Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

that I broke at the Michigan Qualifier. I shouldn't have even tri ed riding here." Russell a lso crashed lat e in th e da y and bent his Yamaha 's front brak e di sc, w h ich hurt hi s performance in th e la st grass tra ck test. Just before impounding h is KX at th e en d of th e day, H ough had to replace a bi gger KDX200 gas ta n k that he wa s using , which sta rted leaking when it m elted from co mi ng in contact with th e exha us t pipe. After ta ll ying th e day's p oints, Cunningham had th e lowest score to take the overa ll lead with 2605 points. Next was Bert ra m with 2777, followed by Roese1er 2887, Fre dette 2916 a nd Kadlec 2923. The beginning of day t wo 'saw H ough's KX refu se to sta rt. H is bike had lost coola nt o n day o ne , resulting in a warped cylinder head a nd no co m p ression. .Later th at day he repaired h is b ike a nd reimpounded it, so h e co u ld rid e days th ree a n d four, although this put him out o f contention for an overall score in Idaho . In this year's seri es, eac h da y co u nts towa rds q ualifying, not th e rider's overall finish. The rider's best seven days out of a to ta l 10 days in the series are co u n ted. All th e rider s ex pected sl ower speed averages o n da y two but, instead, were greeted with just th e opposite at checks two ; three and four. Cunningham arrived a t chec k two four minutes late, dropped o ne minute at ch eck three and arrived a t check four abo u t 15 minutes late. Although he had so me o f th e best scores at these ch ecks, he was furious with th e too fast schedule and the choking dust on th e tra il. "T h is is ridiculous, some o ne is going to get hurt! " Cunningham told th e worker s at chec k four. 'Bu t th e club a lready kn ew of ' th e problem and tried addi n~ 10 minutes to th e da y's sched u le Immedi at ely a fte r th e check to a llevia te th e problem . It didn 't wo rk. Eventually, a ll o f th e chec ks after check four were turned into obse rva tion chec ks an d th e riders co u ld ride a t th eir o wn lei sure for th e rest o f th e da y. Plus, ch ecks three a nd four were th rown out. But ch eck two wa s left in and th at 's where m ost o f th e da y's points were accumulated. Cunningham was four minutes late to chec k two, dropping 240 points, as were Bertram , Fredette, H awkin s, Ro esel er , Ru ssell a n d many of the top contenders. So me of th e slo wer riders were u p to 10 minutes lat e. Again, the four special tests (o ne test was thrown o u t due to scorin g errors ) wer e dom in ated b y Cunningham , Bertram , H awkin s, Fredette, R o e sel e r , Kadl ec a n d R ussell. By day three, th e trail pace h ad been readjusted and none of th e riders were la te to th e checks because of th e speed average. "You could cruise at a moderate pace and still mak e it to th e ch ecks about 14 minutes ea rly," sai d Cunningham. " It was a lot better. " Specia l test performances, for th e first time in th e event, were crucia l on day three. In th e fir st grass track special test , Bertram claimed th e fastest time at 179 seco n ds , foll owed by C unningham ( 181), Russell a nd Team Green 's Danny LaPorte (182), Hawkins, Fredette and Kad lec ( 184), Yamaha rider J oe Zierman (185), Honda four-stroke riders T odd H arris and J im m y Lewis (188), and Open class Kawasaki-moun ted R o bert Neeley (189). Roese1er was knocked ou t of th e event wh en he crash ed in the first special test of th e day. His rear wh eel hit a rock th at wa s h idden in a bush , causing him to endo . H e eventua lly Cunningham (102) took the holeshot and the win in the 125cc MX special test moto on day four. got up and wa lked to the ambu lance, where he wa s taken to the hospital with three cracked vertabrae, torn ligaments in h is ribs a nd a broken thumb. In the n ext four speci a l tests , Hawkins ace d three of th e tests , while Bertram topped one . At th e e n d of th e third d a y, Cunningham held a comfortable lead over Bertram, Fredette, Kadlec and R ussell. A single 50-mile loop with one terra in test cha lle n ged th e riders before th e fin al MX specia l test o n day four, wh ere Bertram , once aga in, had th e fast est tim e with a 453. Nex t fa stest was Kadl ec wi th a 455, whi le R ussell was th ird fastest wi th a 459. Heading in to th e fin al MX special test, Cunni ngham h eld a com lorta ble lead over Bertram and Fredette. Cunningham a nd th e rest of th e 125cc class were th e first to ch a llen ge th e four-lap hilly and wooded MX co urse. . Cunningham roc keted hi s KXI25 into the lead and was never cha llenged , whil e Fredette came from last pl ace to th ird , des pi te th e dust y conditions . In th e first 250cc moto , H awkins blew everybody away, wh ile Hough did th e sa me in th e seco nd 250cc rnoto. H ough's time wo ul d be the fas test o f th e da y. The Open m ot o featured many h ot sh oes including former 250cc MX World Champion Danny LaPorte, Bertram, Kadlec a nd Kawasaki riders J ohn Nielsen a nd Neeley. At th e sta rt it was Neeley who sho t into th e lead , while LaPorte quickly found hi s way into second. But Neel ey had a lready opened up a sizeable lead, as LaPorte had to deal with th e dust kicked up b y Neeley. LaPorte slo wly closed th e ga p but ran o u t o f time a nd Neeley scored the win. H onda-mounted Brian Mull took the ea r ly lead in th e com b ined Lightweight/H ea vyw ei ght FourSt roke and Open (two-stro ke) mota , but lo s t th e top sp ot to KTMmounted Bob Bean a t th e halfwa y point. Bean took th e win followed by Mull (LlW 4-ST R K) a nd Gary . H azel (H / W 4-STRK ). Cunningham's total po ints came to 6748, while Bertram had th e next low est a t 6918. Second in th e 125cc class went to Fredette wh o was foll ow ed by Kell y Pepper a n d Donnie Simone. Simone a lmost didn 't ge t a co m p lete fin ish when he broke a rear shock moun t Co lorado's Fritz Kadlec ro de a modified Yamaha YZ250WR to fourth overall and second in the Open class. He is a former ISDE gold medalist. on hi s KX near th e en d o f th e third day . On Monday morning, 10 min utes before the sta rt, Simone welded h is KX back to h ealth. Russell br eezed 10 th e 250cc clas s win over Yam aha ride r J oe Zierman , both riders earnin g go ld m edals, .a s did Ha wkins who finish ed third in th e class, just a few points ahea d of Yamaha 's Grant Palenske. . Bert ram 's wi n in th e Open class came a t the expense of Kadlec, wh o fini sh ed seco nd with a gold medal. Also go ing h ome with a gold m edal in th e class was LaPorte in third, fin ish ing just ahead o f N ielsen . In th e Lightweight Four-Stroke class , so u thern California 's Jimmy Lewis took the win over Mull and Sco tt Drafs, while Honda XR600m ounted G ary H aze l topped th e Heav yweigh ts over ATK pilot Mike Doughert y. • Results a /A: 1. Terry Cunn ing ham (Kaw); 2. Dave Benram (Suz);3. J eff Fredene (Kawl; 4. Fritz Kadlec (Yam); 5. Jeff Russell (Yam); 6. Joe Zierman (Yam); 7. Danny LaPone (Kaw); B. Kelly Pepper (Kaw ); 9. John Nielsen (Kaw); 10 . Donn ie Simone (Kaw) . 125: 1. Terry Cunn ingham (Kaw); 2.Jaff Fredena Yamaha-mounted Jeff Russell claimed the 250cc class w in. (Kaw ); 3. Kelly Pepper (Kaw); 4. Donni e Simone (Kaw); 5. Brad Lowe IKaw). 250: 1. Jeff Russell (Yam); 2. Joe Zierman (Yam); 3. Randy Hawkins (Suz); 4 . Grant Palensk e (Yam); 5. Jimmy Lyngar (Yam ). OPEN: 1. Dave Benram (Suz); 2. Fritz Kadlec (Yam); 3. Dann y LaPon e (Kaw ); 4. John Nielsen (Kaw); 5. Rebert Neeley (Kaw). LIW 4·STRK: 1. Jimmy Lew is (Hon); 2. Brian Mull (Yam); 3. Scon Orals (Hon). HIW 4· STRK: 1. Gary Hazel (Hon); 2. M ike Oougheny (ATK). 23

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