From KTM
San Juan, Argentina – The USA Junior World Trophy Team took home 1st place at the FIM International Six Day Enduro (ISDE) bringing home four gold medals for Steward Baylor, Grant Baylor, Justin Jones and Trevor Bollinger.
KTM support rider Justin Jones was the stand-out Junior rider of the week turning fast times throughout all six days. Jones ended up 11th overall in the combined standings and helped propel his team into podium position early on. Factory FMF/KTM rider Steward Baylor and his brother KTM support rider Grant Baylor rode strong throughout the event and avoided any technical difficulties through one of the most challenging ISDE events in recent history. The hot desert and dusty conditions proved not to be a problem for the Junior Trophy Team with all riders finishing the ISDE without any major issue.
The opposite was true for the USA World Trophy Team, which consisted of Factory FMF/KTM riders Taylor Robert, Charlie Mullins, Kailub Russell plus Mike Brown, Zach Osborne and Thad Duvall. The team had unfortunate luck from the very first day when team member Zach Osborne’s bike had a mechanical issue in the second test which took him out of the race. Despite his DNF, the rider’s still ended day one in contention for the lead.
On day two, the USA Trophy Team moved into the lead position after the second test and held it until the third test when Mullins took a hard crash on a technical section. Mullins recovered from the crash but lost time as he sought medical attention and had to repair damage to his bike.
The remainder of the week would be up and down for the USA Team as they battled with France and topped their times each day but couldn’t move into the lead as a result of penalties. The rider’s gained nearly 6 minutes on the French Team on day four before a mechanical issue with Robert’s bike cost the team 9 penalty points. The boys made up for it on the fifth day with Robert taking the overall win for the day. They again dominated on the final day of the event with USA riders Brown, Russell and Robert finishing in the top three overall for the final motocross test. At the end of the ISDE, the USA Trophy Team secured 2nd place overall for the second year in a row.
Factory FMF/KTM rider Kailub Russell finished 3rd overall in the combined standings and earned the Top American Award for this event. “This was definitely a rough ISDE,” stated Russell. “I’m happy to finish safely and land on the podium again but our entire team is ready to come back next year and finish on that top step.”
The Women’s Trophy Team finished 3rd overall at the ISDE event. Both Rachel Gutish and Sarah Baldwin encountered technical issues on day three and could not finish the event. However, the final member of the team Mandi Mastin would push forward for the Women’s Team. Mastin finished the event and placed 6th overall.
Overall Trophy Team Results:
1. France
2. USA
3. Spain
Overall Junior Trophy Team Results:
1. USA
2. France
3. Australia
Overall Women Trophy Team Results:
1. Australia
2. Canada
3. USA
Overall Combined Results:
1. Pierre-Alexandre Renet
2. Toby Price – KTM
3. Kailub Russell – KTM (Team USA)
4. Matthew Phillips – KTM
5. Josh Strang
6. Loic Larrieu
7. Ivan Cervantes – KTM
8. Christophe Nambinton – KTM
9. Mike Brown (Team USA)
10. Thad Duvall (Team USA)
