Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ 0 a: 0 u -c w ..J a: w :::!: > lD l/l 0 >0 ~ co :I: C- O') ~ '-0 C'J ,1,) .- ~ I-) (A bo ve ) Despite having his race bitte stolen the day before the Michiglln wo-day ISDE qualifier, John Martin took the ov....11 on a Can-Am 2 5 0 M XLC. (Above right) Kevi n Hines replaces a broken clutch. .• AlA ISDE Qualifier Series: Round J arlin masters -gan Two-day By M er e Acord RO E CIT Y, ;\H, J UNE 8-9 Can-Am 's John Martin, ridin g a 250 MX LC he bui lt fr o m spare p arts after the m achine he p lan ned to ride was stole n, beat ou t T eam H u sq va rna 's Kevi n Hines by 19 points/ seco nds for the overall at th e Bent W heels Me -organized Michigan Two-~y iSDE QualiIi 1\ ' 1 ' I I 2"0 rer. iv arun was a so me :> cc 24 Int ent cl ass winner, whil e Hin es topped th e Open Intent cla ss. Th e o ve ra ll a n d class winn ing sco res were determined at the spe cia l tests as most Intent class rid ers finish ed bo th da ys with out incu rring a ny ro u te pen alty points. An ac celera rio n test wa s run both da ys. and th e times ra nge d from a low of 36 seconds for H onda-mounted Drew Smith a n d Yama ha YZ490 rider Kevin Brown to a h igh o f 55 seconds for Brian Mull a nd hi s Husk y [25. T he motocross specia l lest , for th e th ird stra igh t year, was laid out on a 67-ac re trac t o f land own ed by Forest Beehl er , own er o f th e Iro n Horse Ran ch m otorcycle sh op in Rose City. T he tests were run at th e sta rt and fin ish of eac h day . After the riders cl oc ked through th e 10th a nd final check on day two, the y were assembled in groups of 10 in the order they finished and ra ced tw o la p s aga in st eac h o ther a nd th e clock. Martin , with a score o f 690, had th e lead a t th e en d o f da y one and th e Iastes t Iap j im c of five m inutes and 18 seco n ds (3 18 p oints ) th ro ugh th e tw o-mile m otocr oss grass tra ck. Martin sa id , "T hey do a n excell ent job up here. Th e riding co ndi tio ns were th e best I've seen in quit e a whi le a nd the woods wer e beaut iful. An y one who didn't enjoy th is ri ~e m igh t think a bo u t ano ther sport. Larr y Roeseler , rid in g a Husk y four- stroke, dropped 695 poin ts a nd was in seco n d place a t the end o f da y one. Roeseler pi ck ed up th ree points on Martin in the morn ing specia l test moto on da y tw o, a n d tw o more th rough th e ac cel erat ion test to mov e into a tie with Martin h eadin g into th e final specia l test. The final test was a sad ending for Roeseler after two days o f riding. Roes eler, riding on min ut e 54. watched Martin (m in u te 43) win hi s rnoto . Roeseler kn ew h e n eeded a good rid e to beat Martin, a n d to get th at ride he needed a good sta rt since th e co ur se had rutted o u t to one lin e a nd passing was difficul t. When the flag dropped for th e dead en gine start, Roeseler's Husky didn 't fir e until the third kick an d he ca me off the li n e somewhere near the back of th e pack. Try ing to improve h is position, Roeseler h it the first turn ho t a nd during th e exit ca ug h t hi s front tire in a rut, hi gh -sid ed a nd broke a collarbone. Hin es, six points o ff Martin's pa ce and in third place a t th e end of da y o ne , pi cked up a point in th e m orn ing sp ecial test of day two and anothe r point in th e a ccel er at ion test. As he prepar ed for the fi nal test at th e en d of day two, Hines was within fo ur points of Martin. Hines rode a good moto, dicing with Tony Mitche ll a nd his Husky four-stroke and fina lly taking the lead fo r the win la te in the last la p , but took 637 seco nds to fi n ish. Marti n had a 622-seco nd ride. " I was concentrating o n no t fa lling dow n," said Hi nes, " a nd just being in the top two or three instead o f goi ng for it. I wou ld like to have won , but it's more important to qual. ify for Six Days." Anoth er co m ment a bo u t the event being " j ust a qualifier" came from J eff Smith, Can-Am product man age r an d pit boss. " I' ve got John (Mart in) and Geoff (Balla rd ) riding on the same minute, and I told them it 's only a qualifi er - yo u don 't have to break your necks . But I know th ey're both out there racing each other," Ballard didn't break his neck, but he did bre ak a toe on his left foot during the ea rl y part of da y on e wh en he hit a stu m p hidden in the grass. Ballard bo rrowed a larger boot to fit over th e swollen foot and rode day two, but finished third overall and seco nd in th e Open class, 22 points off the pace of Martin. Team H usky's Fritz Kad lec nailed down fo urth overall with a score of 1739 a boa rd a 250W R . Before the start of day two, Fritz sa id, " T h ey keep telli ng me to slow down . I think [ w ill toda y; I j ust h ave to keep it on two wheels." . One point behind at 1740 and in fifth overall was Drew Smith, riding a modified Honda C R500 in the Open class. Dr ew , a development ri der for Honda, said , " T h is is the best event h eld in Michigan a nd I want to thank th e people th at put it o n a nd keep putting it on. Th ey're go od p eopl e a n d deserve much more tha n just a thank you ." Kawa saki-supported J eff Fredette dropped to seventh overall when th e retaining nut on th e clutch basket of hi s KDX200 backed off during the final special test. Fredette was able to limp across th e finish line, but his sco re in the final test ballooned to 655 seconds. National Championship Seri es Enduro point leader Terry Cunningham lost the front wheel bearings in h is Husky 125 and dropped out on da y one before th e third check. When a sked why he was riding the sma ll bore instead of his usua l H usky 500 Automatic, Cunn ingham said, " It's m y own choice." R u m or has it tha t Cunningham feels the 125 will m ake him more aggressive when he rides th e 500 Automa tic in th e Nationa l end u ros, Husk y's Dave Bertram h ad some good lu ck a nd some bad as th e ignition went away on th e fir st lap of th e fina l moto on day two. "I co u ld have pushed it ac ro ss th e fin ish line," said Bertram, " bu t it would have tak en m e 10 hours. It quit on th e back side of th e tra ck . Now I'll h ave to go to O regon to q ua lify, " I did have some good luck today. I felt m y contact len s fa ll out o n m y chee k. I stopped rea l quick an d gently lifted up my face guard, an d th ere it was la yin g down in th e bot to m. Jeff (R usse ll) stopped a nd h el ped me pu t it back in. I di dn 't ha ve a m ir ro r." Husky's Ed Loja k picked up 360 ro ute points when a flagma n directed h im th e wrong way at a road crossing. Ed filed an official protest. claiming the flagman gave him the wrong directions. If Lojak 's pro test is upheld, his final score will be 1729 - good for fo urth overal l. As it sta nds, he's [7th in the 250cc class. Drew Smith, commenting on the new FIM rule that excludes anyone over age 23 from the Vase team competition a t th e ISDE, sa id, ''I' m in favor of the ru le, It gives the young guvs a chan ce for the glory." Ro n R ibo lzi, back riding on a Husky, pulled off the four-minute tire change alter the first special test on day two. " I' ve. got somebody up there looking out for me, " said R ibolzi . " I was only 12 seconds into my grace at the next check." He fin ish ed 15th overall. Gary Dell, the event coordinator, gave the se reasons for run ni ng the 133.9-mil e day on e loop and the 123.8-m ile day two loo p on the slower " wet" schedule. " As it turned out, ri ding co nditions were near perfect, a nd the dry time schedu le wou ld ha ve been best. But we had rai n eac h night, and not knowing just how the new ecology tire wou ld affect performances, I de cid ed to pla y it safe . I didn't wa nt a bu n ch of peop le raci ng do wn th e roads trying to make up time." • Re sults 125cc INTENT GOLD; Jim Norris (2.3131. BRONZE: 1. Dan Dillo n (2.614): 2. Zack Elkins (3.0 7 6); 3. Bruce Harrison (3.50 50; 4 . Joe K1otkevoid (4.627); 5. Richard Baulch (4.75 31 . 250cc INTENT GOLD; 1. John Manin (C-A) 1.68 1; 2. Fritz Kadlec (Hus) 1.73 9; 3. Jeff Fredette (Kaw) 1.7 4 1: 4. Jack Pent on (KTM) 1.770; 5. Fred Hoess 1.7BO: 6. Jeff Russell 1.7 82; 7. Bria n lohman 1.7B3; 8. Ron Ribalzi 1.7 9B: 9. Jimmy Garm on 1.8 3 1; 10 . Brea Tankersle y 1.840. SILVER: 1. James P. Gunselman ( 1. B52 ~ 2. Ste· phen Vanasse (1.B71 ); 3. M ike Wid

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