WORLD TROPHY TEAM (WT)

After a tough day of riding through knee pain, FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Kailub Russell came back stronger on day four as the top finishing American in the World Trophy division. He scored an 11th place in the first test and maintained a decent pace for the remainder of the day, finishing 16th overall. KTM’s Josh Toth also had a steady performance, rounding out the top-20 overall. Dante Oliveira found himself batting mechanical issues early on but he was able to keep it rolling on two wheels for the rest of the day, contributing a time on behalf of the U.S. World Trophy team.

Kailub Russell: “Day four started out okay on the first test, nothing crazy. I had a little issue with my knee yesterday that was giving me some trouble and then my wrist this morning from a crash yesterday but I got over that and got into a groove. I really struggled on all the cross-tests that were really silty. The two enduro tests were okay, I was just struggling to find the comfort on this really hard-packed silty dirt when the grass gets blown off. We’ve got some fresh tests for tomorrow and we’ll give it another go.”

Josh Toth: “I had a decent day today and was feeling a little bit better towards the end of the day. I unfortunately had a couple tip-overs in two tests when I felt like I was riding pretty well. We’ll try to limit those mistakes and keep the good feeling on the bike and try to keep it going in the right direction and make it to the finish.”

Dante Oliveira: “I started the day off a little rough. I ended up having to work on my bike in the morning – I had to crack the cams loose because the bike kept locking up on me. Once we figured that out, it was all good and I just rode the day as smooth as I could. I just tried to save the bike as much as possible so I didn’t really put together the best tests. I had a couple okay ones but nothing great. Hopefully we can finish out strong as a team and have a good starting spot for next year.”

JUNIOR WORLD TROPHY TEAM (JWT)

KTM’s Mateo Oliveira had a strong effort on day four, placing seventh in the Junior World Trophy and 25th overall on the day. His teammate, Austin Walton (Husqvarna Motorcycles), finished fourth in JWT and 18th overall after setting forth his best test-finish of the week – in fifth – to close out the day. 

Mateo Oliveira: “Definitely improvements from yesterday. I think I moved up a few more spots and just started to find my groove. I’m still not where I expect myself to be but with it being my first Six Days, I’m just starting to finally be level headed and lowering my expectations from what I came into it with and that’s okay, now I know what to expect for the years to come and I’m just having fun with it.”It was an unfortunate ending to the week for Brandy Richards, who led the first 15 tests of the week before suffering a big crash on the opening test of day four. The reigning Women’s Champion attempted to race on through the next two sections but it was later determined by the team and doctor that she would sit out the remainder of the week. Although the U.S. Women’s World Trophy team is out of competition, teammates Korie Steede (KTM) and Rachel Gutish (GASGAS) continue to battle for individual honors. Steede currently sits second overall in the Women’s World Trophy after four days, while Gutish holds onto sixth.

U.S. Team Manager, Antti Kallonen: “A little bit of unfortunate news that Brandy crashed on the first test today. She was able to continue for the next two test but she ended up hitting her head and ribs so it just turned out to be too tough and we made the decision with the doctor to stop her racing. It’s unfortunate that the Women’s team is out of championship contention, they had a good lead today of over 10 minutes but it’s racing and health comes first, any medal is second, and we’re going to deal with it now and be ready for next year.”