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Dietrich Tougher Than Rock!
AMA Two-Day ISDE Qualifier Series
Round 4: Spanish Peaks Enduro
Walsenburg, CO - July 7-8, 2006
By George Pennington
Ricky Dietrich took no prisoners as he swept both days of the of the Apex Sports/Yamaha Spanish Peaks Enduro, the fourth and final round of the AMA ISDE Qualifier series held near Walsenburg, CO. Promoted by the Pikes Peak Enduro Club, the course connected tight, rocky, virgin transfer trail to a tricky three mile long enduro terrain special test and a 1.8 mile long grass track located adjacent to the pit area. The grass track featured a 30 ft. long trailer converted to an Evil Knievel style ramp jump with a seven foot drop onto the flat that kept the spectators entertained and the riders nervous. An alternate, more time consuming bypass was utilized for those who were aerially challenged. With this being the final round of the series used to determine the riders who will represent the USA at the ISDE in New Zealand, November 14-19, some riders were under pressure to do well here and atone for previous problems or inconsistencies.
With a riders best two scores of the series counting towards qualification, and only one under his belt so far, a third overall finish in Idaho, Carter Powersports/Maxxis/Kawasaki KX450 mounted Dietrich was one of those who needed a good result today. Dietrich didn't falter as he topped KTM mounted David Pearson by three seconds on day one, and increased his margin of victory on the second day to 24 seconds over Pearson to take the LOI 2 ( 250cc two-stroke and 450cc four-stroke) win and the $900 in prize money for the overall win. Dietrich was one of only two riders in the top ten to improve his score over day one, which was the advantage he needed to lock up the win and hopefully a Trophy Team ride to New Zealand in November. Dietrich noted, "After only being ahead by three seconds after day one, I knew I had no room to slack at all and I just went for it on Sunday. Looking at the scores, I was pretty even with Dave in the grass track, but I had an advantage in the terrain test and knew I had to stay on it." In fact, after the first two tests on day one which were won by Jordan Brandt and Wally Palmer, Pearson and Dietrich split wins evenly in the remaining special tests, each winning three grass track and three terrain tests. "The only problem I had this weekend, was on Saturday, at about 10 miles out I got a little squirrelly and smashed my hand into a rock wall." continued Dietrich, " Mike Monroe pulled up as I was taking off my glove and two of my fingers were black, Mike was like whoa! I thought they were broken, but a couple of ibuprofen made the pain go away and they didn't bother me after that. I really enjoyed this race, these tight rocky trails are different than what I'm used to riding and that made it a lot of fun!"
While Dietrich rode with a smooth, calculated style, that didn't necessarily reflect the speed at which he was traveling, Pearson rode like a man possessed, seemingly twisting and forcing the big 525 KTM into the corners and over the rocks with a combination of confidence and abandon that seemed to elevate his efforts above the others while leaving a trail of dusty, rocky carnage in his wake. While his efforts didn't reward him with the win, they were enough to substantially gap Paul Neff and his Skagit Powersports KTM 525 for the LOI 3 (290cc+ two-stroke/475cc+ four-stroke) win by over a minute.
A solid placing today was just what Neff needed as mechanicals at the Idaho and Tennessee rounds had left him in a do or die situation coming into Colorado. " I felt like I got a lot of the past problems out of my system and am riding better than ever" said the 19 year old rider from Puyallup Wa. "As much as I'd like to make either the Junior or Trophy team, I don't know how realistic that is given the level of talent out there right now". Neff also praised the course, noting that "the course was a bit short, but because it was so tough I felt like I had gotten my fill of riding and was ready to be done when it was over. I really liked the terrain test, you had to be very precise when picking your lines and I thought the grass track held up really well, although I didn't jump the trailer jump because I didn't want to take a chance of breaking my bike again." KTM 300 mounted Jordan Brandt, as mentioned above got off to a fast start by winning the first special test of day one. Consistently quick scores kept him in the hunt as he finished 13 seconds behind Neff for third in LOI 3 and sixth overall.
Cole Kirkpatrick narrowly edged out Suzuki RM250 mounted Wally Palmer for fourth overall and second in LOI 2. Palmer held the edge after day one, less than a second separating him from the KTM 250XC of Kirkpatrick, but a couple of crashes in the final grass track cost Palmer critical seconds, enough to drop him behind Kirkpatrick for day two and costing him the LOI 2 runner-up position. Hailing from New Jersey, Palmer wasn't prepared for the rocky nature of the course and struggled with too stiff suspension settings. Palmer noted that "I've been practicing the grass tracks back home, but just wasn't prepared for the rocky terrain test and was giving up time there. I felt I was fastest on the grass track and went for it all on the last lap around but the two crashes cost me about 20 seconds. With my third place overall finish in Oklahoma and a fifth here, I feel like I've got a good chance at making the Trophy Team anyway."
The LOI 1 (125cc two-stroke/250cc four-stroke) class was a runaway victory for Aaron Kopp, the KTM 250SXF mounted rider besting local hotshoe Ian Blythe by over two minutes. A bit of a moot point anyway, as the YZ125 mounted Blythe is still a year away from the required driver's license needed to compete at the ISDE in New Zealand. Regardless, Blythe is gaining valuable experience for next year and came away with the highest class finish by an RMEC rider. Giving up 47 seconds to Blythe after day one, Steve Leivan pushed hard on day 2, improving his score, but was unable to close the substantial gap and brought his YZ250F home in third, 33 seconds behind Blythe.
With just 50 seconds separating all the LOI 4 (Women) competitors, Yamaha mounted Amanda Mastin topped Lacy Jones for the win today. An ISDE veteran, Mastin will combine today's finish with her win at Tennessee to be the top contender for the women's team. Jones will finish the series with a pair of seconds, the other coming from Idaho. Honda CRF250 mounted Annell Allen was third on the day. A bit of controversy was brewing in this class today as Nicole Bradford, a former ISDE competitor as well as a multi-time member of the USA women's Trials Des Nation's team was disqualified on day two for inadvertently riding backwards on the course. With a day one score over two minutes faster than Mastin, Bradford is unarguably the most talented of this tough group and will rely on her win at Oklahoma and a second in Tennessee for her qualification hopes.
The LOI 5 class, designed to send a three rider club team of riders over 40 years old to compete at the ISDE, was won by Michael Bronn. The KTM mounted Bronn topping GNCC course wizard and former National Enduro Champion Jeff Russell by 41 seconds. With a third in Oklahoma and a fourth in Tennessee, Bronn needed today's win to have a solid chance at being selected, while Russell's second combined with a third in Tennessee also should be a lock for selection. Third on the day was John Wells, the KTM rider finishing 45 seconds back of Russell today and equaling Russell's series scores with his second place finish in Idaho. Local favorite, Fritz Kadlec made a rare appearance this weekend finishing sixth on a 450cc Husaberg.
While the LOI guys were busy battling for a place on the ISDE teams, the RMEC regulars continued on in their quest for year-end points. For them, each day counted individually for points, so in essence it was a doubleheader, with some riders opting for eligibility points by riding one day and working the other. Sunday's event offered TSCEC points also, which brought up a number of our friends from the south also.
With an invitation to compete on the elite Trophy team already in hand, Ron Schmelzle opted for the race/work program, eliminating him from overall honor potential, but he made his time payoff anyway, as he topped Saturday’s AA class over Bernie Frederick who finished 1:10 behind. Frederick would go on to win Sunday’s event topping Mart Geary, who finished third on Saturday. Dave Wolff, who has been MIA as of late, made an appearance this weekend. Sporting a YZ125, Wolff revved his way to fourth AA on Saturday, but a get-off in the enduro test on Sunday cut his weekend short as he pulled out complaining of numbness in his arm and was unable to hang onto the bars.
Rob Weiher also opted for the race/work program, topping the Senior A’s on Saturday before suffering a shin injury from a flying rock while helping Sunday’s riders get onto the AA loop. Sometimes it’s safer to stay on the bike! Alan Clark finished behind Weiher on Saturday, ahead of Gary Miller by a slim 8 seconds. Both bumped up a spot in Weiher’s absence on Sunday, with Miller now 7 seconds behind.
Allan Phillips and Cody Schafer split the B class overalls, with Schafer topping the four-strokes on Sunday while Phillips took 250cc honors Saturday. KTM mounted Ray Barnard consistently managed third overall both days while topping the Open class. Fellow Open class competitor, Forest Smith kept him honest on Sunday though, as he finished 29 seconds behind for fourth overall and second in class. Dan Daily upheld the honors of the aged, as he topped the Super Seniors on Saturday, motoring his Yamaha to fourth overall for the day. Micah Shuster finished second 250 B each day, fifth overall on Saturday, while four-stroke rider Will Willits snuck in and bumped him back to sixth on Sunday.
Suzuki mounted Billy Innis topped the C riders on Saturday, narrowly defeating Nathan Dreasher and his KTM by just two seconds, the riders also finishing one-two in the 250cc class. Wes Hughson rounded out Saturday’s podium with a win in the Senior C’s.
Sunday was a different storie though, as Andrew Cherry rode a 200 KTM to the overall and 200cc class win. Second and third were filled by 250 riders Wesley O’Rourke and Greg Storie respectively, with O’Rourke holding a 14 second advantage in the end. Hughson managed fourth overall, this time topping Dreasher by three seconds.
LOI Results-Day 1
LOI Results-Day 2
LOI Results-Total
ABC Results-Day 1
ABC Results-Day 2
PHOTO ALBUM