Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126949
Goldsmith gets down to action on the Gavle ice oval; muhi-time Swedish National Champion Kurt Westlund said; "He's riding like a Russian." Vasily Koptashkin and Sukhov give a hel,ping hand to Michigan's Pat Goldsmith; the action took place in Gavle, Sweden. Russians help train North American ice racers By Lars Olund Photos by Nick Blackmon and Gary Densford GAVLE, SWEDEN, JAN. 8 Motorsport history was made last month in Sweden as Americans Patrick Goldsmith and Kenny Pieper, along with Canadian Jon Cornwell, took their first ice racing practice laps. This exciting moment was actually the first physical . . step towards.eventually.entenng North Amencan racers m World Championship Ice Race competition, something never before attempted. The three-week traul;mgcamp was the result of over a year s planmng by Gary Densford of Arizona-based International Championship Events (I.C.E.), and was made all the more special by the presence of the Soviet Union's National Ice Race Team. Realizing the significance of the occasion, the Soviet sportsmen offered to assist in the initial training of the North Americans. Included in the Soviet party were none other than Vladimir Sukhov, a member of the Soviet team that won the FIM's World Championship Team Ice Racing title, and a new Soviet star, Vasily Koptashkin. Also on hand was the Soviet team's manager, Mr. Plashakov. All was not work, however, as the traveling trainees attended the World Championship Quarter Final round in Stockholm on January 5-6. It was north to Gavle the next day to attend a special luncheon hosted by city officials in honor of the Soviet and North American ice racers and to commemorate the occasion that the North Americans chose to initiate their ice racing efforts in the beautiful Swedish city. Later that evening it was off to the Gavle track for the special Sweden vs. USSR Invitational race. At the start of the meeting the temperature was 16° below zero and the first night's competition was held in a blizzard as Sweden was in the midst of the coldest winter in over 20 years. The harsh weather conditions didn't chill the enthusiasm of the North Americans as they went through their training sessions. Perhaps they were helped by the fact that Pieper hails from Denver, Colorado, Goldsmith from Walled Lake, Michigan, and veteran Camel Pro Series dirt tracker Jon Cornwell lives in Georgetown, Ontario, Canada. On January 17-18 the trio headed to Finland to watch another World Championship Quarter Final round where they met the reigning World Champion, Jurij Ivanov from the Soviet Union. The North Americans headed home with newly purchased Jawas to further develop and perfect the racing technique and technical expertise they learned from the world's best in Sweden. Their goal? To enter World Championship Ice Race competition in 1988. That, like the first laps they took on January 8, will make motorsport history. •