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America's top off-road racers competed in the 89th running of the FIM International Six Day Enduro (ISDE) last week, Nov. 3-8, in San Juan, Argentina. After six grueling days of battle in some of the most extreme conditions, the American squad brought home a team gold medal in the Junior Trophy division, while the U.S. World Trophy Team came within striking distance of claiming its first-ever win in the premier division with a runner-up finish behind France. Impressively, GNCC Racers claimed three of the top 10 overall finishes with two-time GNCC National Champion Kailub Russell at the helm as the highest placing American with third overall.
In just the third time in ISDE history, the U.S. Junior World Trophy Team emerged victorious in its division, claiming a gold medal for two-time GNCC XC2 Pro Lites Champion Steward Baylor, two-time and reigning XC2 Pro Lites Champion Grant Baylor, 2014 XC2 Pro Lites runner-up Trevor Bollinger, and west coast off-roader Justin Jones. Congratulations to the Junior Trophy Team! L-R: Grant Baylor, Steward Baylor, Trevor Bollinger, Justin Jones.Photo: Steve Berkner/KTM Jones was the standout Junior rider of the week, turning fast times each day to earn 11th overall in the combined standings. The Baylor brothers, as well as Bollinger, rode strong throughout the event and avoided any technical difficulties through one of the most challenging ISDE events in recent history. The hot desert and dusty conditions proved not to be a problem for the Junior Trophy Team, as all riders finished the ISDE without any major issues.
The World Trophy Team pushed through adversity to finish a respectable second place in their division. L-R: Zach Osborne, Kailub Russell, Taylor Robert, Thad DuVall, Mike Brown, Charlie Mullins Photo: Steve Berkner/KTM The U.S. World Trophy Team, consisting of Top American finisher Kailub Russell, 2011 GNCC Champion Charlie Mullins, 2008 XC2 Pro Lites Champion Thad DuVall, west coast superstar Taylor Robert, off-road legend Mike Brown and motocross/supercross star Zach Osborne, put forth a hard-fought battle all week long. However, the team had unfortunate luck from the very first day when Osborne's bike had a mechanical issue in the second test, which took him out of the race. Despite his DNF, the riders still ended day one in contention for the lead. On day two, the U.S. Trophy Team moved into the lead position after the second test and held it until the third test when Mullins took a hard crash on a technical section. Although Mullins recovered from the crash, he lost valuable time as he sought medical attention and had to repair damage to his bike.
The Americans had a very patriotic fan base in Argentina Photo: Steve Berkner/KTM The remainder of the week would be up and down for the U.S. Team as they battled with France, topping their times each day but unable to move into the lead as a result of penalties. The U.S. riders gained nearly six-minutes on the French Team on day four, before a mechanical issue with Robert's bike cost the team nine additional penalty points. The boys made up for it on the fifth day as Robert claimed the overall win for the day. They again dominated on the final day of the event with U.S. riders Brown, Russell and Robert finishing inside the top three overall for the final motocross test. At the end of the ISDE, the U.S. Trophy Team secured second place overall for the second year in a row.
Kailub Russell finished out the week as Top American with an impressive third place finish in the overall standings Photo: Steve Berkner/KTM Factory FMF/KTM rider Kailub Russell finished an impressive third overall in the combined standings and earned the Top American Award for this event. "This was definitely a rough ISDE," stated Russell in a KTM press release. "I'm happy to finish safely and land on the podium again but our entire team is ready to come back next year and finish on that top step." Riding for his native country of Australia, 2010 GNCC National Champion Josh Strang finished a very strong fifth in the overall standings. The Women's Trophy Team finished third overall at the ISDE event. Both Rachel Gutish and Sarah Baldwin encountered technical issues on day three and could not finish the event. However, the final member of the team Mandi Mastin would push forward for the Women's Team. Mastin finished the event and placed sixth overall.
Thad DuVall finished the week 10th overall, helping the World Trophy Team achieve second place Photo: FIM / Future 7 Media In Club Team competition, American riders Gary Sutherlin and Andrew DeLong topped the C2 Classification with a solid performance all week long. U.S. rider Cory Buttrick topped the C3 Classification by over six minutes to bring home a gold medal in Club Team competition. GNCC Racer Chris Bach had a strong performance as well, before running into mechanical issues that would remove him from competition on day three. Racer Productions and the AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series presented by Maxxis, an AMA National Championship, would like to congratulate all the riders who competed in the mentally and physically tough ISDE event. Overall Trophy Team Results: 12France 2 USA 3 Spain Overall Women Trophy Team Results: 1 Australia 2 Canada 3 USA Overall Combined Results: 1 Pierre-Alexandre Renet 2 Toby Price 3 Kailub Russell (Team USA) 4 Matthew Phillips 5 Josh Strang (Team Australia) 6 Loic Larrieu 7 Ivan Cervantes 8 Christophe Nambinton 9 Mike Brown (Team USA) 10 Thad Duvall (Team USA)
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