Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ Q) ,.0 o -.J U o Dick Burleson poses with (left to right) Dwight Rudder. Terry Cunningham. Ray Mungenast. Mark Hyde. top American Ed Lojakand Mike Melton. 57th International Six Oars Enduro USA second to Czechoslovakia in World Trophy-battle By Gary Van Voorhis POVASKA BYSTRICA, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, SEPT. 20-25 The World Trophy Team of Czechoslovakia, the host country, aided by some political arm twis ting in a crucial FIM jury meeting, collected a controversial victory over the U.S.A. The second placing by the H usqvarna moun ted Arner. d fTC " ican squa 0 erry unnmgham, Scott Harden, Mark Hyde, 14 Ed Lojak, Mike Melton and Wally Wilson was the best-ever finish by a U.S. Trophy Team. The event, which was deemed tougher than the 1977 ISDE held at the same location, saw none ofthe 14six-rider Trophy Teams finish the Six Days intact. The American Silver Vase squad of Husqvarna riders Kevin Hines and Ron Ribolzi plus Yamaha mounted Chuck Miller , and Larry Roeseler placed fourth overall in the 15 team competition. TheSilverVasecompetition was won by the East German entry with Finland second. Those were the only teams intact at the finish. The combined finishes by the World Trophy and Silver Vase American entries were the best-ever showing by a single U.S. squad. On the individual side, Ed Lojak turned in the best individual American score. He placed fourth in the 250cc class and was ranked seventh overall of th e 119 fin - ishers.Italian Gualtiero Brisson i, riding a H usky i~ t.he250cc class , was th e top overall finisher , Lojak led the 13 finish ers on th e 25 . rider squad and was th e onl y Am er ican to recei ve a gold medal. The rest of th e medal tally read four silver a nd eight bronze. The U.S. World Trophy squad had slowl y pi cked its wa y up through the standings after a disastrous firs t day which saw us eighth. Solid riding moved the team into third on da y four and it was here the controversy began that would lead the American riders to feel they were robbed of the World Trophy win. In short, there were two protests lodged against a Czechoslovakian Trophy Team rider at the conclusion of day four which would come up for debate and vote at the n ightl y FIM jury meeting. Being found guilty of either rules infraction would mean exclusion. The first protest, for alleged unauthorized outside communication and leaving the course for further unauthorized communication about an ailing engine, was voted down. The second protest, for alleged un - authorized assistance in rep airin g the en gine problem was carried over to the da y five mee ting. On day five , Czechoslovakia, France and th e U.S. each lost a Trophy rider which made th e jury vote a crucial one. If the Czech rider was excluded, th e U.S . would be on top of the sta n dings with only one da y to go. " I felt there was enou gh evidence of unauthorized ass istance to the , Czech Trophy rider to have him disqualified," said the AMA 's Hugh Fleming. "However, one of the jury members made an im passioned plea to th e members and it apparently swayed a few people. The Swiss jury member, who I felt su re would vote for exclusion, didn' t. The second crushing blow came when the English jury member voted to let the rider continue. That left the vote tied at seven to seven with th e tie-breaker being decided by the jury president. He voted to let the rider continue. The bottom line is we were robbed of winning the World Troph y by politics." As a form of protest, the American squad boycotted the awards ceremonies. In addition, the FIM jury also boycotted the ceremonies as a form of protest against the police harassment of competitors, press and spectators from non -communist countries. From the strict standpoint of organization, the event was top notch. There were 1,800 workers on hand running the event each day wi th over 250 of those medical personnel. Preliminary work on the event began in 1980. The location was the same as in 1977 although many new trails were added or changed. The riders covered over 850 miles in six days. There are three time schedules which can be utilized by the organizers - A, Band C. The A schedule is the tightest, allowing riders the least amount of time between sections. The Band C schedules allow more time overall, but not necessarily in every section. As a gauge of how tough the event was, days one through three were run on the B schedule with the final three days run on C. O ver 60 percent of the 307 starters failed to finish. Day One "I don 't mind being the first American out on the trail," said H usqvarna rider Dwight Rudder of his early starting number. " It just means that if I have trouble there are a bunch of Americans on the trail behind me." The first of the 307 riders began the journey from the parc ferme at 8:00 a.m, with Rudder following nine minutes later. Keith Moore was the next rider out. Unfortunately, his ride lasted only about 20 miles before he smacked a rock with his shift lever, breaking it off and jamming his Husqvarna's transmission in gear. There was no way to make repairs and h e was o u t of the event. "The trip to Czechoslovakia plus running the Qualifier Series and buying a bike cost right at $7,000. It's tough to smile when you on ly get to ride about 20 miles for th at much money," said Moore at the end of the

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