Russell Bobbitt sets the pace in the first ISDE qualifier in Tennessee
By Paul Traufler
NATRA President
The turnout among Letter of Intent ISDE competitors was pretty good
for the first 2007 Qualifier on March 17-18 in Westpoint, Tennessee,
considering the snow and ice storms up north and the distance some
competitors had to travel. The weather was cool (30 degrees with a 10
mph breeze at key time) but nearly
perfect for riding, and a small amount of rain mid-week made for some
nice and tacky soil.
The 60-mile course consisted of a 40-mile loop and then the gas
stop and then a 20-mile loop to finish out the day. Each day included
four
checks and five Special Test sections that were quite different in the
trail makeup. For the most part we have terrain test sections as finding
flat grass track like land is nearly impossible in Tennessee!
With the cool temperatures, the first problem
for some was cranking up a cold bike and making it run the required
60 feet from the start line. There was some rather interesting starting
“prayers” and some riders crossing the 60-foot line with only a few
seconds to spare!
A short tight section warmed up the riders and then a short
gravel road section cooled them back down just before the first Special
Test section. The first Special Test was a rather open one and had some
interesting hill climbs that looked much worse than they really were.
After the first test section, a short 12-mile trail ride to the next
Special Test was set at a good pace to keep riders on the move. The next
three sections were on the tight side with hills and creeks tossed in here and
there. For those who could not make the 40 miles on a tank of gas there
was gas available at 25 miles, but only a few used this
option.
Loop 1 closed out back in camp, where riders gassed up, checked the bike over
and then hit the trails for another 20 miles. We had the last Special Test at the
57-mile mark with this test section being as close to a “grass moto”
track as we have here. This Special Test was within sight of the camp,
so many spectators went over and cheered on the riders.
Day one finished out with Russell Bobbitt leading the way in the Q250
class with a 19:51 score and the next rider at 20:47.
Day two started out a bit warmer and at least the wind died down some before the day was over. The course was the same as day
one, except for a small change to Special Test 3, due to a safety issue,
that added maybe a third of a mile or 30 seconds to the test time.
Once again, Russell Bobbitt set a blistering pace in the Special Test
sections and in the end he had a final score of 39:46, with the next
closest rider coming in at 41:27. It looks like Russell will be the man
to catch this year!
Click here for full results.
© 2007, American Motorcyclist Association
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