Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

we were working out of rental cars with on ly the tools we carried in ou r fann y packs. " In contras t, on the other side of the pits were the Italians. They were working out of facto ry box va ns .We wer e munching on candy bars and they were literally eating a fully catered lunch. At that point we both agreed that if the Ll.S, was ever going to win (the ISDE), it wa s going to take better organiza tion." "Over th e next cou ple o f yea rs, we sta rted working with the AMA to help improve Am erica's ISDE performance. By 1987 the AMA mad e tw o im po rta nt changes. First, a 13-memb er ISDE board of directors wa s created to help select the World and Junior Trophy Team s. And second, the Ride to Win Fund was crea ted to help raise money to su pport the Troph y Teams exclusively. " Hu gh Flem in g of the AM A sai d, "Da ve' s idea of the Rid e to Win Fund was to be used exclusive ly for the Troph y Teams only. This allowed don ated mon ey to be earmarked for Trophy and Junior World Teams only . Up un til this time the AMA relied on the ISDE Suppo rt Fund Inc. to raise m oney for the overall support of all the ISDE riders, including Trophy Team riders and club team riders." By 1991 the first ben efits from the addition of the ISDE Board of Directors and Ride to Win Fund came throu gh. " In Czechoslovakia in '91 Alan Randt and I managed the Jun ior Team," said Hyde. "Right from the start we knew we had a group of riders wh o had the talen t to win. Each of them had good factory su ppo rt. With help from the Ride to Win Fund we were able to put together individual pit support and a chase rider for each of the Junior Team members. And in the end, the combination paid off. We finall y had put everything together." Bertram said, "In Czecho we fina lly proved that we could su pport a Trophy Team to th e level th a t it took to w in agai ns t the Europ eans. But we had a first-rate group of rid ers (Iimmy Lewi s, David Rho de s, Steve Ha tch and Chris Smith). "We know we hav e the talen t to win the Six Days . Over the pa st few years som e of Europe' s best o ff-roa d talenthas come to Americ a to com pe te: Jimmi e Eri ks so n, Jan Hreh o r, Boh om il "Bubba" Posledni and Davide Trolli, to na me a few. They' ve all tried their hand at so me of ou r Na tional events, a nd none of them have do minated. "But one of our weaknesses has been the d epth actu ally available for our Trophy team . Each year w hen it comes to selecting a Trophy Team we've always struggled. It's usually easy to sign up the firs t three or fou r rid ers bec au se we 've got a good core of talented ISDE veterans who have factory support. But we've been trying to expand that to incl ude so me new factory-sponsored riders." Two recent examples of America's expanding off-road racing strength are former motocrossers turned off-roaders Rodney Smith and Ty Dav is. In his inaugura l off-road seaso n, Smith came within 34 seconds of winning the 1992 500cc ISDE Wor ld Cha mpionship . Smith finishe d fou rth overall in Aust ralia along with taking Top American honors. " I guess I ju s t w ent to Aus t ralia thinking that I cou ld win (an indi vidual ISDE Ch ampionship )," Smith said . "1 d idn't really think mu ch about the Trophy Team's chances. I had just finished competing in the World GPs and I knew I was fast enough. I guess I jus t had the right attitude to do so well my first try." Davis had similar success competing in the ISDE. As a World Trophy team rider he finished as Top American in Holland in '93, finis hi ng sixth in the SOOcc class. '''93 was actu ally s u p po sed to be m y' brea k-in year (f o r th e Tu Isa ISD E)," said Dav is . "Larry (Roeseler) and I went to Tu lsa for a four-day qu alifier and I end ed up fin ishing second behind Rodne y. Then I was se lecte d to go to Holland. We figured it wou ld be good experience. I really d idn 't know what I was getting into, but I ended up Top American in Holland." Goi ng into A merica's Six Days held at the Zink Ranch nea r Tulsa, Oklaho ma, the U'.S. finally seemed to have recruited the talent needed to win. Mostly due to the fact th e u.s. was ho sti ng the ISDE for only the seco nd time and inte rest was extreme ly high for the Trop hy Team 's coveted six posi tions . The American Worl d Trophy Team roster read like a modern who's who of American off-road riders. Form er MXer Guy Coo per was ad ded to the lineup w ith Smith and Davis. The trio mad e up a core of world -elass sp rin ters that bu ilt on the recent success of America's top class finishes in the pr eviou s tw o ISDEs. Ve tera n off- roaders Scott Summe r s, Hawkins an d Jeff Russell adde d over 10 nati on al off-roa d titles to th e team ' s resume. "In Tu lsa we finally had what we needed to have a good shot at winning," said Ride To Win foun der Bertram. "We had asse mbled the best Six Days tea m ev er. We had everything covered . We had the talent and the factory sup port. It was a high point for America' s Six Days efforts." Ironically, th at same Tulsa Six Days soon turned into a low point for wh at mak es any Six Days Trophy Team successful - su ppo rt. The record sho ws that Am erica finished 9th overa ll in wh at was to be our bes t Six Days ever. Our firs t setback came w hen Russell experienced electri cal problems on day two, d rop ping our team off the pace. It seemed that reliability still played an importan t role after all. Team USA's fate was sealed on day four when Summers fell an d broke his arm . Remai ning riders H aw ki ns, Davis, Smit h and Coo per continued to charge hard with gold-medal efforts from each . Davis finished Top American and third in the Heavyweigh t Two-Stroke (250cc and larger) class. In an interview following Su m mer's fall , Team Manager Bertram said: "No m a tt er how much you plan and prepare, things like this can take a Trophy team right out of the race. It's still a team event. It's frust rating, but it's all part of the game. " For Bertram and the American ISDE effort, thin gs had already begun to take a turn for the wo rse. Publ ic and factory sup po rt dropped off to almo st noth ing following Tulsa. Bertram said: "It was n' t Ame rica's Trophy Team performance our ninth-pl ace finish had so me high ligh ts bu t it was the ne gative feelings that were generated by a poorly promo ted event." "All finger-pointing asid e, the Tu lsa Tra ilriders (who hosted the ISDE) put on an excellent eve n t for the riders. It was the pomp and circumstance that fell (Above left) Randy Hawkins, as well as Davis , Steve Hat ch, Chris Smith, Sco tt S umme rs an d Rod ne y Smith, have already bee n se lecte d to represent the United States on the '96 World Trophy team. (Above right) Four-stroke ace Summers rounds off what Is one of the st rongest teams the United States willever send to the ISDE. apart. The local promoter that was hired to oversee the event was not prepared for what it takes to put on what was promised to the public. " Fou r m onths befor e th e Tulsa Six Days started it became evide nt that the promotion of the eve nt was sta rting to fall apa rt. Th e p rom ot er was actually fired. But a s ui ta b le repla ceme nt could n't be found on such short notice, so they were reluctantly rehired. "To th is day, few people know the truth be hi nd the neg ati ve press th at Tulsa got, but the fact is the Tulsa Trailrid ers put on a good sho w. It was too bad th at only the ride rs go t to experience it." The Tulsa Six Days deb acle soon took its toll. Interest fo r the '9 5 qualifier se ri es and the Polish ISDE was way down. As few as 30 ride rs showed up for an East Coas t qua lifier and Coop er, Davis and Summers passed on riding the series, as well as the ISDE. . O ne of the low points ca me when Team Suzuki Off -Road, th e perennial backbone of the US Trophy team, pulled most of their financial support for their riders' ISDE bu dgets. Team Off-Road Suzuki's Mike Webb said, "It takes over $5000 to send each of ou r riders to the Six Days. An d in the past we would budget accordingly. "Since 1988 one of our top priorities has been Six Days. After Tulsa we got a very poor return on our investment. Even though all four of our riders finished on gold, the event was perceived by the public as a joke." "In recent years the GNCC has been the fastest growing off-road series . Last year they had over 6S00 entries. They' ve now become our number-one commitment. Last yea r when we bu dgeted for Six Days we decided tha t we we re going to have to cut back, so we set our sights on just fielding a three- ma n club or trophy team." Team Suz uki joine d th e '95 Trophy Team after riders Smith, Hawk ins and Ha tc h ba sic all y p aid fo r th e ir own expenses. Sm ith sai d: "Even after getting help from the Ride to Win Fund, we each spe n t abou t $SOO O of ou r own money. But we talked about it as a team and d ecided it was some thing that we owed the spo rt. The ISDE has done a lot for our careers and Randy, Steve, and I thought it was time to give something back." "We knew in teres t would be down af ter Tulsa. Everybody spent a lo t of m on e y and the overall m o od was down, " said Ber tr am . "But with Suz uki's move, it beca me ap parent that we nee de d to do somet hi ng or lose everything that we ha d been bu ild ing up to Tulsa ." "When the ISDE Boar d of Directors met to se lect the '95 Trophy Tea ms it became ap pa re nt tha t a ll fu ture ISDE efforts wer e in jeo pardy. We d ecid ed tha t (this ye ar) we we re go ing to try so me th ing a little different. Instead of wai ting till after the Qualifier series to select the '96 Finnish Trophy team, we w ould preselect th e team before th e qua lifier series so that the Trophy team and their spo nso rs could budget for the effort and get six months wo rth of pr ess a nd p romot io n to get m o re fo r th e ir bu dge ted dollars." "We have wanted to announce th e Worl d Trophy Team selection early for several years, and this year we have finally accomplished it," said the AMA's Hugh Fleming. "The id ea is to bui ld inte rest and su pport in the overall Team USA efforts all year. By selecting th e team ea rly everybody gets the mos t for their efforts. We also hope this creates better teamwork among a ll of the groups that are involved." ISDE Board Member and longstandin g ISDE Pare Ferme pit coordinator, Rick "Gunny" Claypoole said: "Right from the start the Board of Directors created a ' short list' of our best qualified ISD E riders for th is yea r . Tha t list included every name on this year's Trophy team ." "We go t what we wanted ," sai d Bertr am . "When all the riders and spo nsors saw who was on that list it didn't take long, an d we put toge ther a socalled ' Dream Team .' Bu t we also p ut toge ther a list of priorities an d that was wha t mad e these riders and their spo nsors take interest in the Six Days again." "I rea lly like our chances this year," said Malcolm Smith. "We've rea lly got one hell of a team . I like all the progress the AMA and the Ride to Win Fund has mad e in the past couple of years to get our ISDE efforts back on tra ck." 0:

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