Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

because they're the best, and they were proving it . Carrying the trophy home was barely a possibility, a nd the conditions were s till grim, bu t none of them even hinted at giving up. The Club Team riders, on the other h and, were g e ttin g h ammered b y the course, and it showed on the results so far . However, by day four the secret was out - there w ere three tough, old Americans who were making serious waves in the Club competition. The Salt Fork Rid ers - Cunningham, Drew Smith, and Fredette - had been chipping away at the ranks all w eek, riding like the heroes th ey were in the p ast , a nd still are to m an y . They started o u t the week in ninth place, a nd by the end of day four had worked their w a y up to fou rthplace club, o n ly two m inutes out of third place. Peopl e were e n jo y in g wa tching th em ride. Three of the to ughest o ld birds this country ever produced, and they were a ll se tting good times and sta ying positive, never complaining. On dav one, "T.C." had celeb ra ted his 41st birthday , a nd it was starting to look like his birthday present was go ing to be a podium finish for th e Salt Fork Rid ers. On th e even ing of day four, the riders finally got a break. Cl ouds had been buildin g a ll week, a n d b y Thursda y ni gh t, th e rai n w as falling. H ea vy s how ers o n a n d o ff raised questions about jus t e xa ctl y how muddy some o f th e cou rse mi ght g e t. Al so, the day-five loop was unique - a lthou gh th e special tests rema in ed th e sa me - so everyone had n ew trails to r id e, instead of the hammered -out ruts they'd been followin g all w eek. A fa vo rite spot to watch was a series of tight switchback trails snaking down a ca n y o n behind an ancient castle. The s ig n ifica n t events on day five were ju st what the Americans were waiting for , but just a little too late. TheSwedish Trop hy Team had been sitting in third place with one ride r ou t, a nd u nfo rtunately for them, star r id e r Anders Eriksson bailed off and ca me in somewhat d eli rious . He was hauled off Briefl to th e hospital for observa tio n a nd w as later diagnosed with a concu ssion. Th e loss o f Eriksson dro ve the Swedi sh team all the w a y d own to 12th. Th en, one of th e Czech team riders su ffe re d b ad engine problem s o n th e course, and though he mad e it into the fin ish , it co st him and th e team nearly an h our o f penalt ies , ki ckin g them d own to 10th. This vaulted the Australians into th ird place in th e competition, and the Americans into s ixt h. With lu c k and good riding at the final motocross, the American Trophy riders could improve th e ir position a li ttle more. Also, th e Salt Fork Dirt Riders were only two m inu tes away from the t h i r d - p la ce tea m , a nd -they could p ossibly make the •••• Although the ISDE cffictellybegan and ended in Coirnbra. about two hours north ol Usbon. the actual.start and impound finish of each day were in the s mall town of l.ousa. so me 17 miles to the ea st. There were no p odium if th ey all did w ell in the fina l motocross . But non e of thi s w ould come to pass. The ra in sto p ped overnigh t, a nd it even a p pea re d to clear up, but in the mornin g th e cloud s rolled in a gain and by th e 2:00 p.m. st ar t of th e firs t MX tes t, th e ra in s ta r te d falling. First it came d own a nd m ade th e tra ck slippery, then it ca me d own in buckets and made it an ugly mess. All the riders soldiered o n and raced their races a cco rd in g ly, but by 10:00 that night, w h en th e jury m eeting .le t o ut, it was revealed that the day' s results would be thrown out. The official word was tha t some of the riders were unidentifiable due to the mud during th e race, a nd rat h er than gu es s eighth place in the 175cc,plus class and 'a gold-medal fini sh. although it was obvious that he wasn't exactly pleased with the event or his riding. Of the other Trophy Team riders, Brian Garrahan finished 44th in the 125cc class for a silver medal. brother Pat Garrahan was 19th in the 175cc-plus class with a gold. Russ Pearson was 1tth 175cc-plus with a gold. and Randy Hawkins finished eighth 400cc Four-Stroke for a gold medal. 'acco mmodations in Lousa..so all of the teams were bearded in Coimbra or farther afield, forcing a ha lf·hour drive every moming and a struggle with rush-hour traffic coming back every night. Getting stuck behind a gravel truck on the way to the start was a sure-fire ticket to late points. so rather exciting dicing and traffic-passing were the norm'. Word has it some of t he Am erican team members disc overe d tha t Hassles withcustoms and s hipping problems once again made the USA's s upport container arrive late. but not at the very last. minute as it did in Australia Even so. while trying to lift the container off the trailer. the .crane .operator couldn't get it right. and the containe r was dropped more than once when lilting-chains snapped. So . once again. the majorityof the American gear was unloaded by hand as the container sa t on the truck. until it was light enough to be hoisted into position. Italian Club Team rider Dory Molinari was the only woman entered in the Portuguese Six Days. She 'rode a 200cc KTM and hung tough through the e ntire event. According to a press release submitted by the Portuguese press team, tire changing was her most di,fficult task during the week, and seeing her ride, we believe it. In the voided final motocross, she diced right in there With the rest of ber class . and was not the last person to finis h the race. Her performance this year -' her first Six Days was in Italy two years ago - won her a bronze medal. This was definitely not the year for the Italian Trophy Team. Their res ults were off the mark. but by far the worst luck was s uffered by Gianmarco Rossi. a likable and good-humored policeman from Nbrthem Italy. Rossi was competing in the 250cc Four-Stroke class. and had to rebuild his top-end completely'on the first day when a failed air filter wrec ked his piston and broke a piston ring. almost putting,him outof the event. The next day the bike still wasn't right. and he lost plenty of time trying to reach a mechanical understanding with his XR250. On the third day. a spring holding the cam chain follower broke. bringing the bike to a s huddering stop once more. forcing him to push 'in and rebuild the engine one more time_."ln the finel test. Itwas making a terrible clanking noise, and I was.afraid it would fail on a jump, so. I was very careful," he saia. It got ' him home. though, and Rossiwent back to Italy with a bronze medal. although it was possible to squeal the tires on a Fiat Punta while it was loaded with seven people, it was not possible to whip it out of the hotel parki ng lot without peeling some of the tires right off the rims. ' Nobod y' s happier than me," said Drew Smith. commenting on his' club team's fourth-place fin ish. "The whole thing went great. Hey. I had a little trouble, and I wish I was in better condition for this stuff: but hey. I held ' up my end and Terry (Cunninqharn) and Jeff (Fredette) just rode great.. On day five it started hilling me' that this was the end. it can never be like this again. I said this was my last Six Days, my 20th. and I'm sticking to it , It's finally time to quit. But what a wayto go out." After the Six Days, Drew and wife loretta drove down to Nazare. a little fi shing village on the central coast of Portugal. and ' did absolutely nothing for a couple of,days. It was a perfect way to finish the trip." · Wo ;' ld a . -' houlda. could a l " said JeffFredette. when he was asked if the'discarded final motocross test would have lifted the Salt Fork Dirt Rid.Day one saw 353 starte rs leave the line. The official results scored 301 . ers onto the, podium. · Y~ah . I'm pretty sure 'we would have .rnoved into finis hers on the first day, 264 on the seco nd, 2Sion.the third, 235 on the third. Drew lost his goggles and his glasses in the mud. and he got lapped fourth, and 231 on the fifth and final day. Gianmarco Rossi.'coincidentally, because he couldn't see , but one of the guys on the team right in front of us was pushing around the course . But we rode the best we could have was the last rider scored inon day five. ridden, and anybody who wouldn't be happy with fourth is crazy. EspecialTy Davis took the unofficial title of "To p' A.~erican " this year, with an lyat our age!- (Above left) J ohn Burga rd holds up Blake Plonsky's bike while helping him with a flat tire. Burgard wen t out on day one with a knee Injury, while Plonsky suffered termina l engine problems later that same day . (Above) Nick Pearson (left) gives brother ' Russ a helping hand. Russ was one of only fo ur Americans who earned gold. at the numbers, the o fficia ls canceled th e day. The results' of d ay five would stand as the final results o f th e '99 Six Days. "Well, it' s _ shame," s aid a philoa so p h ica l Jeff Fredette. "W e were only two mi nutes away, a nd o ne of the riders on th e team tha t beat u s was p us h ing around th e course with a d e ad bike . Drew had trouble with his goggles and got la p p ed by th e leader, but the other guy los t at lea st th ree laps, and a t abou t two and a half m inutes per lap... well, it would have been close. But I think we proved a point, and showed th e world what a bunch of old guys can do if the y put their mind to it!" eN International Six Days Enduro Coimbra , Portugal Results: september 13·18, 1999 WORLD TROPHY: 1. Finland: 2. Italy: 3, Australia: 4. Portuga l; 5. Spai n; 6. United States. JUNIOR WO RLD TROPHY: 1. Spa in; 2. Italy; 3. Cz ech Republic; 4. Aus tralia; 5 . France : 13. Un ite d States. 125 2·STRK: 1. Sdm uJi Aro (Yam); USA : 31. Brian Brown (KdW); 41. 8 i11 Rush (Su z): 44. Brian Ga rra ha n (Kl"M); 45. Jim Co nnor (KTM); 47. Brian Storrie (Kaw): 55. Zlch lvey (KTM). . 250 2-STRK: 1. Mika Ahola m il; USA: 8. Ty Davis. (Yam); \ 1. Russ Pearson (K1"M) ; 19. Patri ck G arra ha n (KTM); 40. Je ff Fj-edet te (Ka w) : 41. Mik e Windham (KT M); 45. Steve Swen son (KTM); 48. Ma rk Steve ns (Ka w): 51. Te rry Cu nningha m (C-G ); 56. Drew Smith (Husk 57.Clay Borcing (G-C); 62. No l..n Knight (G-G); 7M. John Ross (He n): MO. Dave Neu meister (KTM); 86. Ierernv Ketchum (KTM). 250 4-STRK: 1. vesa Kyto nen (}(a w ); USA: to . Mark MiII('r(Kaw). 400 4-STR K: 1. Dav id Fretig ne (Yam ); USA : B. Randy Hawki ns (Yam); 21. Paul Kr.\USt> (Ya m). 500 4·STRK: 1. Karl Tiainen (KTM); 17. USA : Steve Silvestry (Hbg) . USA COL D MED ALS: Ty Da vis (Ya m); Patrick Ga rra han (KTM); Rand y Hawkins (Yam); Russ Pea rso n (KTM). USA SILVER MEDALS: Brian Brown (K.1w) ; Bill Rush (Suz ); Brian Carra han (KTM); Jim Con no r (KTM); Jeff Fred ette {Kaw): Mik e W indham (KT M ); Steve Swenso n (K T M) ; Mark Ste ve ns IKa w ): Terry C u nning ha m (GG): Drew Sm ith (Hus ): Cla y Borei ng (C-G); Nolan Knight (G-G ); Ma rk Miller (K.1W); Pau l Krause (Y am ). US A BRON Z E MED ALS: Brian Storrie (Ka w): Z ach lvey (KTM); John Ross (Hon ); Dave Neumeister 0

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