Posted November 13, 2007   Email   Print

Kurt Caselli sets the pace on Day One of the ISDE; U.S. women take the lead

Story and photos by Steve Berkner

U.S. World Trophy Team rider Kurt Caselli (below) set the standard in two of the six special tests during Day One of the International Six Day Enduro, giving him the early lead in the E3 class, while the U.S. women's team took the early lead in their division.

Caselli's efforts also put him in the "unofficial overall position" 13.231 seconds ahead of France's Johnny Aubert and 13.794 seconds ahead of Finland's Juha Salminen. Both Aubert and Salminen rode in the E2 class.

"The conditions here are right out of my back yard (in California) and the day just came together," said Caselli. "I thought my desert experience would really pay off and it did. I still had a couple of problems here and there, but all in all I just rode the way I knew how."

Caselli's U.S. World Trophy teammates had less to celebrate as the six-rider team struggled to capitalize on Caselli's success. The team finished the day in ninth place overall. France, Finland and Italy finished the day in the top three spots.

The U.S. World Trophy Team also lost one rider as Jordan Brandt DNFd after his ignition failed.

"Of course we're all pretty excited about (Caselli's) success but when our trophy team lost Brandt, we also lost a valuable 'throw away' score," said U.S. team manager Bruce Wakeley. "Brandt was the only U.S. rider to retire as the remaining 42 riders made it into impound at the end of the day."

While Caselli was setting the standard as the man to beat, the GoFasters.com-sponsored U.S. women's team also set the standard in the newly created Women's World Cup division. The three-rider team of Amanda Mastin (right, at the start), Nicole Bradford and Lacy Jones amassed an unofficial 24-minute-plus lead over Sweden.

The U.S. World Junior Trophy team faired just one position better than the U.S. World Trophy Team as the four-rider team finished eighth overall. Spain, France and Italy filled the top three spots in the Junior division, for riders 23 and under.

In the club team division, the Trail Riders of Houston team of Jeff O'Leary, Wes McKnight and Brian Storrie were in 13th with a score of 10:08.26 behind the first-place Spanish team, Club RFME.

Day One of the Chilean ISDE saw a DNF rate of nearly 12 percent as dust and deteriorating trail conditions took their toll on the riders.

 © 2007, American Motorcyclist Association