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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127208
, Preview: ISDE U.S. Trophy oerman oun By Kit Palmer Photos by Merle Acord, larry Bell and Palmer , h is month 47 of America's most talented a nd ded i, cated en d uro riders, plus a large group of support \ [ people, will embark on an adventure that will take place "in the mountains of West Germany, The riders will compete in the 64th Int ern a tional Six Da ys .En du ro (ISDE) in the small town of Walldurn. It is one of the largest contingents of American riders that has ever participated in the ISDE, but spotlighting the group are the 10 elite riders who will constitute the prestigious United States World Trophy and J r. World teams. The rest will represent the U.S. on threeman Club and Manufacturer's teams. There will be a record number of at least 25 nations competing in this year's ISDE., The Trophy class is the cardinal class of the ISDE, which features each of the participating country's six best enduro riders. The J r. World d ivision is the ne xt p restigious class, which was recently created as a farm league, for riders u nder the age of 24. In its 64th year, the ISD E has yet to be won by a n American team, but the U.S. J r. World team has one victory to its credi t when the ISDE was held in the U.S. (Massachusetts) in 1973. Back then the Jr. World class was called the Silver Vase, or "B" team, and had no age limitations. The winning American squad was made up of Dick Burleson. Malcolm Smith, Ed Schmidt and Ron Bohn. All were mounted on Husqvarnas. The Trophy team that year was won by the always powerful Czech team , who rode (and still do) Jawa motorcycles. To qualify for the ISDE this year. a series of four National Rel iability Trials events were held in the U.S.: Tulsa. Oklahoma (two days). Rose City, Michigan (two days). Idaho City, Idaho (four days) and Yamhill. Oregon (two days). Out of the total 10 days of competitio n, the 47 riders with the best scores out of seven days qualified for the team. a lthough some of the Trophy and J r. World riders were hand-p icked by the AMA regard less of their resu lts in the series. T his year's U.S. Trophy team will be fi lled by fou r-tim e Na tio n al Enduro C hampion Terry Cu nningham. Jeff Fredette. Dave Bertram, Larry Roeseler, Ku rt H o ugh and Jeff R ussell. The U.S. J r. World team wi ll comprise of defe ndi ng Na tional Enduro Champion Ran dy Hawki ns. Aaron Hough, Fred Hoess and Todd H arr is. Jeff Fredette Age: 31 H o me: S. Chicago Hgts., Illinois ISDE events ridden: 10 ISDE record: 8 go ld medals. 2 silver Class/MC: 125cc/ Kawasaki KXI25 O ther accomplishments: 1981 Blackwater overall winner J eff Fre de tte has ridden the Six Da ys 10 ti mes and his performance has been ou tstanding. H e has eight go ld and two si lver medal s. a nd no D NFs. A month after last year's ISDE in France. where he earned a gold medal . Fredette proved once again, that he refuses to quit when he rode the gruell ing Novemberkasan offroad race in Sweden. The event 'to ta lled 240 mi les and featured two main loops. The first loop began Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m. and ended the same day at 4:00 p.rn.: four hours later the second loop began and ended 120 wet mi les later at four o'clock Sunday morning. The temperature dropped to five degrees that night, but Fredette survived and rolled across the finish line in 21st place. One hundred and four riders started the event. only 26 finished. In this ' year's Qualifier Series. Fredette finished in the top 10overall position in Oklahoma, Michigan and Idaho; hedid not have to ride in Oregon. His best finish was at the Idaho four -day ev ent where he "fin ished third overa ll and second to Terry Cunningham in the , I25cc class. Fredette is b lazingly quick on the tra il . has cornpeti tve times in the special tests. and he enjoys challenging tra ils, such as muddy and sandy condi tions, Dave Bertram Age: 3 1 Home: Ben icia, California ISDE events ridden: 5 ISDE record: 4 golds. I silver The World Trophy and Jr. World teams will be aiming for these trophies at this year's 64th ISDEin West Germany. 10 Class/MC: O pen/Suzuki RMX250 Other accomplis h ments: Second .in th e AMA Na tional Championship En duro Ser ies in 1986 &: '87 T he "Hammer". as he is known by h is friends. proved once again that ' he's Trophy team material followin g this year's ISDE Q u a lifier Ser ies. Ber tram finished seco nd overall at bo th the Idaho an d O rego n ro u n ds, as well as win ning th e O pe n class in Michigan. Idaho a n d Oregon. In