Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

GENDDR0 InternationalSix Day Enduro day. On the average, most of the top riders had about two minutes to spare at each check . A total of 360 riders from 16 coun tries com p eted in Czech oslovakia. H owever, th at number was almost reduced by two when American Pau l Krause and las t year's overall winner Swede Dick Wicksell 's motorcycles seiz ed while being ri dde n to the registration/ impo und area from their hotels. Wicksell managed to fix hi s Husqvarna the same da y, but it seized again wh ile he was revving it up at the sound check. Krause', on the other hand, had to rep lace the ent ire lower-end of hi s Kawasaki. H e eventually borrowed an engine from an English jou rn al ist, Mike Rapl ey. Both Krause and Wick' sell managed to impo und thei r motorcycl es just be fore th eir ex te n de d deadl ines. ,' - e "' ~ C'l .... 15 S .... 0.. ~ ~ Cf) along about 20 mi les-per-hou r on a ' single-trac k trail and the next thi ng I kn ew I was tryi ng to get back on my bike. I think I hi t somet hing like a rock or a tree root that I didn't see. Oh well, th ere's always next year in Australia. " The U.S. lo st its second rider when Yam ah a WR250-mounted Club rider J ames G ray deve lo ped rea r whee l proble ms when the sprocket sheered off the hub. Day one 6 T he op ening day, Mon da y, dawned warm and sun ny, and most of the riders man aged to leave the Pare Ferme (startfini sh / impound area) on tim e. The Trophy and Junior World team riders left the start line first , followed by the Club riders. ' About an hour into the day, the riders entered the first timed special test - th e grass track. The T rophy and Junior World riders found the track wet with dew and very slippery. But by the time th e Club rid ers arrived, it was dr ied out an d burn ed in, and as a resu lt ma ny of th eir time s were faster th an the T rophy and Junior World riders. When th e scores were ta llied at the end of the day, Club rider Dan Nielsen , on a KT M 250E/XC, was "T op American. " His overall combined times in the grass trac k and cross country tests were faster th an many well -known offroa d riders such as Frenc hmen Lauren t Ch arbonnier and former ISDE overa ll win ner Gilles Lalay, and Americans H ines, Hatch and H awk ins. , "I justhada good day," said Nieslen. " By th e tim e I got to th e tests, mo st of the'gra ss was torn up and th ere were berms. Those guys in th e morning had it tough because it was so slippery on the wet grass and they cou ldn 't find traction. I just hope it keep s going goo d for me," Czech T rop hy team rider Jaroslav Katrinak , aboard a H usaberg 501 fourstroke, logged the lowest overall score, contributing to hi s team's first pl ace posi tion a fte r th e first da y. T h e Czechos lovakian Trophy team headed the charts by 5.65 seconds over the Ital ian team , led by Giorgio Grasso, 75,32-80.97. Sweden , head ed by Kent Karlss on in the 350cc Four-Stroke class, was th ird with 110.52, 35.2 seconds behi nd the Czechs. France was fourth and Germ any fifth, whi le the U.S. Trophy team was seven th . In th e Junior World division , Czechos lova kia was also th e front-ru nner with 142.45 po ints, followed closely by France (154.98) and th e U.S. (218.77). Most of the 360 riders who started finished the day, but one who didn't was Ameri can Club rider J a so n , Dahners of Washin gton . Dahners crashed h is Husabe rg 501 before the first check and bro ke his collarbone, wrist and toe in the fall. The America n was transported to the Italian pits, where th e Italians, who carne to the Six Days with their own doct or a n d X-ra y faci lities, set Dahners' broken bones, and pu t a cast on the wri st. Dahner was the n taken to the hotel where th e U.S. team was stayi ng, and he was u p an d abo ut that eveni ng. " I really don 't know wh at happened," Dahners said. "I was cruising (Above) U.S. Junior World rider Jimmy Lewis (78) was one of seven Americans to earn a gold medal. (Right) Track conditions at the final MX special test were so dusty and dangerous that the riders were not timed, Instead, it ended up being a show for the spectators, Day tw o T uesday spelled doom for the Ita lia n Trophy team. The team was knocked ou t of conte nt ion when KTM 350cc four -stroke rider Mario Rinaldi was sidelined with mechanical problems, which dropped the team to 14th by the end of th e da y. It also wasn ' t a very good day for th e American Junior World team. They dropped back two places in th e overall standi ngs when ISDE roo kie Chris Smith, riding a KTM 250E/XC, developed ch ain p robl ems in the grass track test. "T he chain carne off an d bent the chain guide," Smith said . " I cou ldn 't ben d the guide back and get the chain on, so I had to unbolt the guide an d take it off. It took me abo ut , five min utes to fin all y get the cha in on th e sprockets. I'm reall y lu cky to have made it to the finish of the day becau se one of the pl ates in the chai n had cracked throug h," The U.S. J u nior World team finish ed eig h th o n th e ' da y, whi ch dro pped them back to fifth overa ll behind Czech o sl o vak ia , Fra n ce, Sweden and Spain. Peterh ans el set the overa ll fastest score of the day, moving h im into th e 250cc class lead , but he still had som e catching up to do on the overa ll and 500cc class leader, Podmol. Italian Stefano Passeri , Aprilia-rnounted, held the reigns in th e 125cc clas s, th ough Brit Pa ul Edmo nds on, ridi ng a H usqvarna, was creeping up in th ird. Swede Kent Karlsso n con tin ued to set the fastest times in. th e 350cc Fou r-Stroke class, wh ile Katr in ak continued to do the same in the 500cc Four-Stroke divisio n. ' The fastest overall Ameri can in th e special tests on th e day was Hatch, wh o ' was 17th in the 250cc class. backw ard s. Unfo rt u nate ly, this happened in a very tight sectio n' a nd we cou ldn ' t ma ke up a ny time. T here were so man y p eopl e aroun d , I thi n k th ey wer e sta nd ing in front of th e arrow . " , Bertram's mi stake was co mpounded by the fact tha t team mate Fred Hoess , rid ing a Husqvarna 360, su ffered a flat fro nt tire early in th e da y, a nd he too lost five mi n u tes a t a chec k. " Since the schedul e was so tigh t, I just did n ' t have the tim e to cha nge it withou t los i n g points," said a ver y dejecte d H oess. " T h is is th e first time (out o f six IS DEs) th a t I' ve ever lost any rou te points at th e Si x Days," Bert r a m a nd H o ess ' pro bl em s drop pe d th e U.S. T ro p hy tea m back to ninth in th e ove ra ll sta nd ings, whil e Posl edni 's miscu e dropped hi s ' team to second, While bad luck zapped the U.S .

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