The importance of Team USA’s World Trophy win at the 2016 ISDE in Navarra, Spain, cannot be overstated.
For the first time in the 91-year-history of the prestigious “Olympics of off-road,” Americans Taylor Robert, Kailub Russell, Thad DuVall and Layne Michael stood atop the top of the World Trophy podium, not only affirming themselves as being among the best of the best off-road racers in the world but also showing just how far America’s off-road program has come thanks to a new wave of off-road racers who have shown the hunger to win on the world stage. That hunger begins in America with awesome series such as the AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series, the SRT/AMA National Championship Hare & Hound Series, the Kenda AMA National Enduro Series and the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC World Off-Road Championship Series.
These and other highly competitive and diverse American series have provided the bedrock for talented and motivated Americans to develop their skills, giving Team USA a deep talent pool from which to draw for the ISDE. That was never more evident than in 2016, when 2015 ISDE Individual Champion Ryan Sipes went down with an injury just days before the start of the 2016 ISDE. The team was able to recruit Layne Michael to replace Sipes for the World Trophy competition.
What followed was an incredibly steady performance by the Americans all week in Spain, with Robert becoming only the second American, behind Sipes, to win the Individual title. Both he and teammate Kailub Rusell spent most of the week inside the top 10 in all of the special tests, with DuVall and Michael holding up their end to keep the Americans in the lead all week long, accomplishing the goal of giving Team USA a highly coveted and long-anticipated ISDE World Trophy win.
One cannot help but think of the countless hours of dedication, sweat and tears that have been put in to make the American dream of winning the ISDE a reality. Amidst the enduring joy of this victory, it’s almost somber to think of the individuals who lived and passed without ever seeing it happen. We’re betting that wherever they are now, they’re still smiling.
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