Mark Kariya | October 16, 2016
ISDE Victory – Long Time Coming For Team USA: Team USA capped off a stellar week at the 91st International Six Days Enduro in Navarra, Spain, by winning the FIM World Trophy for the first time ever with Taylor Robert the top individual rider—only the second time ever an American has earned that honor, the first being Ryan Sipes who did it last year in Slovakia. Robert and Kailub Russell were also on the winning Manufacturer’s team for KTM 1 with British World Trophy team rider Nathan Watson.
ISDE Victory – Long Time Coming For Team USA:
From left: Team Manager Antti Kallonen, Taylor Robert, Thad Duvall, Kailub Russell and Layne Michael show off the FIM World Trophy that the team earned for the very first time. Robert also became the second American ever to post the best individual score, Ryan Sipes doing that deed last year. Photography by Mark Kariya
That wasn’t all, though. The U.S. Junior World Trophy team earned a hard-fought second behind Sweden, its Women’s World Trophy team held on for a solid fourth behind Australia, Spain and Germany, and two U.S. Club teams—Trail Jesters and Eric Cleveland Memorial—took trips to the podium in second and third, respectively.
And even that wasn’t all. The first ever FIM Vintage Trophy was won by long-time ISDE rider, American Fred Hoess.
But the World Trophy was the biggie.
“For us to win it is awesome,” Duvall said. “It’s been a long road for me and Taylor and even Kailub—he’s been around for a couple years, too—so it’s a cool feeling, and it’s been real nice having that fan base back home cheering us on all week long.”
He added, “Going into the last moto today, I felt like, man, I had a lot of pressure on me being the last guy to go [out for his final moto] and hearing all the stories how teams have had four- or five-minute leads and something happens in the final moto. I just tried to be smart and get through the first corners.”
“I’ve been so stressed the last few days, this is a huge deal for me and for the USA,” said Robert. “I kept trying to tell myself that everything would work out, but I know anything can happen during the final motos. This is my sixth ISDE and it feels so good to have won with team USA and also to have got the overall individual result. My final moto went well, I got a good start and quickly worked my way into the lead. Then half an hour after my race was over was the worst because I was waiting for a phone call to tell me how Daniel Sanders [who Robert was battling with for the overall individual win] got on, to find out if I’d got the overall. The team’s been great, we’ve been getting closer and closer to this year after year. This one’s for Kurt Caselli.”
ISDE Victory – Long Time Coming For Team USA:
From left: The U.S. Junior World Trophy team of Trevor Bollinger, Steward Baylor and Grant Baylor fell 45.23 seconds short of Sweden to settle for second place. Photography by Mark Kariya
Click HERE for complete ISDE results
We will have a full report in Cycle New magazine which will go live tomorrow evening PDT. You will be able to access it (Cycle News, Issue 41) after it becomes live by clicking HERE
