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/127687
DAY TWO Wednesday began with good news for the American tea m, when the second-place French squad lost a rider early on. Christian Boulet broke a valve in his four-stroke Husqvarna, effectively endi ng Fran ce's hopes at the win. Th e U.S. Trophy squa d advanced to second place behind the Italians, but exp erienced their first bout of bad luck later on w hen the 350cc KTM four-stroke of Jeff Russell began experiencing electrical problems during the first terrain test. "It quit running in the terrain test," sai d Russell . "I kicked and kicked and it wouldn't start. I took out the plug and no spark, an d I even jammed a screwdriver in the spa rk plug cap to see if I could feel a shock . Nothing. With nothing else to do, I just kicked some more and suddenl y it fired. I lost 20 minutes in the test and was six minutes late to the next check." Russell repaired his bike at the check; he finished 49th on the day. This d ropped the U.S. Trophy team to seventh place - disappointing since most of the other team members had turned in impressive performances. Smith and Summers both improved their Day One finishes , placing third in their respective classes on the day, and Davis was a steady fifth in the H /W division. Hawkins was sixth in the L/W class for the second day in a row, while Cooper slipped to 15th H/W. The Italians, meanwhile, continued to dominate both the Trophy and Junior divisions. After a second-place finish on Day One, Mario Rinaldi improved to win the H/W class, and no less than four Trophy riders finished second in their divisions. Tullio Pellegrinelli was slightly off the pace, finishing seventh H/W. Sweden took advantage of the French an d American teams' misfortunes, moving up two spo ts to second p lace. Austr ali a was a su rprising third, with the Czech republic in fourth. M ost ri d ers a p peared p h y s icall y dra in ed after com p le ting tw o laps of Da y Two 's 80-mile cours e. "It's like a Tulsa Qualifier, but I think the y ad ded about 20 miles to every da y," sa id for mer Top American Kelby Pepper, w ho was a bit unfamiliar w ith riding on a Club team. "The re was a lot of traffic yesterda y, but I think a lot of them dropped out, and today wasn't as bad." Grand National C r oss Country Champion Fred Andrews appeared particularly affected as he worked on his bike at the end of the day, but he was still able to impound on his minute. "I crashed in a g rass track, but that was about the only problem I had," said Andrews. "It's tou gh. I didn' t know it wo uld be this bad ." Andrews' Salt Fork Dirt Riders team s lip ped from second to fourth in th e Club sta nd ings. Day Two Results TROPHY: I. Italy (114.57); 2. Sweden (449.87); 3. Australia (1318.06); 4. Czech (1343.27); 5. Ce rma ny (1415.78); 6. Finland (1532.98); 7. USA (1810.28); 8. Po rtuga l (2437.48); 9. Pola nd (3677.58); 10. Canada (12452.48) . JR: 1. Italy (452.61); 2. Sweden (523.32); 3. Auslrlllia (714.37); 4. France (740.19); 5. Netherlands (1128.24); 6. Ca na da (2015.27) ; 7. Mex ico (2096.66); 8. Cermanr. (2416.61); 9. Spain (7981.72); 10. Czech (16221.71); 1 . USA (30S45 .48). DAY THREE Ra in showers d escend e d on th e ranch Wednes.day night an d Th ursd ay morning, keeping the dust down on the 69-mile loop. Riders made two circuits and were timed in two grass track tests and two terrain tests. " In Tulsa you don't have too many fun days; this was one of those few days," said Hawkins. "The trail was its best yet. It was a little sloppy at first, but became tacky by the second loop." ."I liked it better today, actually," said British ace Paul Edmondson. "It was a bit grippier - more what I'm used to." "The race director here is a little crazy, but today was a little better," said Italian Arnaldo Nicoli, who continued to lead the L/W Four-Stroke class. "Fran co Acerbis told me that Tulsa was like Sweden, so I prepared for that. I'm used to rocks, and I practiced motocross w he n I heard that Coope r a nd Smith were on the American team, I also rode my moun tain bike a lot, which is helping wit h the long days." Th e Ita lians turned in ye t another mostl y trouble-free day, an d rem ained atop the lea de rboa rd s in both premier ca tegories . Ca rmin a ti had s tar ted th e day o ff on the w rong fo o t w hen h e replaced a broken water-p ump cover in the morning. and he wasn't able to add water befor e he was due to leave . Fortunately for the Italians, Carrninati's 12Sec KTM lasted until the first special test, where he added water and turned in a (Above left) italian Trophy rider Maurlzlocarmlnali rails a grass track tum on his way to second place In the Ughtwelght class. (Above) Randy Hawkins shook off a sore knee to f1nlah with a Gold Medal, David Rhodes impounded late after having ' ', problems gettinghis front foam' insert to drop. . down on the rim. ."It didn't go too well," said _ . Rhodes." ' Yolf ride all day to stay on time, .The misfortunes of Jeff.Ru'ssell were doubly .then lose.twbminutes trying to change a tire:". harmful, as .they occurred during a spec ial' . test. Thus, not.only was Russell penalized Six 'Days veteran Jeff Fredette madea 360 route pointsJorarriving six minutes late ;' promise .after the.brutal second day. i know ; to a check, but his special test time was also ' rve said .this before,·but this really Is the last· 17 minutes off the pace of class winne r ' time I'm ever going to ride here.rsatd Fre-.· Arnalda Nicoli . Russell finished 62nd in the . dette. . . test, but was I Oth-; seventh, and eighth' .fastest in the day's other Ihree tests. . The' Italian team's 'Ievel of professionalism . . was aniazlng. Not only were their riders visl; ' After losing Trophy' rider Christian 'Boulet, . bly faster than 'a nyone 'else in the special the French team saw insult added to injury . tests, but learn personnel had the Trophy and when Cyril Esqu lrol fell and broke his left . Junior results tabul ated (accurately) a few han~. Esquirolhas had ~d luck in the S tates, ' hours after' the finisl:l. (The.promoting Tulsa. as bike problems kept him out of the runnong Trail Riders did not hand out printed DayTwo.' .in the previousmonth's ~evada Rally: results until 7:15 p.rn. on Day Three.) Tile ltalians had no less than three photocopy . Another rider to "drop out was"Costa Rican machines in their hotel,and broughl their own Jose "Larry" Laraburo, trail leader for Moto team doctor and cook. Their diet consisted . Aventura motorcycle tours. Larabur'e banged primarily of pasta from De cecec. one of their his wnst 'on a tree, and joined countryman team sponsors. ... and business partner Ignac io Pazos , who . had d~pped out ~n Day One.,"Now we 9? to It ' was ann ounced Wednesday night that · the S~x. Days .of In ~~hootS . (a local nlght .. spectators would.not be permitted access to club), JO.ke~ Pazos. II s lots more tun .than· the grass track special.tests and that chil- . these trails. dre n unde r 16 years -ot age wouldn:t be Many of the fans were happy to see .Siova, allowed on the ranch at all, a s of Thursday kian rider Jan Hrehor competlnqinTutsa. morning. Asa result, the shuttle busses that Hrehor spent a couple seasons racing'in the . had been carryinqspectators to the spec ial ' S tates , living with closeirie nd ' Ra n dy . tests on Tuesday and .Wednesday were halt,'. Hawkins, but.returned home when his wife ed. nie iss ue of liability.was .blamed for the became seriouslY ill. "It feels good to be back .surprising announcement. To make matters . on . ohn Zink Ranch; ani:! see all my Amari-: worse, the. promlsed large: scree n TV ~hat . J can friends," said Hrehor, who also reported ' was advertised to provide : ,ve coverage of . that his wife's health is improving. Hrenor., ·t he event had b~en re~oved on Tuesday: who plans to remain in Europe for the imme- . aft?moonbeforel~ ~ad e~en been tuo:ned on, diate future, was staying with Hawkins in a This came .follo~,"g a dispute between.the TV crew and event promoter Jim Long. This ' mobile home whilein Oklahoma: . . ' . .. ." meant that spectators would have no way of.' A further 100 riders dropped 'outonDay seeing the 'motorcycle s in .actlon, except Two, bringing the total numberof competitors when they rode' into the woik area. '"Untie-" doWn to 396', about' what nonnally starts.at . lieva ble '" was the prominent reaction of Six oays. . ' . those in attendance:· .