Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Bertram nipped Jeff Fredette by only one point for second overall. Team Husqvama 's Terry Cunningham captured the seventh ro und of the AMA National Enduro S e rie s by two points over Dave Bertram . AMA National Enduro Series: Round 8 Cunningham collects Rattlesnake win By Clay Light KLAMATH , CA, J U N E 2 Curren t AMA National Enduro Champion T erry Cunningham ca m e one step closer to possibly clinching ano ther title by win n in g th e seventh round of the AMA National Enduro Champion Seri es h eld in Kla m a th , C a liforni a . Cun ningham dropped 12 p oints en rou te to the win over tea m 1-2 H usqvarna team mat e David Bert ra m a nd Kawasak i's Jeff Fredette. Bert ram los t 14 points a n d Fredette IS for seco nd a nd third in th e AA class. Rounding o u t th e top five were H usqvarna teamsters Fritz Kad lec and Sacramento's J eff Irw in . Kadl ec lost 25 points a nd Irwin 36, both havi ng more th a n th eir sha re o f problems mec ha nica lly. Missin g fro m the AA pi cture was a not her H usky me m ber, . Kevin H in es. H in es was o ne o f man y creek crossi ng vict ims in the four mil es o f creek sectio n a nd h esitantl v called it q ui ts after th e fourth check. whi ch like check th ree was o ne o f two eme rge ncy checks in the 100.8-m ile National. T he event wa s hosted by th e Red wood Scra m blers MC o f th e nea rb y coa sta l co m m u n ity Cresce nt City , Ca lifornia. O ver 150 riders were signed up a n d more tha n a few became casua lt ies o f th e Rattl esna ke Nati on a l. Ra in th e previous f~ ur days made things a mess by Saturda y a nd m an y o f th e riders look ed worried. Co urse marking was a problem and riders were upset due to th e red in k suddenl y dissolving from th e co urse signs. Mo st , h ow ever , fo und t he ir wa y aro u n d th e co u rse that went th ro ugh bo th th e Six Rivers and Klama th Na tional forests. The course was designed by th e Redwoo d Scramblers to tak e away eig h t poi nts fro m th e AA ri de rs but, due to th e rai n, cl u b o fficia ls fel t it cou ld be more lik e 28. The Smith a nd T uew er Creek crossings p ro vided to be hum il iat in g for th e B and C ride rs and a few A a nd AA riders, which incl uded C u nn in gham a nd Bert ram , wi n ner o f the event o ne vear ago. The entire co urse had to be remarked da ys earlier , bu t j us t as q u ickly th e a rrows faded ca us ing havoc in to th e fir st ch eckpo int. T he first gru elin g portio n o f th e 100 m ile co urse was a four-m ile loo p o f th e in famous " Beaver slide " ar ea , whi ch wa s I f, m ile o f steep, muddy downhill. From there it was th e first of two creek cro ssin gs, both swo lle n with as much as five feet o f wat er in so me sectio ns . T h e AA riders lost on ly o ne or two points by check o ne but bv the second chec k - so me 19.2 mi les ' ou t - Kadl ec, o f Co lorado Springs, Colorado had los t five mi n ues and northern Californ ia 's Irwin had los t eigh t. Irw in go t los t a fter check o ne some i.6 miles from th e sta rt. bu t got back o n track quickl y. He wa s, h owever, still six min u tes behind whi ch didn ' t make hi s day . "L 'rn readv for a vaca tion ," h e sa id . Irwin 's troubles did n't en d there a nd he went o n to finish fift h aft er rid ing back to cam p with a pounding n a t front tire. Ra tt lesna ke Ridge was a to ugh secti on and wa s still ca p ped with snow at th e highest section . The ch ill factor ma de th e temperatu re close to 40 degrees, Su nday aftern oon wa s gree ted by su ns h in e, wh ich was a welcome sig h t for those rid ers mak in g it past chec k fou r. T he fir st rid er s o u t were turned loose a t 8:0 1 a.m.bv AMA District 36 referee Steve Bigham an d few riders had trou bles until hitt in g a bott len eck whi ch slo wed th e AA rid ers, suc h a s Kadl ec, Kadl ec h ad prai se for the Na tion al " I had a tro uble free ride ear ly, exce p t for th e bottleneck, " he sai d . Kad lec did, how ever , develo p problem s furt h er o u t, a fter breaking a shock mo unt in th e rocky sectio n , H e rod e th e remain in g 20 mi les with no sus pens io n. Ka dlec was making a debut ride o n a 500 WR, which wa s Bertram 's spare, a n d was a n xious to ge t back o n hi s 400 for th e n ext Nationa l whi le Fredett e felt hi s Ka wasa ki KDX200 was more th an suffici ent. After th e fourth check, th e maj orit y o f th e AA rid ers had few p ro b lems. all losin g o n ly o ne point a t th e fif th check. Check six was much the sa me story, Cu nn ingham , Bertram , Kadl ec and Fred ett e lost o n ly o ne p o int apiece but Irwin lost five, th anks to a larger-than-life rock. Cunningham , Bert ra m a n d Fredett e went o n to zero th e fi n al two ch ecks and Cunnin gh am sta ted, "T he co urse was very well laid o u t, o bviously so me body kn ew wh at th ey were doing wh en th ey set u p th e co urs e. I didn 't m ind having a ny p oints taken aw a y from m e, it mak es th ings m uch m ore cha lle nging aft er last week 's eas ier Oregon Nationa l. " Bertr am lost extra ti m e in two o f th e sectio ns an d co m me nted, " It wasn' t eas y rid ing the 100-m ile co urse a t 24 mph , and it was incredi bly ha rd to mak e up tim e lost fro m cos tlv mis ta kes. I th in k th e co u rse wa s way too to ugh for the B and C rid ers, but just right for th e AA and A riders that a re more expe rien ced . Win n in g th e event last year did n ' t reall y give m e the edge, th e co urse was slig ht ly altered fro m last year an d after a year o ne tends to forget wh ere th e to ughe r sectio ns a re. T h is Na tio na l is possibl y one of th e five to ug hest co urses o ut of th e 12 event series, I th ought th ey (Redwood Scram bler s) did a grea t job of ru n ni ng th e event under th e circum stances . I m issed o ne chec k by th ree seco n ds a nd a n error a t th e creek cro ssing m a y have cos t me th e wi n ," J o hn H aak er o f Los Altos, Ca lifornia was the last A ri der out and finishe d fir st in the Open A class on h is Husq varna 5 10TX. Haak er fin ish ed sixt h in th e overalls , dropping 52 poi nts, slightl y off the pace from th e AA riders but good enough to m ak e him th e first A rider. Bu t li ke the AA riders h e had h is share of tro ubl es navi gating th e T uewer creek section, losin g 13 m inutes. In sevent h - overall was Wash in gt on 's J ohn Nielson. Nielson also lost points in check fou r, dropping 14 a nd went on to finis h with 86 points for seco nd Open A. Eig h th overa ll went to a co ns istent J osh Ch and ler, riding a Ya maha , Cha ndl er drop ped 96 po ints and was h aving a great rid e until ch eck four , wh ere he lost 16 poi nts to fini sh a head o f Greg Fergusen wit h 99. Ferg usen was th ird Open A a nd was ju bilant with th e fin ish. T enth overa ll was Husqvarna rider Duke La m bert . La mbert placed fifth overall in last week' s Oregon Nation al by losin g five po ints, but fo und th e Ra tt lesn ake m uch ha rder. He had lost 102 points wh en th e tabula tio ns were in to ta ke top 250cc A honors. a nd lik e a ll fi nishing co m pe tito rs, wa s gl ad to be back a t ca m p . Ma n y rid ers were ou t by che ck four and thos e wh o kep t go ing in some cases wo u ld ca ll it q ui ts after ch eck six som e 90.8 mi les out. Most di dn ' t feel li ke co m ing back down Bea ver slide a nd instead opted for th e cam p. C unn in gh am was m or e th an an xious to leave th e west coast saying, " It will be g reat to be ba ck in th e midwest , even th ou gh I'v e don e q u ite well th e last two wee ks. I h ope I don 't hav e to co me o u t here for qu ite so me time." T h e p oints paces for the title got no closer for Bert ram , who tra ils Cunn ingham a nd Fredette in third. Fredett e h as been riding co nsistent ly in th e top th ree a nd was just looki ng for a go od fin ish an d com me nte d, " My o n ly co mpla in t wa s th e course ma rk ers, if yo u don 't see arr ows yo u learn to p lay by inst incts a nd know th at so me th ing is wron g. So I turned a ro u n d a nd go t back on trac k as soon as possibl e." Special thanks must go . to th e foll owing or gan izati ons: Simpson Timber Compan y, Miller ' Reilim, U.S. Forest Serv ice a n d th e Red, wood Scra m blers M.e. for making th e 23rd running of th e event possible. Result s • OVERALL : 1. Terry Cunnin gham (Hu sl 12 pIS.; 2. David Bert ram IHusl 14; 3 . Jeff Fredette (Kaw) 15; 4 . Frit z Kadlec (Husl 2 5; 5. Je ff Irwin (Husl 36; 6. John Haaker (Husl 52; 7. John Nielson (Husl 86; 8. Jos h Chandler (Yam) 96; 9. Greg Ferguson (HUll 99 ; 10 . Duke Lambert (HUll 102. AA: 1. Terry Cunningham (HusJ 2 . David Bertr am ; IHu s); 3. Jeff Freden e IKaw ); 4. Fritz Kadlec (Husl : 5. Jeff Irwin (Hus). OPEN A ; 1. Joh n Haaker (Husl; 2. John Nielson (Hus); 3. Greg Fergusen (Husl; 4. Scott Taggart (Husl; 5 . Craig Fator (M -S). 250 A : 1. Ouek Lambert (Husl; 2.John Poor (Honl; 3. Don M atheson (Yam). 200A: 1. Josh Chandler (Voml ; 2. Dan McConnell (Kow) . • SR A : 1. Randy Carle s; 2. J erry Kramer; 3 . David King . OPEN B: r. M ike Reynolds; 2. Pau l W ils on ; 3 . Ken Hodges. 250 B: 1. Tony Dukw ell er; 2. Dan Carpen ter; 3. Russell Dirk sen. 200 B: t . Dave Jones; 2. J im Jo hansen; 3. Tim Wil son. OPEN C: 1. Bobby Barn es; 2 . Keit h Pinto; 3 . Rick Me dford . 250 c. r . Dou g Clar k; 2. Ch uck Banks ; 3 . Tupp er Snook. 200 c. i . M ike M cKenzie: 2. M ike Robin son: 3 . M . Fredric. SR B: 1. J im How es; 2. Robert M cDonnell; 3 . Ger oge Johnson. SR C: 1. Al ex Campbell . FOUR STROKE C: 1. Kurt Reich in ; 2. Robert W arne; 3. Rick Olson .

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