Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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(Above) John Martin was first overall on a Can-Am. (Below) Larry Roeseier was second overall. first Four-Stroke. on a water-cooled Husky. Geoff Ballard rode his ASE360 Can-Am·to first in the Open class. fourth overall; Dave Bertram was second in class. AltA IISDE Qualifier Series: Round 2 Michigan two-day victory to Martin By Kit Palmer Photos by Mark Kariya/Dirt Rider and Palmer ROSE CITY. MI, MAY 17-18 ' For the second year in a row, Can-Am's Johnny Martin captured the overall win at the Michigan two-day ISDE qualifier in Rose City, Michigan. "I didn't feel excep14 tionally good," said Martin, "but I guess I did good enough. I Thisrun in yearsthe b theevents was one of t I've trails were excellent, absolutely no dust, but it did get a little muddy in some places. The time schedule was a little slow the first day, and I thought the special test course could've been a little tighter; otherwise, the Bent Wheels Motorcycle Club put on a superb event." Martin, riding a prototype, watercooled ASE200 Can-Am, edged out Husqvarna's Larry Roe eler and Honda rider Chuck Miller (Honda CR250) for the overall victory. Last month's Tulsa, Oklahoma winner, Geoff Ballard, rini hed fourth overall. Since the schedule was a little on the'slow side for most of the riders, the determining factor was special test scores. Martin had the fastest motocross special test time at the end of the event, which pretty much secured the win for the former ISDE gold-medalist. Ballard wound up with the Open class win, while Husky's Dave Bertram finished second. Roeseier, riding a prototype water-cooled 5lOcc four-stroke Husky, took the' Four-Stroke win over Honda rider Bruce Ogilvie. In the l25cc class, Cagiva rider Charles Halcomb wrapped up the class win, while Coors Extra Goldsponsored Jeff Miller (Kawasaki) was second. Cagiva rider Duane Summers made one mistake on day two that cost him second place; the mistake was just enough to give Miller second. Third fell to round one I25cc class winner, Honda CRl25-mounted Pete Postel. The 250cc class win went to Martin, while Miller, Tulsa winner Kurt Hough, Tim Shepard and Alan Wickstrand rounded out the top five. Ballard wound up with the 500cc class win on his 350ASE, followed by Husky's Mark Hyde, Dave Bertram, . Bob Bean and John Nielsen. The Michigan trail totaled 250 miles of mostly tight woods riding, and many of the top riders felt the speed schedules were a little tOl} slow, especially during day one. Riding conditions were near perfect the first day, but a 'thunderstorm Saturday night b'rought heavy rain, causing the trail to be very muddy in some sections during day two. Ballard led in points after day one, ahead of Roeseler and Martin. Many of the top riders, including Australian Jeff Dawson, Grant Palenske, Dennis Larratt, Billy Fulmer Jr., Jeff Fredette, Randy Hawkins, Fred Hoess and Mark Hyde, lost no points on the trail. Roeseler zeroed the course during the fir t day, but crashed during the first special test (grass track), which cost him the first-day lead and possibly the overall. "I just came into a berm too hard, and the front end washed out," said Roeseler. "It happened after the same straight that I broke my collarbone in last year. I felt a little squirrely at first, but my afternoon test was real good. "I had to make some adjustments to the forks and the shock on the trail, since I didn't get much time to work on the bike before the race. I uncrated it only twO days ago," Roeseler said, One rider failing to finish day one was Husqvarna's Fritz Kadlec, who was running in the 250cc class, Kadlec dropped out after his bike threw a rod. Dawson's I25cc Husky broke its exhaust pipe halfway through the day, but he managed to get the pipe welded up before the start of day two. Honda XR600-mounted Drew Smith's

