Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

After getting lost on day one. winner Geoff Ballard came within seconds of losing the Tennessee Two-Day overall. It's his third overall ~f the series. AMA Reliability Tria/s/ISDE Qualifier Series: Final round Firecracker Two-Day win to Ballard By Kit Palmer LIVINGSTON, TN, JULY 5-6 The cool, calm and relaxed riding style of Can-Am's Geoff Ballard gave the Australian his third ISDE Qualifier win of the five-race series. This time it happened in humid 90°plus temperatures of the central Tennessee mountains, where Ballard handily beat second overall Tim Shephard and his • 20 Yamaha YZ250. Ballard and his Open-class Can-Am topped 250cc class winner Shephard by seven seconds for the overall,giving Can-Am its fourth overall win 0:£ the series. "I juSt didn't make any major mistakes," said Ballard. "I played it smooth." As well as being the overall winner, Ballard clinched his fourth 500cc class win this year. (The only time he didn't win was last week in Washington, where he DNF with mechanical problems.) Second in the 500cc class went to Husky rider Bob Bean, who finished 14 seconds behind Ballard for fourth overalL Third wen t to Husqvarna-mounted David Crain at seventh overall. In the 250cc class, Shephard motored to the win, nipping Husky's Ed Lojak by two· seconds. Lojak, riding his first qualifier of the year following knee surgery, claimed third overall. Third in class went to Tony Hendon, followed by Greg Surdyke and Reed Bright. Cagiva riders Duane Summers and . Charles Halcomb were untouchable in the 125ccclass, with Summers taking his first-ever class win, seven seconds ahead of Halcomb. Halcomb, however, needed a good ride in Tennessee to secure a spot on the U.S. ISDE Trophy Team, which he did. He unofficially joins Ballard and Larry Roeseler and three other notyet-named riders on the Trophy Team. Day one The Don Thava Factory Works Motorcycle Club Tennessee Two-Day featured two 80-mile loops each day, going in the reverse direction on day two. Only one special test (grass track) was used, and it was used twice each day, along with an acceleration test. (There were no rough terrain or Cagiva's Duane Summers splashes through one of the many river crossings in Tennessee. and claimed his first-ever qualifier class win. motocross special tests). Dry.and dusty conditions kept the trail pace on a B schedule. The 125cc class suffered heavy casualties right away. Australian Jeff Dawson, who captured the I25cc class National Hare Scrambles Championhip for Husky a few weeks ago, didn't even make it to day one. While practicing on his new Cagiva mount Friday before the event, Dawson bailed when he applied too much rear brake on wet grass in the pit area and spun himself into the ground, injuring a couple of ribs. Dawson said he didn't think the injury was anything serious at first, but the pain became worse and worse. He waited until the last second before the start Saturday, before officially withdrawing. (Dawson will ride for the Australian ISDE Trophy Team in Italy this September). The I25cc class lost its second rider when Trask Mountain class winner William Perkins dropped out at the first check. "I hurt my knee last week in Washington," said Perkins, "and twisted it a couple of times before the first check. I decided I'd better quit." Team Coors Extra Gold's Jeff Miller, who rode the six-days last year in Spain, was scheduled to ride in Tennessee, but elected to stay home iIT Idaho after his mother was seriously inj ured in an auto accident a few days earlier. That dwindled the l25cc class to basically two riders - Summers and Halcomb. Neither lost any points during the first day, but Halcomb beat Summers by four seconds in the first special test. Summers, however, came back and edged Halcomb in the acceleration test, then clicked 0[[ a one-second faster time than Halcomb's in the second special test, reducing Halcomb's lead over Summers to one second after the first day. "I squeaked (seized) the engine about 15 miles into theday," said Halcomb. "It happened while I was going downhill, so I let the. bike coast and cool off. It started after that, but it never quite had as much power as before. That cost me time in the special tests." In the 250cc class, it looked as though Lojak would be the rider to beat for the class win and overall. In the ,first special test (grass track), Lojak tied with Ballard for the fastest time of the day at 285 seconds. Next fastest was Shephard at 289. Lojak cooked to another quick special test time on the second loop, at 282 for the best 250cc time. But Lojak's chance at the overall and class win came to a halt with a questionably slow time in the acceleration test. "I didn't do anything wrong," said Lojak. "I didn't miss a shift, wheelie or anything. I was the second rider to make a pass, so I think they must not've been ready or something." Lojak questioned the officials about the time but to no avail. At the end of the first day, Lojak dropped to third in class because of the slow acceleration test time behind Shephard and former ISDE rider Kevin Brown (Kawasaki KX250). Eight seconds separated the top three riders. Ballard was untouchable in the 500cc class. He tied Lojak for the quickest time in the first special test, and came back with the single quickest time of the day during the second loop. With that, Ballard led the class by nine points over Bean, the overall by three over Shephard. But Ballard's day-one ride didn't go without a £law. "I got lost," said Ballard, "and it was a silly mistake on my part. Bob Shilliner and I were eight minutes behind when we got lost, and as I jammed to get back on time after we found our way, my bike seized right at a corner. As I tried to get the bike started, Bob rode by me and jammed right past the turn ribbon. I tried signalling him, but he kept going down the trail. Then I

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