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/126954
Can-Am rider Tony Hendon (122) and Fredette spent the entire motocross special test battling for the lead. Hendon edged Fredette at the finish. down on the first day. "Then I rode to the second gas stop during the second loop, and my bike wouldn't start when it was time to leave. I worked on my bike for a while and saw that it only got spark about half the time." After that Nielson dropped out of the event. One of the top competitors in the 125cc class, Coors Extra Goldsponsored, Honda-mounted Jeff Miller, also dropped out during the second loop while having a flawless ride. "The first lap went great," said Miller, "but going into the second lap, I hit a rock straight on and blew the sidewall out on my front tire and pinched the tube. So I had to change the tube and had some problems putting the wheel back together, and I was II minutes down. I started to make up time until. I got stuck behind somebody and couldn't get around him, and the next thing I knew I went down. I just slid out - nothing big, but I caught myself on the wrist and it immediately swelled up. 1 stopped, loosened up my watch and was a minute down when 1 got to the next checkpoint. After that 1 thought, 'no problem,' but through the tight section, my wrist started killing me, so I decided to stop." Miller was one of many 125cc riders to drop out during the first day. Pro motocrosser from Washington, Honda-mounted Eric Hall, riding his first-ever qualifier, had his CR125 seize four times before calling it quits. Northern California Honda rider, Taz Harvey, was greeted with bad news at the first check of the enduro when he found out that his fanny pack had unzipped itself open and all his tools fell out, including his prescription glasses. Harvey went on to finish fifth in the 125cc class. Bronze medalist in the 1985 ISDE in Spain, Ford Tannock, was in contention for the lead in the 125cc class on his Suzuki RM 125 before going off course. "I got lost before going into the tight, Rambo section," said Tannock. "I tried to make up time but 1 crashed a couple ·of times and dropped two minutes. But 1 made up those lost two minutes all at one time in the next check, which 1 wasn't· supposed to do like we do in Oregon, so I dropped another 60 points." Honda CR250-mounted Grant Palanske, from southern California, blew any chance for a top finish when he had bike problems on the trail and lost points. "My floats in the carburetor stuck wide open and gas was pouring ou t," said Palanske. "I tried just tapping the bottom of the carb to unstick the floats, but that didn't work, so 1 had to take the whole carburetor apart, and that cost me 17 route points." Third in the 500ccclass after the first day, behind Kadlec and Hines, was Husky rider David Crain, but he was a little disapointed with his terrain test scores. "I don't know. I just don't roost in the terrain tests," said Crain. "I'm just too cautious. 1guess 1don't want to crash. 1 do really good in the grass tracks, but they roost on me in the . terrain. It's all in my head." Kadlec had the lowest score after the first day, leading Hines by 28 poin ts (seconds). "Everything is going good so far," said Kadlec. "I rode a little slow in the tight section and came into the check five seconds into my_grace. If Winner of the 500cc Four-Stroke class, John Haaker starts his Husky ,at the start of day two. David Rhodes (256) took fourth in class. Last year's ISDE U.S. Jr. World team member, Kurt Hough, dominated the 250cc class from start to finish on his Honda CR250. it had been an enduro; 1 would've lost a point. But I had the fastest test scores all four times, so I'm pretty happy about that, considering 1 didn't ride all winter." Drew Smith had control of the 0350cc Four-Stroke class at the end of the day and was enjoying every minute of the ride. "I was hauling, just plain hauling," said Smith. "r looked at the grass track yesterday, jumped off everything I said 1was going to jump off the first time around. I rode into the ribbons a couple of times because I jumped right into 'em. I'm really happy. I didn't have any problems out there, but I did have to change a pipe when it cracked during the . first loop." At the end of the first day, class standings looked like this: Aaron Hough led the 125s by 68 points over Hogenson, while Kurt Hough had a 20 point advantage over Hendon; then followed Lojak (29 points back), Italy gold medalist Fred Hoess, Kevin Brown and Fredette. Kadlec held the overall and 500cc