Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Sweden's J immie Eriksson came from behind to score the overall and Open Four-Stroke class wins at the Tulsa 4-Day Qualifier, Czech Jan Hrehor (122) topped Kevin Hines for the 350cc Four-Stroke class win . Eriksson triumphant in Tulsa 4·Day By Ma rk Kariya/Dirt Rider 10 SAND SPRINGS, OK, APR. 23·26 uzuki star Randy Hawkins and Ka wa sa ki 's Larry R oeseler seemed to be the only racers in S content io n for fastest individua l hon ors at the Tulsa 4-Da y ISDE Qualifi er, held o n the john Zink Ranch in Sand Springs, But on the fourth and fina l day, Husaberg FE50 1-mounted j immie Ericksso n cam e from 15 seconds back, decimated the field in all tests (thoug h Team Green 's Kurt Hough tied for fastest grass track time) and emerged wi th a 43-second ma rgi n of victory over the entire field . With two yea rs to go unti l th e facility hosts the ISDE, the T u lsa Trailriders la id out th ree different loops, each about 60 mi les long and ridden twice. Each loop featu red two terra in tests, eac h tim ed o n ly th e second ti me around, and a grass track timed twice. Day four wo uld be short, co nsisting of day th ree's loop don e once befor e reimpoundi ng for the fin al mo tos. In addition , Black Jack Enduro Circu it compet itor s joi ned in the fun by taki ng part o nly on da y four, though they didn 't ride the final motos. Unlike the past few years, th e weather remained dry for the entire event , tho ugh even w ith th at a n d the generous "B" sched ule the infamous rocks of th e Zin k Ran ch pounded racers relentlessly. A huge storm th e weekend befor e ensured that there would still be some bog s and creeks to be wary of, though. As the starti ng tim es for the 87 Letter of I ntent ( L O I) ra cer s ca me up , Hough, who won o ut rig ht two years ago here, wished for at least a 24-ho ur delay, having cont racted food poisoning the ni ght befor e. After cras hi ng in the first gr ass track test, he lost an estima ted 40 seconds lying on the deck an d wondering if he cou ld mu ster the strength to even get up, mu ch less last th rough another th ree full day s. Of co urse, tha t was better than j on King, who ba iled late in the day and went hom e early with a separated shoulder. Suzuki's Steve Hat ch started the day wi th a Mickey Mouse bandage, stitches and a lump on his fore hea d, th e result o f practicing cha ng in g Michelin Bib Mousses at ho me wi th imp roper tool s. (One of those tools sli pped, hi t h im in the head and knocked him out for a few minutes. He also had to cut the liner in hi s he lmet to acco mmo da te th e bandages.) Be tha t as it may, Hatch took th e 250cc and overa ll lead after day one's scores were ta llied, tota lli ng 1220.62 poi nts/seco nds o n his Suzuk i RM X250. T eammate Randy Hawkins, riding an modified RMX250 punched ou t to 300cc, led the 500cc class just two points/ seconds in arrears followed by Roesel er's 1223.32, Erickssorr 's 1225.33 and Husqvarna WXE360 racer Ch ris Smith's 1228.52. Other class leaders in cluded KT M's Kelby Pep per in the 125s with his 1234.34, Husberg's David Rh odes in th e 350cc Fou rStro kes with a 1244.90 an d Suzuki RMX 250-m ounted Bruce Ru st in the Sen ior (over 40) class with hi s 1388.45. Ho ugh , fourt h in the 250s after the first day, loo ked haggard the next morning. " If they put us in th ose rocks again, i t's a ll over," he predicted. KTM 300 racer Dary l Folks, a desert specia list from Las Vegas riding hi s first Qualifier, wasn't look in g forward to the rocks either: " Roc ks are rocks, bu t our rocks do n't have m ud on them. The shadows bother me a little, going from dark to ligh t and back. My eyes have a litt le prob lem adjusting that quickly. " My ga me plan is j ust to p lay it safe; I' m no t go nna set the wo rld on fire here," ad ded Folks. Wa shin g ton ' s SCOll La th ro p undoubtedly provided the most arnusing story of the event as he prepared to start day two . T he very picture of conce ntration and deter m ination as he strode into the wor k area awaiting hi s tim e to ente r impound, Suzuki 's j an Hrehor of Czechos lovakia asked him wh at he was do ing . " Ge tting ready to get my bike," La throp repl ied. But Hreh or asked h im the question again, with Lat hrop gi ving th e same answer, now mildly curio us as to the reaso n for the q uery, a reason H rehor qu ickl y provided. " Bu t your feets!" H rehor excla imed. " What's o n your feets?" Lathrop looked down and imm ediately un derstood . While otherwise full y dressed to go racin g, he'd forgotten to tak e his tennis shoes off and put h is boots on . Hawkin s sta rte d hi s push wi th decent grass track tim es and, coupled with unmatched terrain tests, worked hi s way to the very to p of the field, not just th e 500cc class . Husq varna's Fred Hoess unseated Pepper for the 125cc lead with Roeseler doin g likewise to Hatch in th e 250s. Hrehor raged in the tests to unseat Rh odes in the 350cc Fou r-Stro ke cla ss. Day three saw litt le cha nges among the fro nt -ru nners. H owever, Suzuki's Dave Bertram, who'd been running second on his mod ified Suzuki DR400 in th e Open Fou r-Strokes beh ind Eriksson, found himself out for the day when th e bead of hi s rear tire bro ke wh ile o u t o n th e trai l. The same problem befell Hreh or , though he was able to cont inue; in fact, he cont inued to dominat e the class, posting classlead ing tim es in every test to extend hi s class lead. On th e fin al day, however, several major developments occurred. The club routed around the initial terrain test due to nearly impassable bogs so that reduced the number of tests on the day to the second terr ain test, the grass track and, for In tent riders, the fina l motos. Hoess probably wis hed th e qlub had ro uted around the second terrain test ins tead. As it was, he cras hed in th e tes t, d ama g in g a ra d iator and, unknown to hi m , break in g the fuel

• Cover