Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Kevin Brown had the fastest acceleration times twice, and he won the 500cc motocross special test. He claimed a silver medal. (Above) Can -Am 's John Martin d idn ' t lose any route p o ints t h roughout t he six days. (Below) Czech rider Vilem Dupal pushes. 14 co untry sp ecia l test section ; h e los t a tot al o f 10 m inu tes. " In th e cro ssco u n rrv test," sai d Ballard, " I fell dow n ;ind a roc k pu lled a ca ble that con nects to my exha us t bu tterfly val ve thai I use when goi ng through th e sound tests . The ca ble's sp ring bro ke and clo sed th e va lve. so Ihe hi ke di dn 't have enoug h ho rsepo wer to get u p the hi ll. I had 10 push it 10 the to p over th e rocks." Ballard a lso fell in a g ra ss tra ck spe ci al sccf io n when he hi t a rock . T he " Lo ne Kawboy" Fredett e had h is rea r brak e assemhl y fall a pa rt a nd hi s clu tch ca ble sn ap in half - both in th e same section. He d idn 't los e a ny rou te points, fixed th e brak e before th e special test session, but co u ldn 't get the clutch ca ble fixed in tim e. Junior Worl d team rid er Nay lor dropped ou t of th e race when h is H on da developed electri cal problems . "At first I th ough t it was a spark pl ug, " said Nay lo r, " the n I th ough t it m ight be th e ki ll swi tch . Soon it j ust quit, an d when it cooled off, it wou ld fire up. I go t goi ng aga in a nd m issed hourin g o u t by 15 seco nds; I m ad e it 10 th e fo ur th chec k a nd th en it died aga in a nd I co u ld n ' t ge t it runn ing. We figured it was th e black box." Further ins pec tio n revea led th e p robl em wa s ca used by a wire grou ndi ng out th at ca used a short in the electrica l system . Although Naylor was rid ing well up to tha t poi nt a nd was n' t losin g a ny poi nts, he fou nd that the ISD E wasn 't h is sort of thi ng . " I do n 't th in k I' ll go 10 these a ny m ore; th ere's too ma ny ru les a nd regu lations, and yo u get pena lized for this a nd th at. Ha re scramb les is my sort of thi ng. " R id in g a KXI 25 Kawasa ki , Coorssponsore d J eff Mi ll er suffered a broken foot in th e spec ia l test section . " Everyt h in g wa s go ing super," said Mil ler , " u nt il I stuck my foot in some guy's rear wheel. I sta lled the bi ke a nd I started 10 fa ll over wh en a guy tried 10 pass me. It knocked me off ba la nce a nd we h it a nd fell over. He started 10 p ick up hi s bike but my foot was stuck a nd he did n ' t know it. I had 10 grab hi s helmet a nd p us h h im dow n . He co u ldn ' t co m p rehend my foo t was in h is rear wheel. Fin a lly (J im ) Norri s ca me hy a n d sto p ped . He tu rned th e guy's wh eel backw ard s a nd pulled my foot free. My foot hu rt rea l bad a nd th ey wen t 10 get th e a m bu la nce, so I go t going before they got back , becau se th ey wou ld 've chec ked me o ver and I mi ght ha ve houred o ut. I migh t be o u t o f go ld now, hut I' ll go for a bronze." T he lo w poin t on day fo ur was wh en Lojak, wh o was ridi ng o n go ld, crashed a nd d ropped o ut o f th e event. He su ffered inj ured ribs, in tern al inju ries and a gas h to hi s arm tha t required stitch es. " I stopped to hel p a n inju re d Spa nis h rider (Perc Ponsa )," said Lojak , "an d a fter help a rr ived. I crashed tryin g 10 make u p time. I wa s on th e pavem ent and was trying to pa ss a g uy ahea d o f me in th e dust whe n I saw this tu rn , but it was too lat e. I crash ed a nd th en fell off a 20· foot wa ll. It was a du mb mistak e on my part." Flat tires h indered a few U.S. riders on da y four, includ ing Drew Smith , H aw kins (lost four minutes), Bertram a nd Ba llard . Kad lec smashed his pipe on th e tra il a nd had 10 rep lace it at on e o f the che cks. Hoess crashed o nce in a specia l test sectio n and got lost a lo ng wi rh three ot her rid ers : Adri a n Smith (G rea t Britain ), Richa rd Hubin (Belgiu m ) and Vaclav Kro u pa (CZ). " We carne down th is hi ll, " said H oess. " a nd I just follo wed th e Czech guy down th e cree k bed inst ead o f tu rning o n th e di rt road . T here was no wrong-way ma rkers again or a ny th ing. Si nce we were runn in g th e day-tw o co urse in reverse, I th ou ght we were supposed to go down th e creek like th e way we came up. Lu ckil y, I d idn 't las e any points." J eff R ussell co nt in ued ridin g well but had so me prob lems in the special tests. " O ne time I got ca ugh t in a rut going into a turn ," said Russell. "T he n I went over the berm and th ro ugh the ribbo n. I thin k I need 10 go 10 th e Gary Bail ey School o f Mo tocr oss wh en I ge t back." Hi -P o int 's Ala n RaJHh lost a few ro ute points o n day o ne , zeroed da y two , bu t felt sick th roug hout day th ree. " After I a te brea kfast," said Ran dt , " I bega n Ieeling reall y sick a nd I lost a few poin ts o n the trail. At lea st I haven ' t had a ny fla ts yet, but I did sm as h my exha ust pipe pretty good. I' m still on silver, bu t I' m not used to all th ese rocks." - Things d idn 't go too we ll for Buckles early in the day wh en h is fo u r-st ro ke Hus ky wo u ld n't start in the morni ng. " I kicked that thing over for Irmi n u tes and it was rea lly weari ng me out," sai d Buck les. " A guy kept tell in g me to lean th e bik e o ver, bu t I though t th a t I've never h ad to do th at before, so I j ust kept kick in g . Finall y, I decided, 'w hy not ? I' ve got noth in g to lo se.' So I leaned it over, pi cked it u p , ki cked it o nce , a nd sure enough , it fired right up!" ATK -m ounted J oe Coppe uge 's (T a lla ha sse T ra il Ri ders) bad luck sta rted after o n ly losing a to ta l o f 320 po ints prior 10 da y four. On th is da y, how ever, Coppeuge lost 3120 points on th e tra il, th en lo st 3780 the next day. By rhi s time, the Swedis h tea m wa s ca tching back lip to th e lead in g it a lia n team, despite losi ng two riders a lo ng the wa y (they were nrTro p hy riders). Klas Westerberg a n d La rs Parn epbgo rk bot h dropped o u t with igniti on fa ilures.

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