Posted November 18, 2007   Email   Print

The U.S. Women's World Cup team celebrates victory in the International Six Days Enduro.

Team USA wins first-ever ISDE Women's World Cup

Story and photos by Steve Berkner

The first-ever International Six Days Enduro Women's World Cup belongs to Team USA.

Six days of consistent riding in La Serena, Chile, kept the U.S. women on top. Meanwhile, Kurt Caselli, who led the U.S. Junior team to victory in last year's ISDE in New Zealand, handily won the E3 class and finished just behind France's Johnny Aubert for the overall.

Italy won the World Trophy and Spain won the Junior World Trophy. The U.S. men's teams finished eighth in the World Trophy division and sixth in the Junior division.

In six days of riding, the U.S. Women's team amassed a time of just 56:53, giving them a dominating win over the French team, at 1:31:53. In the process, Nicole Bradford earned a gold medal, Amanda Mastin won a silver, and Lacy Jones took home a bronze.

"This is my fourth time competing on a three-rider women's team at the Six Days, but this year we had a chance just to compete against other women," said Mastin. "The other years, we were just competing against the guys and it was tough to compare yourself.

"This was a real tough event. It was a lot of rocks, a lot of sand, a lot of dust, but at the end it was also a lot of fun. Because of our past Six Days experience, we knew we had a chance of doing well. When the scores came out on Day One, we knew we had what it took. We just had to hang in there for five more days."

Beyond the women's victory, the other highlight for the U.S. riders was Caselli's victory in the E3 class. For part of the week, Caselli actually lead the unofficial ISDE overall lead, which compares the scores of riders in the three individual classes, but is not officially recognized in ISDE competition. In the end, Aubert finished just ahead of Caselli.

"We knew coming here that I had a chance at winning my class, but when I was actually leading the event the first couple of days, that was a bonus," Caselli said. "I'm a little disappointed I came up short, but that's racing, especially at Six Days."

Caselli said his task was easier because the dry conditions in Chile were so similar to those outside his home in California.

"For the most part, it was just like riding in the Lucerne Valley," he said. "I had an easy time adapting to the terrain. I still had to deal with a lot of little problems, mostly suspension settings and replacing worn out parts. But that is what the Six Days is all about."

The next highest finishes for U.S. riders in the top classes were Jimmy Jarrett's (left) 11th-place finish in the World Trophy Team division and David Kamo's 11th-place finish in the Junior Trophy Team division.

Meanwhile, three U.S. club teams finished in the top 10: JAFMAR, Trail Riders of Houston, and Lubbock Trail Riders finished eighth, ninth and tenth.

Altogether, 43 U.S. riders competed in the 82nd ISDE and 40 finished.

"Something like 30 percent of the 498 riders who started the enduro dropped out," said Team USA Manager Bruce Wakeley. "That has a lot to do with the desert-like conditions, which really took a toll."

That more than 90 percent of the U.S. riders made it through the grueling event is a record all the teams can point to with pride.

See complete results at the official ISDE website.

 © 2007, American Motorcyclist Association