ISDE Day One and Two: Italy Leads, USA Third, Leads Women's Class
Day 1 Recap
Host nation Italy have made the best possible start to the ninety-fifth edition of the FIM International Six Days of Enduro (ISDE) with winning team performances in both the World Trophy and Junior World trophy classes. The much-anticipated opening day of competition also saw the USA top the Women’s World Trophy result with Josep Garcia (KTM) posting the day’s fastest overall individual performance.
A largely dry and dusty day of competition with little in the way of shock results or unfortunate DNFs, it was Andrea Verona (GasGas), Davide Guarneri (Fantic), Thomas Oldrati (Honda), and Matteo Cavallo (TM) who, at the end of the one hundred and ninety five-kilometre, six special test day, collectively sat at the top of the World Trophy team results, 52.37 seconds ahead of Spain, with the USA close behind in third.
Right from the off, the three nations all delivered impressive collective performances, with Italy unquestionably helped by the strong showings of Andrea Verona (GasGas) and Matteo Cavallo (TM). Fast from the off, Verona held a slender outright individual lead with just one special test to go, falling twice on the final test and allowing Spain’s Josep Garcia (KTM) to go on and top the individual results with relative ease. In doing so Garcia helped Spain secure a strong second.
“I had a big battle with Josep Garcia all day, which was really good,” explained Verona at the end of the day. “I was ahead after the penultimate test and, well, I had a small fall in the final test and lost time. I somehow got some soil into my front brake lever, which meant the front brake was stuck on for a while. It was very strange. Then we had some rain and with the brake not so good I crashed again. Anyway, I’m happy. I had a good day and so did the team.”
Less than one minute behind Italy, Spain’s Jaume Betriu (KTM), Josep Garcia (KTM), Marc Sans (Husqvarna), and Cristobal Guerrero (Beta) all successfully completed the day, keeping up the pressure on their European rivals and managing to stay ahead of the USA.
Sitting strong in third, the USA, led by former outright ISDE winner Taylor Robert (KTM), completed the day with incredibly similar overall special test times from each of their four riders. Despite Robert crashing on the opening test, the team looks set to battle with Spain and Italy throughout the event.
“I felt really good in the first test, but went down pretty hard and busted up my elbow a little,” explained Robert after the race. “It took a little while to get my rhythm back again. Josep and Andrea were on fire, but I had a decent day, and importantly so did the USA Trophy team. The enduro test wasn’t easy on a 450, but the tests were great. We’re in for a good week of racing.”
Team USA is the defending World Trophy Team Champion. All four American riders delivered solid results on the opening day. Robert led the team’s charge with a couple top-five test-finishes throughout the day. He experienced a crash on the opening test but from there he maintained a consistent pace around the top-10. Kentucky native Ryan Sipes (GAS) also put forth a consistent day, finishing 10th overall individually, while West Virginia’s Layne Michael (YAM) sits 12th overall with a strong fourth-place finish in the final test of the day. As a team, the U.S. squad sits third overall just .3 of a second behind Team Spain.
Taylor Robert: “Day one was definitely the roughest start I’ve had at ISDE in a little while. I crashed in the very first test, but hopefully I got that out of the way now and just moving forward from here. I gradually got better throughout the day and started minimizing some mistakes. I think the whole team in general had a bit of a slow start but we definitely got better throughout the day. We’ll just try to keep chipping away at the lead, it’s day one and we’ve got a lot of racing left. As far as myself, I was riding good but the times weren’t where I was hoping they would be, so I just need to pick up the pace a little bit tomorrow.”
Behind the top three, France rounded out the opening day in fourth, a little under thirty seconds behind the USA. With Sweden fifth, helped by an impressive ride by Mikael Persson (KTM), Canada, Portugal, Brazil, the Czech Republic and Finland rounded out the top ten.
As it was in the World Trophy class, in the Junior World Trophy category Italy ended day one on top. Just over one minute ahead of France, who in turn finished less than two seconds up on the USA.
Dante Oliveira had a strong start to the week as he led the U.S. Junior World Trophy Team to a third-place standing on day one. Oliveira, a west coast specialist in the U.S., hovered around the top-15 overall throughout the day, making a big charge at the end to finish sixth in the last test. Cody Barnes (HON) of Illinois contributed a consistent score inside the top-20 overall, with Nevada’s Austin Walton delivering on-pace results as well.
Dante Oliveira: “I started out strong and finished strong. The course started out a little rough at first, kind of an awkward flow the first time around but the second time it got a little smoother and the lines were a little more developed, so I feel like you were able to charge a little harder. I didn’t have any tip-overs or major mistakes, so I’m excited for that. I’m super pumped with how we did as a team but I wish I would have been a little higher up in the overall. I’m looking forward to charging a little harder the rest of the week.”
Right from the off, the three nations all delivered impressive collective performances, with Italy unquestionably helped by the strong showings of Andrea Verona (GasGas) and Matteo Cavallo (TM). Fast from the off, Verona held a slender outright individual lead with just one special test to go, falling twice on the final test and allowing Spain’s Josep Garcia (KTM) to go on and top the individual results with relative ease. In doing so Garcia helped Spain secure a strong second.
Ending day one with the biggest advantage of all the national teams, the USA stamped their authority on the Women’s World Trophy class with a highly impressive winning result. Collectively Brandy Richards (KTM), Rachel Gutish (Husqvarna), and Britney Gallegos (Husqvarna) sit three minutes and eighteen seconds ahead of Spain.
“I started out riding a little tight, but I progressed throughout the day,” commented Richards. “The tests were mostly long and fast, but they were fun to ride. The dirt and traction was different from place to place, but it was a good day for me.”
With Spain holding down second, and Great Britain third, it was Portugal and France who rounded out the top five with all eight Women’s World Trophy teams making it to the finish of the day.
Individual Class Rankings:
Despite his falls in the final special test of the day, Andrea Verona (GasGas) finished day one at the top of the Enduro1 class results, close to ten seconds ahead of Sweden’s Mikael Persson (KTM). Delivering one of the standout rides of the day, Persson found himself as the Swedish filling in an Italian sandwich with Verona ahead of him and Junior World Trophy team rider Lorenzo Macoritto (TM) behind him.
Although not entirely happy with the way he rode throughout the day, Spain’s Jose Garcia (KTM) has already opened up a near one-minute advantage at the top of the Enduro2 class, ahead of USA’s Taylor Robert (KTM) and Italy’s Thomas Oldrati (Honda).
“My day was good, even if I took a lot of dust in some of the special tests, which made things tricky,” explained Garcia. “Also, I didn’t feel perfect on my bike. I’m not sure why, but anyway the day was good and I managed to win the overall too. I hope that tomorrow I can ride like I did on the final test today, and we’ll keep pushing as a team.”
With World Trophy team riders topping the Enduro1 and Enduro2 class result, in Enduro3 it was Italian Junior World Trophy team rider Matteo Pavoni (TM) who topped the time sheets. Fifteen seconds ahead of countryman Matteo Cavallo (TM), Pavoni kept experienced racers like the USA’s Ryan Sipes (GasGas) and Spain’s Jaume Betriu (KTM) behind him.
At the top of the individual Women’s class results it was the USA’s Brandy Richards (KTM), one minute and forty-seven ahead of Great Britain’s Jane Daniels (Fantic), with Spain’s Mireia Badia (GasGas) third.
Day 2 Recap
Continuing what they started on day one of the ninety-fifth running of the FIM International Six Days of Enduro (ISDE), Italy proved on day two to again be the nation to beat in both the World Trophy and Junior World Trophy classes. The USA extended their lead to five minutes in the Women’s World Trophy competition while the day’s overall fastest competitor was again Josep Garcia (KTM).
Knowing what to expect as they competed on the same trails and, with one notable exception, the same special tests as on day one, day two was dry and dusty for all competitors. Just as on day one, nothing significantly affected any of the leading nation’s top riders, meaning it was all about the important special test performances.
With all of their World Trophy team riders finishing inside the top ten of the overall individual classification on day two, Italy stretched their overall lead in the World Trophy standings to one minute and twenty-two seconds. With Andrea Verona (GasGas) the event’s fastest Enduro1 class rider, and Matteo Cavallo (TM) the event’s fastest Enduro 3 competitor, together with solid performances from Thomas Oldrati (Honda), and Davide Guarneri (Fantic), Italy served up another impressive team performance.
Boosted by the fact Josep Garcia (KTM) ended day two as the overall fastest rider, Spain also enjoyed a positive second day of competition. Not allowing Italy to get too far ahead, Spain are very much ensuring they keep themselves in the running, as the event nears its mid-way point.
“My goal for today was to be more aggressive than I was on day one,” commented Spain’s Josep Garcia at the end of the day. “I wasn’t quite myself on day one. I pushed hard today and it worked really well. It was a good day for me and also team Spain. All of our riders are going well. If I can stay like this all week, I will be happy.”
Rounding out the top three in the World Trophy team competition, the USA finished third on day two to hold third overall while France and Sweden rounded out the top five.
The U.S. World Trophy riders are motivated to defend their title as they continue to lay a solid foundation early in the week. Robert once again posted the highest result of the team with fourth overall, consistently notching top-10 test-results aboard the KTM 450 XC-F. Teammates Layne Michael (Yamaha) and Johnny Girroir (GASGAS) contributed with consistent times throughout the day as well. Michael came away 13th overall on the day and Girroir 15th, giving the U.S. team a third-place standing behind Spain.
Taylor Robert: “Day two was better than day one for me, I started off a little faster and didn’t crash in the first test, which always helps. I had really consistent times all day, which led me to a fourth-overall for the day. Definitely moving in the right direction and feeling better on the bike. As a team, we struggled a little bit. The guys were all riding really consistent and close in times but they were just a little bit off the pace, so we just need to still pick up a little bit of time and minimize those little slide-outs and stuff like that.”
Extending their lead in the Junior World Trophy competition by a little over forty seconds, Italy were again the team to beat, but were pushed hard by an on-form USA. With Matteo Pavoni (TM) and Lorenzo Macoritto (TM) respectively sixth and seventh in the day’s overall individual results, together with Manolo Morettini (KTM), Italy stepped closer to the Junior World trophy title.
The U.S. Junior World Trophy Team made a jump into second overall, thanks in large part to KTM’s Dante Oliveira. With rougher track conditions emerging on day two, Oliveira rose to the challenge and bested his day-one performance with 12th overall aboard his KTM 450 XC-F. Teammates Cody Barnes (Honda) and Austin Walton (Husqvarna) each contributed solid times in the 48-minute mark, allowing the team to surpass France for second-place in the standings.
Dante Oliveira: “It was a solid day. I got off to a better start today and I think I was a little more aggressive than I was yesterday. I didn’t hit the ground at all – I stalled the bike once – but I’m stoked with it. Other than that, the track was a lot rougher than day one so that was gnarlier but my bike works a little better when it’s rougher and I honestly work better when the track is rougher, so that was good. I think we have one fresh test tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to some new tracks and getting after it.”
Behind Italy, USA, and France, Sweden hold fourth ahead of Spain and Finland.
The U.S. Women’s World Trophy Team extended their lead to five minutes and forty-seven seconds with another strong performance on day two. KTM-Supported rider Brandy Richards continues to push the envelope, besting Spain’s Mireia Badia by one-minute and forty-eight seconds aboard her KTM 350 XC-F. Rachel Gutish (Husqvarna) finished fifth-best in the Women’s classification, giving the team an impressive boost in the standings.
Brandy Richards: “The day started out a little slow, I had a mistake in my first test but I just moved forward and stayed consistent in the second enduro test. I did really well in the third enduro test, no mistakes in that one, but in the fourth cross-test I ended up blowing a banner and having to turn back around, so I lost a little bit of time there. After that, I just tried to stay as consistent as I possibly could and tried not to make any mistakes. The rest of the day went really well and no more mistakes, just finished it out good.”
Individual Class Results:
In finishing second fastest overall, Andrea Verona (GasGas) ended day two as the quickest Enduro1 class rider, but with Sweden’s Mikael Persson (KTM) snapping at his heals.
“I was a little bit nervous this morning, starting up front, having taken advantage of a good starting position on day one. I tried to do my own race, just focusing on my own riding. It’s great to be up there with the top guys and near the front in E1. I just feel good, and I want to do my best for the team,” explained Persson.”
All finishing inside the overall top ten, Lorenzo Macoritto (TM), Davide Guarneri (Fantic) and Theo Espinasse (Honda) round out the top five in Enduro1.
There was never any question who would top the Enduro2 class on day two as Josep Garcia (KTM) upped his determination levels, and his speed, to dominate both his class and the overall. Finishing comfortably ahead of USA’s Taylor Robert (KTM), Garcia set a pace no one could get close to. Thomas Oldrati (Honda) was the third fastest E2 class rider.
At the top of the Enduro 3 classification TM and Italy teammates Matteo Cavallo and Matteo Pavoni finished three seconds apart and ahead of Spain’s Jaume Betriu (KTM).
Just as she did on day one, USA’s Brandy Richards was comfortably the fastest female competitor.
The FIM International Six Days of Enduro continues on day three as competitors take on the one hundred and ninety five-kilometres Valle Staffora lap for the third and final time.
Visit fim-isde.com for more information.
Images Courtesy of ISDE/Dario Agrati
