Posted November 17, 2006   Email   Print

GoFasters.com club team racer Patrick Garrahan works to keep his team in the top 10 at the ISDE.

U.S. Junior Team holds on to lead

By Steve Berkner

On a rain-soaked course, the U.S. Junior Trophy team extended its lead over France by another 38.65 seconds, giving it a 4:30.96 lead over the French riders going into Day Five of the FIM Maxxis International Six Days Enduro in New Zealand.

Kurt Caselli led the way once again for the U.S. Junior Team, finishing third in the E2 class, 23.53 seconds behind E2 class leader, Aro Samuli of Finland. The four-rider U.S. team also picked up another 10 seconds on the French when an errant score from Day Three was corrected. David Pearson had been given 60 penalty points for missing a check.

"We missed the scoring error the night before," said Rich "Gunny" Claypoole, the U.S. team's FIM jury representative. "We knew there was a problem when all of the riders on David's minute had the same mistake. I brought it up at the meeting and there was no problem with getting it overturned."

The US Junior Trophy Team?s scores were more on the conservative side as their net EV (evaluation) point tally was 5:09.27 compared to the French?s score of 5:47.92. Lindsay Pirie, Junior team manager said, ?

"They're still hungry and they put together some good tests scores," said Lindsay Pirie, Junior team manager. "In hindsight, we probably rode a little too conservative. Especially in the first test were we just couldn't get it going."

Helping the efforts again were Russell Bobbitt, who finished 28th in E2 with a score of 2:20.86 and Pearson, who finished 18th in the E3 class with a score of 2:24.88. Ricky Dietrich managed to hold his own in the E1 Class, where class leader, Juha Salminen of Finland, continued to hold the overall lead in the New Zealand ISDE. Dietrich finished 19th in class with a score of 2:46.35.

The six-rider U.S. World Trophy Team remained in 10th place. Finland has been in front since Day Two.

Aaron Kopp was among the U.S. riders who struggled with problems on Day Four.

"I almost lost some route points today and houred out," Kopp said. "My bike started bobbling every time I would try and open it up. It started to hold me back enough that I was getting closer and closer to being late.

"I made it to the next check just on my minute, but we only had a couple of seconds to splash some gas. I made my minute with 1 second to spare. This year, you can't take fuel after the check, so I had to make it to the next check with barely any gas. I started running out of fuel about 6 kilometers before the next check. Somehow I made it.

"Since I was out of gas, we took the time to clean the carburetor and found a bunch of dirt and water. We cleaned it out and that made the difference. From there the bike ran great."

"These guys are really doing a great job," said Bruce Wakeley, U.S. Trophy Team manager. "This event has not been easy. The organizers really turned it up today, going with an "A" schedule. Most of the riders only had a few minutes at each of the checks. It's turned into a real enduro."

With the Junior Team leading its division, the Trophy Team members have been looking out for their fellow U.S. riders.

"I'm riding along and there's Ricky (Dietrich) stuck in a mud hole," said Jimmy Jarrett. "And I mean stuck. I stopped and helped get him out and he was able to make it to the next check with no problem.

"I remember when I rode my first Six Days a couple of years ago and counting on the other U.S. riders to keep me out of trouble."

Jarrett has been on a roll himself, finishing 16th in the E2 class to be the top American Trophy Team rider.

In the three-rider Club Team division, the Trail riders of Houston remained the top American club team in 4th place, followed by GoFasters.com and The Merced Dirt riders, who are 7th and 8th respectively.

Three U.S. riders retired on Day Four. Lacy Jones, Rod Kriess and Greg Gillain were unable to make it to impound at the end of the day. That leaves 36 American riders ready to start Day Five.

For complete results, visit the official ISDE website.

 © 2006, American Motorcyclist Association