Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ENDURO. 71st International Six Days Enduro (Right) At age 49, American Tom Ebersole was the oldest rider entered in the event. He took home a bronze medal. (Below) Fred Hoess (shown) and Guy Cooper were the only U.S. Club riders to earn gold. ~INT.RNATlaNAL • '.,,;,~;;~l.,"-~:.I '\ J!1: . :.{~;,.,. '>;~ii . :~:~:~~ : i .~;c ./.(., ..':\ J~". Another rider who had an interesting day was Los Lobos team member Kevin Yarnell. "Seven miles out I musl've taken a stick or something to my petcock and sheared off the barb filling. I didn't realize it till I ran out of gas, I ended up taking that free-flow check valve for the vent hose. trimmed it down, jammed it up in there and then fed the hose around in there· it got me in. It was dribbling gas the whole time, and when I got to the next check, we got some epoxy and tape. (Meanwhile) Wendy (Yamell's wife) drove down to Helsinki (approximately 60 miles) and got me another petcock at a Honda shop. All and alii can't complain. I was able to keep going and that's the whole object (of the Six Days). Still. it was fun but I've never seen so many rocks in my life. " Not only were rocks and dust a big concem for the riders but so was avoiding gelling speeding tickets from the local police. Junior World team rider Don Knapp was one of many riders who got popped for speeding. "I guess Iwas speed· ing," said Knapp. "They pulled me over, wrote down my name and number. what country Iwas from, so when I got to impound today (at the end of the day), they were waiting there for me. But about every third or fourth rider was gelling pulled in by the police. they had a stack of tick· ets. I had to pay the fine. They asked me, 'What I do (for a living),' and I said, 'I race motorcycles.' Then they asked how much I make a month in American dollars. I said, 'Well, I make $500 a month.' I lied. They base how much they fine you by how much money you make. They fined me 300 F:innmarks (about $75). Besides that. I was worried about being disqualified, because according to the rules if you ·get ·a traffic violation while competing, that's it. you're done. y IIU' re disqualified from the event. I'm still in, it looks like this is just a way for them to make money. " 36 TM rider Mike McCa.....n of the Appalachi.. an Dirt Riders dropped 40 minutes on the day, pulting him on bronze. McCarren said he bent the front brake rotor in a crash. Spirits were high in the American camp following day two, much of which had to do with the excellent performances turned in by all of the U.S. World Trophy riders, and the improvement of the Junior World team, but there was more than just that to get excited about. In the Club and Manufacturer's team divisions, the Daytona Dirt Riders· Hoess, Cooper and Nielsen . and the American Suzuki team Hawkins, Rodney Smith and Hatch· were both running a strong second. "We're prelly psy· ched about that," said Hatch. "That (a win) would mean a lot for Suzuki." At this point. the American Suzuki team is sandwiched between leaders Husqvama Europe and KTM . Fariol;, "I'm real happy about that." said Nielsen of the success of his club team. "It'll be interest· ing to see how things unravel. I don't know if I'm on gold or not. but I do know I have to keep 'er on the gas." Nielsen's teammate Hoess said. "I had a good day, little things here and there. I lost my (rear) brake in one test; I musl've been dragging it or something. I had to ride the whole test without the brake, and that was a drag. " The Finnish Six Days began taking its toll on the U.S. team on day two, as a few of the club team riders began dropping out. One of those riders was Vincent Davis of the Appalachi. an Dirt Riders. Davis took himself out of the running early in the day after developing kidney problems. "I've been haVing problems with my kidneys ever since I hurt my back last year, " Davis said. ··:.fl ." it that 1 didn't see," Hamilton said. "When 1 came out of it, it came down on my peg and really screwed the top of my foot up. 1 tried to ride today and everything was okay until 1 wheelied through a whoop and cased other side and felt everything bust (in his foot). I just came down - my foot a little too far back - and busted three bones behind the toes. I'm going to have to have surgery when I get I:>ome." ay two, another warm and sunny day, saw Davis get back on track and beat Sala and Edmondson in the last two special tests of the day. Through the other first four tests, Davis went 4-4-5-2, while Sala went 1-3-3-3, and Edmonson 2-2-1-1. When all the times were added up for the day, Sala, again, was the overall fastest in the 175cc class, beating Davis by 6.42 seconds, while Davis nipped Edmondson by 0.9 seconds. Laaksonen was next fastest, followed by Australian Shane Watts and Peterhansel. One second off Peterhansel's pace was Rodney Smith, followed by Hatch and the Italian Pelle- D grinelli. Silvan completely annihilated the 125cc class for the day, setting the fastest times in four of the six tests and the second-fastest times in the other two. He would finish out the day 26,25 seconds ahead of his teammate Ahola. Except for the first test were he was 15th fastest, Hawkins posted respectable times, going 15-3-4-8-3-;4, putting him in fifth place for the day. "Couple of bad; couple of good ones," Hawkins said referring to his special tests. "For some reason, 1'm having a real hard time with the ski resort test." Still, his times were significantly better than those turned in by Cooper, who would finish out the day in 13th, 123.72 seconds off Hawkins' pace. Swede Anders Eriksson continued to dominate th.e 400cc Four-Stroke class on his Husqvama, winning all but one special test for the day, Club rider John Nielsen turned in the combined best score for an American in 13th in class, finishing out the day two places ahead of Junior World rider Don Knapp. Summers had one of his best days by setting the fastest times in the 500cc Four-Stroke class twice but would still finish out the day in third place, some 44 seconds behind Tiainen and Swede Peter Jansson. "Better than yesterday," said Summers. "Made a couple of mistakes but they weren't too time-consuming as yesterday's. I got turned around in the first test, kind of a 180, but I never did fall. The last test I fell over - ruts got really deep in the sand pit test. Luckily 1 didn't stall the motor." As far as the trail: "A lot rougher today, and dusty," Summers said. "1 rode with Kari (Tiainen), Bubba (Czech rider Bohumil Posledni) and Farioli. All four of us had fun today. In the rock se.clions we'd stay together so we wouldn't dust each other out." Amazingly, Silvan, aboard a 125cc, had the best overall individual score for the day, topping Sala, Davis, Edmonson and Ahola, in that order. Hawkins was ninth best, followed by Watts, Peterhansel and Rodney Smith. Finland again recorded the best score on the day to maintain its lead over Italy, but the U.S. team moved up to third, relegating Sweden to fourth. Swedish Trophy team rider Joachim Hedendahl had problems in one of the special tests, while another member crashed and lacerated his shoulder. In the Junior World division, Finland climbed to the top, dropping..Sweden to second, while the U.s. team moved up one position to fifth, despite losing one of its riders, William HamiJton. "On Monday, I was in the last special test and went to wheelie through a dip, and there was something slicking out of "If you told me yesterday that I would finish today. I would've thought you were nuts," said Ron Lawson who suffered dehydration the previous day. Dehydration got the best of Boise Ridge Riders' Kelly Crenshaw. The Kawasaki rider called it quits after the first loop. TM rider Rick Crossland, of the Missouri Mudders, had to pull out of the event. Cross· land. riding a TM 300. crashed and severely tweaked his knee, and never even made it to the first check. A number of countries lost at least one World Trophy team rider on day two, including two riders from Mexico, and one rider each from Germany, Australia. Spain and Czechoslova· kia. Countries that lost a Junior World rider included Czechoslovakia, Spain. Germany: Mexico and, as mentioned, the United States (William Hamilton). A Dutch Trophy team rider reportedly fractured his wrist but managed to finish out the day, but not before dropping numerous route pOints. Ignition problems put Trail Rider MC's Ken Tomeo into survival mode. The KTM rider lost many points on the day, ending any chance he had of a gold or a silver medal. U.S. Trophy team rider Ty Davis spent much of his day riding with Italian Enduro World Champion Giovanni Sala. Great Britian's Paul Edmondson. Australian Shane Watts and multi· time ISDE individual overall winner, Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel. and got a chance to study these off· road superstars' trail techniques. "Edmondson is the only one thaI's impressive." said Cfavis. N Everyone else rides like me - like a squid, dabbing all the time. Edmondson never puts his feet down; he just goes througb it (rocks) like nothing's there. There was this one mud heile, Sala was dab· bing all over the place, Edmondson went through it like it was nothing. Sala's legs were flailing. Peterhansel is good - he's really smooth. But I saw him almost eat it big time. It was kind of funny, he looked back at me and I shook my head. He caught a rock and almost

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