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/141027
.... The Berkshire e "n ~ Q. N .... Cl he avy to ll. I1usk y ' s effort went to pi eces as b o th Lar sso n a nd Be rggr e n dropped ou t, Lar s w it h ign ition fa ilure a nd Ca rl w!th rin g proble ms . The Yan kee team , With three me mbers riding new twin cy linde r Yankee s, ' v·as now in a posit ion to capture th e t rade award wi th Pe nton Impo rts as their onlv serious co m pe tition. . Sund ay 's run was easie r and shorter than ei ther of the o the r days but it in cluded one killing, e igh tee n-m ile-Iong section . This sec tio n co nta ine d an en d less co llection of ro un ded b oulder s, thinly co ve red w it h slippery mud. as its main att rac tio n. There we re also some severe h ills and a cou ple of bad mu d b o gs. D ou g Wilfo rd, wh o for tw o d av s h ad b ee n really h auli ng a t the head ;'f th e pack, los t h is gold wh en he pi c ked th e w ron g line through the m ud . By Sunday eve ning, on ly th e Pen ton s we re)eft in the trade compe tition . J ac k, J eff an d Dan e Leim b ach all h ad th ei r go ld medal s, a nd th e los s of Dick Burleson, first th ought to b e a ca tas tro p he , was a min or los s in view o f the co m p le te disin te grati on of the o th er teams . Honda saved th e d ay fo r Ron Bohn's I1usqvarna club te am. One o f the I1usk y club te am membe rs, Norm Ford, cou ld n ' t make the Berksh ire, so Dav e Mungeriast filled in on a 2 50 I1ond a. Dave took his h eav y responsibility seriously an d won a go ld medal fo r the Husky team an d I1onda. o M > ~ ::; ~ W Z W ..J U >- U • ~ ~~~~~,,:::~:::..a;j;;: Somet ime; the bike was ;i'c k. the hill was s't ~ and you pushed . • Story and Photos by Ron Schneiders MIDDLEFIELD, MASS., l\lay 19 , 1972 - This y ea r's Berkshire Trial was ju st hal f the length of the ISDT, but in a ll other respects it w as alm ost indist inguishable fr om its prestigious European parent. Three sep ara te loops of 190, 160 a n d 150 miles were laid o u t in the northwestern co m er of Ma ssachuse tts. They ranged from th e starting p ointat Middlefield north into Vermont , west int o New York , and south almost to Connecticut. The weather w as typicall y Berkshire: Friday, th e most difficult day of rid ing, was overcast and a bit w arm, Satu rday, it rained steadily all day and co ld , wet clouds shrouded the mountains. Sunday A ti gh t three-way con tes t Was sh ap ing up for best individual p erform an ce am ong three Husqvarn a riders, all of wh om we re still on gold medals: Ron Bohn was le ading w ith 245 special test p oints, but Mal colm Smith and Jack Lehto were a scant two points ea ch behind. J ack Fish er an d Jeff Penton wer e also very cl ose. By Friday evening on ly Husqvarn a's " 1\ " trade team, Malcolm Smith, Lars Larsson, Carl Berggren and J ack Leh to, was still in tact. All th e oth er trade teams had lost one o r more members. On Saturday th e pace was eased a bit by adding three minu tes to the sche d u le for each section, but the almost unbelievably wet course still to ok a • The Pentons keep it in the tarnt tv. ~ :::'i,;l:~~ Woods. wet and darkness. At least the spectators, don 't have to be there. was perfect, with balmy, clear skies by evening and almost too wann temperatures. As the weather changed, Berkshire Master AI Eames modified the co n test to suit the conditio ns. main tainin g a con tin ua lly tough bu t not impossible standard. Friday, the schedule was set at nearly 24 mph, a p ace which left very little time for de aling wi th the in evitable me ch an ical problems. Even th ough the event w as limi ted to better riders (l 'ET RA "A " and "B " ca rd h olders an d A~IA "1\" enduro ca rd h olders o n ly) only 139 o ut o f th e 302 sta r te rs remain ed in the con lest Fridav evening, and n ot all of them st arted in Saturday 's co ld m orning rain. SILVER STATE ISOFF LAS VEGAS, l"E.V. - Th e silv er state three day s trial for 197 2 h as been cance lled. The qu alifying round fo r the so u th weste rn U.S . for selecti on o f American Teams in the International S ix Da ys Trial failed to generate en o ugh in terest to warran t the ac tual running o f the even t , de spite th e vas t amoun t o f grou ndwo rk don e in prepara tio n. Co -sp onsored b y A~IA District 3 7 an d h os ted b y Las Ve gas' S ilve r Cit y S cramblers motorcycle club, th e event was to have been the sixth in a series of qu ali fyin g trials through ou t the n ati on.