Home Team Wins French ISDE

Kit Palmer | September 4, 2001

On home soil, the French World Trophy team took top honors at the International Six Days Enduro in Brive la Gaillarde, France, August 27-September 1. In the early stages, the French team battled the Swedes, only to pull away later in the week and take the gold. The always-powerful Italian team, came on strong towards the end and finished out the week in second place to take the silver medal, while the Swedish team eventually suffered problems and dropped back to eighth before all was said and done. Taking the bronze medal in third place was the team from Spain. Rounding out the top five was Australia and the Czech Republic.

The U.S. team, made up of Nick, Russ and David Pearson, Brian and Patrick Garrahan, and Fred Hoess, finished out the competition in sixth.

In the Junior World division, Italy took top honors, followed by Sweden, Spain, France and Great Britain. The U.S. Jr. World team – John Beal, Craig Wesner, Ben Hale and Rob Zimmerman – finished 11th.

The top three-rider Club team was Club France 1, while the top-finishing U.S. Club team was the Timekeepersmc.com team, made up of Brian Sperle, Tim Stowe and Glenn Martinson.

Class winners included Frenchman Marc Germain (KTM) in the 125cc class, Frenchman David Fretigne (Yam) in the 250cc Two-Stroke class, Frenchman Cyril Esquirol (Hus) in the 250cc Four-Stroke class, Italian Mario Rinaldi (Yam) in the 400cc Four-Stroke class and Finn Mika Ahola (Vor) in the 500cc Four-Stroke class. The overall individual winner was Ahola, and the top American finisher – based on overall time – was Yamaha-mounted Russ Pearson, who finished 12th in the 250cc Two-Stroke class. The top U.S. class finisher was Husqvarna-mounted Hoess in the 250cc Four-Stroke division, where he placed ninth.