Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

...... ..... .... 0.. ~ Kurt Hough and his CR250R Honda topped the 250cc class (fourth overaliI, beating Kawasaki KDX200-mounted Jeff Fredette by only two points, Can-Am's overall and 500cc class winner, Geoff Ballard, lost no trail points and had the fastest special tests four out of six times. AMA ISDE Qualifier series: Round ·1 Tulsa twO-day win'to Ballard . By Kit Palmer Photos by Mark Kariya and Palmer SKIATOOK. O K, AP R. 12-13 .Au stra lia n Geoff Ballard and h is ASE500 Can-Am won the opening ro u n d of the AMA ISDE Qualifier Series near Tulsa, nipping Husqvarna 's Larry Roeseler by just 32 poin ts. Ballard used his National Hare Scrambles experi. ence to his adva n tage in th e six sp ecial tests, which eventually 8 determined the wi nner.. Neither Ba lla rd nor Roeseler, nor m a n y of th e top riders such as Fritz Kadlec, Ku rt Hough, Jeff Fredette, Drew Sm it h , Tim Shep hard , Chuck Miller , Bruce O g ilve, Kevin H ines, Jeff R ussell , Fred Hoess, Dennis La rratt , Mark H yde and Dave Bert ra m lost a n y rrai l points throughout th e two-day, so special test scores became th e determi ning factor in th e o u tco me . Out. of th e six specia l test s, includi ng th e motocross special test , Ballard was the fastest rider in four, and when a ll th e points were added , ~a ~~~~~o:t ~h l e~st a m o u n t of points . ove rall. Roe seler took second. wh ile third overall went to H u sky's Fritz Kadlec. who held the overall after da y one, while fourth and fift h went to Hough a nd Fredette. In the I 25cc class, Honda C R 125m o unted Peter Postel, from sou thern California, captured th e win after a close match with accomplished desert racer Duane Summers (Cagiva), ISDE silver medalist Wi ll iam Perkins (Husqvarna) and Aus tralian Jeff Dawson (Husqvarna ). The trail consisted o f three loop s each day, with the same loops used both days - the fi rst loop was 33 miles; the second, 46 miles; a nd th e third, 30 miles, to ta ll ing 109 m iles each day. Jagged ro ck s a nd tight woods trails were th e primary obstacles in the Tulsa two-day, so h eav y- -- ~ - ~ ~ -- -- -~- - - - du ty in ne r tubes with high air pressu re were a must. Flat tires were still co m mon, but the Metzeler ecology tires a ll riders were required' to u se h eld up well, without the chunking probl ems American riders suffered during la st year's rocky six -days in Spai n. Many of the riders who rode in Spain felt the Tulsa trail was very sim ila r to th e six-da ys' trail. Day One The majori ty of top-ranked riders didn't have any problems handling the B schedu le used both days. Mos t thought th e schedule was just right. wh ile som e felt it was too slow; one who though it too slow was Team Husky's Mark Hyde. "The last time we rode Tulsa in 1984, the schedule was way too tight, beca use of a tornado that blew th ro ugh ." said Hyde. " Bu t th is year it's way too slow. It went from one extreme to the other. Without pushing. I had abou t five minutes to spare at each check. ' O ther wise. th e race was g reat and ' well run ." " I didn't ge t a n y fla ts which was real good. but I really didn't feel marvelous," said Ballard. "I j ust kind of rode around and made sure I didn 't get a fla t or so m eth i ng . I felt really good in the last special test of the day (day one). but I didn't feel so good in the others." It took Ballard 468 secon ds to get around the first specia l test section (2.6 miles). com pared to the fast time o f Kadlec at 45. But th e second tim e around. Ba lla rd had the fastest time. keeping him with the front ru n ner' Fredette, rid ing a Kawasaki KDX200 in the 250cc class. had some problems in one of the special test sections. wh en he crashed. "Everything went great all day. except for one special test," said Fredette. "I crashed on this uphi ll when my front wheel hit a rock . My bike di d a com p lete 360. a nd when I la nded . it pu lled my ha ndlebars way up. ca using the clutch lever to get stuck in the hand guard." T his cost Fredette about 12 seconds in the specia l test. The o n ly rider who really h ad any prob lems o n the trail during da y one wa s 125cc Husky rider Wi lliam Perkins. At th e end of th e da y, Perkins la y flat o ut on th e ground next to h is recov V van, .... II ering .. from. " th e t ex trem ely ,. I, IE_ • II " u e I ij 'J It tough trail. " I felt really good until thelast20 mi les," sa id Perkins. "T he n I got sick to m y sto mac h and started slowin g . My fir st tw o speci al tests wer e pretty good . but m y third wasn 't so hot because of m y sto mach." A 125cc rid er from Aus tral ia, rid ing a Husqvarna, J eff Daws on , was h aving a pretty good day for hi s fir st ever qualifier. Dawson wa s third in class a t the end. of th e da y behind Postel and Summers. .'I'm just trying to co nserve my bike and take it easy to avoid punctures, and just make the bes t of it, " said Dawso n. "T h e spe cia l tests were fun . but I kept falling down. which was more embarrassing than anything else . I was just trying too hard. Perkins is riding real good. but I caught a nd passed h im on the trail near the end. I think he thinks I'm an idiot. beca use I was trying to ' be. real smooth when I passed him, but I hit a rock and went by h im with me feet s flying in the air. He and Summers are going to be tou gh to beat. " Summers. who's an ace dese rt racer, tried h is luck in his first-ever qualifier and was kee p ing close tabs on cl ass leader Postel a t the end o f the first day. "At first I rea lly didn't know wha t I was doing," said Summers. "This is so new to me , and I was really confused. It took me half the day to figure out what I was doing." Leadi ng Su m m ers by 28 points at the end of day o ne . Postel said, " I' m j ust riding and tryi ng to go as hard as I ca n; riding the tra ils smart , sav ing . my energy for the go-fast sections ." T he following morning. m inutes be: fo re the start. Postel added. "Now it 's serious stuff. kn o win g tha t I'm in the lead. Yeste rday I was m ore-or-less riding for the fu n of it. n ow I have to get down to bu si ness.': H o n d a C R250- mounted Ku rt Hough had control o f the 250cc class after Sa turday's ride. H usky rider Alan Wickstrand was 10 points back in second, followed by Fre dette. Jim Strandfield (H usky ). Hoess (H usky). Ch uck Miller (Honda'Ck ), J eff Russell (Husky) and Dennis Larrat t (H on da CR). As well as owning the overa ll after da y on e. Kadlec held command of th e 500cc class over Balla rd. Drew Smith (H o nda CR). Kevin Hines (KT M), Dave Bertram (H usky 430 Auto), Hyde .#I . J l;" ( J '1 1. .. J. j I I.J .. i ) 1 .. f £I

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