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/1545446
Jimmy Jarrett traded in his two-stroke for an RM-Z450 and finished second overall. a handful after it rained Saturday night. That helped a lot with the dust but it left the course very slippery and finding traction was tough. In one of the tests, I had to take two runs at one of the steeper uphills. There just wasn't any traction to be found. I'm just happy I held on to second." Finishing third overall was Palmer. The Suzuki/Ten Racing/FMF rider was able to move up from fourth to third with on day two, despite a hard crash in the third test. "I was surprised I moved up at all," Palmer said. "Saturday I thought I had a good day going and was a little surprised when I found out I was that far back [93 seconds from Bobbitt and 33 seconds from Jarrett]. On Sunday it was the exact opposite. I was sure I had thrown it all away when a vine ripped the handle- bars right out of my hands. I crashed hard - hard enough to crack the liner in my helmet. The next thing that I remember clearly was sitting on the ground at the end of the test." Placing fourth overall and winning the E1 class was Gas Gas rider Fred Hoess. "I'm actually pretty happy with fourth overall," Hoess said. "I was riding a 125 two-stoke and slippery conditions like this are usually hard to ride in and win against the 250Fs. Many times I lost valuable time in a test when I'd make a bad line choice and lose momentum." In the E3 class, KTM's Patrick Garrahan finished day one 44 seconds behind fellow orange rider Paul Neff. But Garrahan moved into first when Neff broke a chain during the last test on day two, a mere three miles from certain class victory. "I just can't get a break this year," Neff said. "I took home the top class EV score in Oklahoma three weeks ago and was ready to qual- ify with another good finish in Idaho. There, I lost my oil plug and blew up the engine on the first day. Here, I had the class win in the bag, when I broke my chain in the last test. The world hates me." The final round of the AMA ISDE Qualifier series takes place July 8-9 in Walsenburg, Colorado. CN WEST POINT QUALIFIER WEST POINT, TENNESSEE RESULTS: JUNE 17-18, 2006 (ROUND 3 OF 4) OVERALL: 1. Russell Bobbitt (KTM); 2. Jimmy Jarrett (Suz); 3. Wallace Palmer (Suz); 4. Fred Hoess (Gas); 5. Clay Boering (KTM); 6. Dustin Gibson; 7. Cole Kirkpatrick (KTM); 8. Andrew Kendrick; 9. Patrick Garrahan (KTM); 10. Eric Bailey (GG). E1: 1. Fred Hoess; 2. Gibson; 3. Lucas McNeil; 4. Steve Leivan; 5. Walker Ludke. E2: 1. Russell Bobbitt; 2. Jimmy Jarrett; 3. Wally Palmer; 4. Clay Boering; 5. Kirkpatrick. E3: 1. Patrick Garrahan; 2. Bailey; 3. Mike Monroe; 4. Daniel Janus; 5. Dylan Debel. E4: 1. Michael Grizzle; 2. Jeff Freddette; 3. Jeff Russell; 4. Michael Bronn; 5. Alan Deyo. E5: 1. Amanda Mastin; 2. Nicole Bradford; 3. Lacy Jones. C Y C L E N E W S • JULY 5, 2006 45 The Northern Alabama Trail Riders Association hosted the Two-Day ISDE Qualifier on 5000 acres of hilly timberland that the club rents from International Paper Company. Over 300 riders rode the event, which was also ran in conjunction with a SERA Enduro race. KTM's Juha Salminen rode the event in the SERA AA class, easily taking the win. The Finnish, former World Enduro Champi- on, and current GNCC series leader, edged out Bobbitt by just two seconds on day one. Salminen added another 36 seconds to his lead over Bobbitt on day two, winning all three of the tests they both rode. Bobbitt rode one additional test for "ISDE Letter- Of-Intent" riders only, which made compar- ing his overall score to Salminen's moot. Nicole Bradford, Amanda Mastin and Lacy Jones competed for a chance to ride on the three-rider Women's Club Team with all three riders finishing. A total of six different women have been contesting the ISDE Qualifier series for a spot on this year's Women's team. Gunny Claypoole, AMA spokesperson and Team USA ISDE jury member, announced that the United States would have to cut nine riders from their ISDE roster. The AMA was contacted by New Zealand ISDE promoters, who explained that they need- ed to limit the overall number of riders in the event. "We originally were trying to qualify 46 riders," Claypoole explained. "That number has now been reduced to 37. The FIM has limited the event to 650 riders while New Zealand had planned on letting 750 riders compete. New Zealand was told that they had to reduce the num- ber by 100 riders and they, in turn, contact- ed the larger teams and told them they had to get their rosters down. We had no choice but to cut back and regret having to do so, but our hands are tied." Briefly... ISDE Veteran Fred Hoess won the E1 class on 125 Gas Gas. Cole Kirkpatrick hopes to qualify for one of the 37 spots available on the U.S. team. Lacy Jones stays afloat en route to a third-place finish in the Women's class. Bad luck followed Paul Neff to Tennessee.