It doesn’t appear as if Team France is going to be easily unseated from its perch atop the standings at the 2013 International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) in Sardinia. With three of the event’s six days completed, anything could happen, but so far the French teams have stayed out of trouble and put forth fantastic performances hold the lead in both the World Trophy and World Junior Trophy competitions.
The following information is from the FIM-ISDE press office:
World Trophy
With the ISDE having reached its halfway point, the fight for the World Trophy has taken shape with France clearly determined to repeat its victory in 2012. Reigning World Enduro Champion Antoine Meo (KTM) had another fantastic day in Sardinia—he fared even better than he did on Day Two. Meo won four of the day’s six special tests and completed the Day Three route to remain in the lead over Australia’s Daniel Milner (Yam) and France’s Johnny Aubert (KTM) in the individual classifications. France still leads the World Trophy battle with a total time of 12 hours, 40 minutes, 22.72 seconds.
But despite the shining performances of Milner, Team USA was able to regain second place over Team Australia in the World Trophy standings. The team had slipped to third after incurring a time penalty when Team USA’s Thad Duvall reportedly rode backward on the course, but riders Charlie Mullins (KTM) and Taylor Robert (Kaw) helped Team USA recover its lost position by finishing seventh and eighth respectively on Day Three. Robert’s ride was somewhat heroic, as he crashed and had to soldier to the finish with an inoperable front brake. Mike Brown (KTM) finished 13th, while Kurt Caselli (KTM) was 15th and Zach Osborne (Hon) was 25th. Duvall finished 30th after suffering a hard crash. Team USA is now 8 minutes, 43.67 seconds behind Team France, with a total combined time of 12:49:06.39.
Team Australia is third, with a time of 12:49:24.92. Team Italy and Team Spain complete the top five World Trophy teams in the standings.
World Junior Trophy
Team France still holds a slight advantage over Italy in the World Junior Trophy chase. Once again, France’s emerging young star Loic Larreu (Hbg) had a great day in Sardinia, finishing first again among the under-21 riders and remaining eighth overall in the standings. Kailub Russell (KTM) was the top American, finishing seventh. Andrew DeLong (Hus) was 15th, with Jesse Groemm (Yam) 17th and Grant Baylor (KTM) 19th.
Larreu’s dominating performances have allowed France to maintain its lead in the World Junior Trophy standings with a total combined time of 7:46:48.50. Team Italy is second, down 1 minute, 53 seconds. Team Great Britain is third, down 4 minutes and 40 seconds. Team USA and Team Sweden complete the top five.
Women World Trophy
Team Sweden’s Jessica Jonsson (G-G) was the fastest female rider in Sardinia on Day Three, posting a time of 59 minutes, 16.42 seconds, but Team Australia’s Jessica Gardner (She) and Jemma Wilson (Yam) were right behind Jonsson, maintaining Team Australia’s lead in the Women’s World Trophy standings, with a total combined time of 6:04:55.70. Team Sweden is second, 8:58.70 behind Australia. Team France is third, 22:31.73 off the lead.