14.11.2018
Day 3 of the International Six Days Enduro (ISDE)
VINA DEL MAR, Chile – The 2018 FIM International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) has reached its halfway mark in Vina del Mar, Chile and exceptionally dusty course conditions continue to pose challenges for the U.S. riders. The World Trophy Team remains in second-place after losing a little more ground to the Australians on day three, while the Junior and Women’s World Trophy Teams had a couple stand-out rides despite overall issues that hindered both teams from making any big strides on the third day.
With new terrain on the schedule for day three, riders came in with open arms as they hoped to leave the dust behind. However, test one proved to be the most challenging yet as many riders struggled to get through without multiple crashes along the way. As a result, test four – which is a repeat of test one – was removed from Wednesday’s lineup and only five special tests were factored into the day’s results.
WORLD TROPHY TEAM (WT)
FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Taylor Robert not only made it through the opening test unscathed, but he took the win to kick off the day. Robert went on to take an additional win on test three, as well as a trio of third-place finishes to round out the day. While Robert was the most consistent U.S. rider of the day in third overall, he did lose some ground in the overall classification as Aussie riders Daniel Milner and Daniel Sanders were on their marks all day long.
Tely Energy Racing KTM’s Steward Baylor Jr. maintained a consistent pace all day, keeping himself out of any major issues. Baylor did have a strong finish to the day with seventh and sixth-place finishes in the last two tests. Steward currently sits fifth in the E2 class.
It was a tough day for Ryan Sipes (HQV) and Zach Bell (HQV), who struggled to stay on pace in the challenging conditions.
“Today was not what we had hoped for but we got to dig deep and try to figure out how to deal with the dust and get better at it,” said U.S. Trophy Team Manager, Antti Kallonen.“All of our riders are fast so we got to walk the ‘fine line’ to try to make up some time for tomorrow, which is the same course as today. There is discussion as to what kind of course we will have tomorrow, so we’ll wait for a late-night decision to see if there’s any modifications to the course, recover and go at it again for day four.”
JUNIOR WORLD TROPHY TEAM (JWT)
The U.S. Junior World Trophy Team continues to fight from the second-place position where they now trail the Italian team by just under three and a half minutes. FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Josh Toth had a standout ride, finishing second-best of all the U.S. riders with two top-ten finishes in tests three and five. Toth had a big crash on day one that seemed to hinder his performance early on but the New England native is back on pace and sitting sixth in E1.
Tely Energy Racing KTM’s Grant Baylor contributed consistent times for day three, despite struggling to fight through the dust on test one. With great performances thus far, Baylor continues to hold the third-place spot in E2.
Trail Jesters/KTM Racing’s Ben Kelley also put forth a solid effort on day three, finishing just outside the top 20 overall for the day.
WOMEN’S WORLD TROPHY TEAM
It was a tough day for the U.S. Women’s World Trophy Team, who was forced to battle through perhaps some of the worst conditions due to the overall starting positions for their class. KTM-support rider Brandy Richards highlighted the team’s efforts once again with two test-wins on the day. Richards was able to make it through the pressure-point in test five, while her teammates were not so lucky. KTM-support rider Becca Sheets started off on a good foot, finishing inside the top-six in the first three tests but she ran into a bottleneck on test five that caused her to lose three minutes in the overall running. Her U.S. teammate, Tarah Gieger (HON), lost six minutes in the traffic, which set the team back in their fight to catch the Australian leaders.
Racing from the 2018 International Six Days Enduro will resume on Thursday, November 15 with day four of six from Vina del Mar, Chile. For a list of complete results, please visit http://www.fim-isde-live.info.
World Trophy Classification (After Day 3 of 6)
1. Australia, 7:45:49.75
2. USA, +3:23.47
3. Italy, +6:08.18
4. France, +7:39.84
5. Spain, +8:29.95
Junior World Trophy Classification (After Day 3 of 6)
1. Italy, 7:54:51.63
2. USA, +3:27.46
3. France, +9:05.89
4.Chile, +10:46.85
5. Australia, +13:03.9
Women’s World Trophy Classification (After Day 3 of 6)
1. Australia, 5:58:08.83
2. USA, +6:17.34
3. Spain, +12:06.55
4. France, +18:37.81
5. Sweden, +36:51.18