U.S., despite Bertram's starting problems, was in fifth overall. For scoring on many riders, the organizers had to go LO their back-up sheets since the nearly all-day rain turned rider check cards into soggy, unreadable pieces of paper. The weather at the start of day two wasn't much better than on day one, although the rain was on and orr rather than steady. The time schedule was B on day two as it was on day one. Ballard tried in vain to replace his radiaLOr in the 1O'-minute work period before his start time in an eHort to cure overheating problems. He had problems removing it since it sits lower in his prototype Can-Am 250 than the 1984 models. Ballard abandoned his attempt and instead removed the small guards on the front; that seemed LO cure the problem. Hyde was very busy and since he was already on bronze LOok as much time as was needed to finish the repairs to his engine. He picked up 2,040 points in time penalties and an additional 60 points for a late start for the 34 m in utes the repairs took. It seemed as if Bertram was going LO be in trouble again on day two as he furiously kicked away attempting LO bring his engine to life. When it finally did start, he got a round of applause from those what had observed his day one agony. ISDE rookie Bob Elliott was one rider who didn't shake his day one starting problems. Day twO saw him spend nearly 20 minutes getting his KTM started although once running everything was fine. The rain stopped around 10:30, but things didn't dry out much. The sand on the trails, now clinging, heavy and power-robbing, conspired LO put plenty of stress on drive chains. Rond's problems with his chain in the second special test knocked the Dutch Vase team from second down LO eighth by the end of the day. A The new rear tires featured square, closely set knobs. They were designed with the intent of doing less damage to the soil than regular MX tires. n urn ber of other riders were also plagued with thrown or broken chains on the rutted and bumpy special test track at Anloo. The track normally hosts international caliber MX events and features a twisting two-mile course with little elevation change. The West German Trophy team got a double shot of bad luck late in day two when Walter Pohlentz broke bones in his ankle and a teammate suHered broken ribs. Both got repeated medical attention throughout the final four days and both finished. The retirement of Emil Cunderlik left the Czech Trophy team with five riders and 10th in the day two standings. Canada, second last year in Silver Vase competition; saw its hopes dashed as Guy Perrett houred out after breaking his chain in the first special test and not having the goods or help to repair or replace it. Ballard went through the day LOpping up his radiator and had a couple of interesting moments when his clutch lever hung up on the brush guard he was using after it got banged out of position in a crash. Hines struck trouble late in the day when his engine seized in the econd special test. It was a "light" seizure and he lost relatively little time, but the engine started leaking coolant at the head gasket. By the time he reached the work area, Hines still had enough time LO remove the head, which had been warped by the heat, and push his bike into the check in his grace minute. The check personnel were a bit slow in taking his time card and Hines wound up losing 60 points as the time clock clicked to a new minute. Rear tires were the order of the day for many with Hines the only American Trophy or Vase team rider not making a change. Roeseler opted for a new front tire and replaced the engine/gearbox oil. Holland, East Germany and Sweden continued LO lead the Trophy standings with the U.S. moving up to ninth. In the Vase tally, East Germany continued to lead as Holland dropped from second to eighth while Italy, Finland and the U.S. made up the LOp four. There were a lot of changes for day three. The best one was the weather. It cleared up and the sun was shining although clouds raced across the sky. The day three and four trai I would be run on the B schedule with the total mileage of the two loops atl74 miles. The terrain test and special te t were all in one section - a good 12 miles of high speed whoops and bemlS and jumps all in deep sand which ran through pan of a military training area. One part of the courseran riders past a burned out tank. For most, the only scenic area on day three and four was a large pond they had LO ride through to get LO 19

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