Caselli leads U.S. Junior Team into first place on Day Two of the ISDE

Story and photo by Steve Berkner

Kurt Caselli led the U.S. Junior Trophy Team into first place on Day Two of the  FIM Maxxis International Six Days Enduro. The U.S. team now holds a 80.78-second lead over France. Germany lies in third, 207.38 seconds back.

Caselli and Ricky Dietrich were primarily responsible for the U.S. team's move past France. Caselli, who is riding in the E2 class, put in a stellar ride and moved up seven positions from eighth to first overall. He now leads Finland's Juha Salminen by 18.04 seconds. France's Marc Germain is in third.

Caselli's Day Two showing also makes him the first U.S. ISDE/ISDT rider in history to win his class and lead the overall. No less of an accomplishment was Dietrich's E1 class performance, which saw him beat two of the French Junior Trophy Team riders by 47.06 and 51.06 seconds respectively.

Caselli took the overall lead when he won the second special test of the day.

"Today went good," Caselli said. "I felt comfortable in the tests. I'm just trying to ride consistent.

"Potentially we (the Junior Team) have what it takes. We just have to keep focused on riding the way we know how. This team has two current national champions on it, Ricky (Dietrich) in WORCS and Russell (Bobbitt) in the National Enduro Series. All we have to do is ride like we know we can."

David Pearson is the fourth member on the U.S. Junior Trophy Team.

In the World Trophy Team division, Finland overtook France for the lead while Spain remained in third place. The U.S. Trophy Team moved up from 14th place into 10th, led by the charge of Jimmy Jarrett, who was again the fastest U.S. Trophy Team rider.

In the three-rider Club Team division, the United States has three teams in the top 10. The Trail Riders of Houston, made up of riders Cole Kirkpatrick, David Kamo and Luke McNeil, are in fourth place, while the GoFasters.com team, made up of Patrick Garrahan, Brian Sperle and Daniel Janus, and Team Oregon, made up of Jonathon Seehorn, Rory Sullivan and Mason Harrison, are in sixth and seventh place, respectively.

Day Two of this year's ISDE in New Zealand was the strongest showing of any U.S. ISDE team ever, said U.S. team organizer Rick "Gunny" Claypoole.

"We had a lot of firsts today," said Claypoole. "First overall performance, first class win and three club teams in the top 10. We also had all 40 riders make it into impound. Today was a good day."

For complete results, visit the official ISDE website.

 © 2006, American Motorcyclist Association