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eOFF ROAD ~ 68th International Six-Day _d_ _o_ _----'-'-s_En ur . . ... I I Cf) . 1-4 Q) \ ...... ; ~ Q) >o Z 4 , v , (Above) Polish World Trophy Team rider Madej Wrobel pu shes his 80cc Italianmade TM through one of th e many mu dbog sections that made u p th is year's ISDE in Holland . Three of the six riders on the winning Polish Tro phy team were mounted on 80cc TMs. (Right) The impound area was centered at the road racing Circuit van Drenthe in Assen. _ By Kit Palmer ASSEN, HOliAND, OCT. 1().16 en tion Holland and most people will think of wooden shoes, w ind mills, or perhaps of sippin g a glass of Heinek en on a sidewalk ca fe in Am s te rd a m . But mention Ho lland to any on e of the 488 riders who competed in this year's 68th running of the Inte rnational Six-Days Enduro and the y w ill no do ubt think of never-ending rain , end less stre tches of deep mud b ogs a n d the smell of burning clutch plates and stea ming radiators. Well, perhaps not all of them w ill have those th oughts. At least not six rid ers from Pola nd . For them , Holland wi ll most likely be rem emb ered as a place where seemingly impossib le d reams ca n co me true . For the first time in ISDE hist or y, th e Polish team wa lked aw ay with the prestigiou s World T rophy Team titl e in wha t was one of the toughest and most grueling Six-Days events eve r. Of the 19 six-rider World Tro phy teams that started, on ly two managed to finish all six da ys with th eir e n ti re squad intact Poland an d th e runne r-u p team from Ireland . This year's event proved to be more of an end urance ru n than anyt hing else. A d elu g e of ra in in th e Asse n area turned most of the off-road sections into un forg iv in g , bike-swallowi ng mud bogs, and if the mud did n' t get them, man y sections of deep sand di d. Even before the firs t day wa s over, most of th e field had al ready sw itched to survival mode, and getting one's bike and bod y to the finish line had turned into pri ority number one - speed in the special tests, wh ich us ually de termines the outcome of ISDEs, would, for all intents and purposes, playa non-sign ifican t role in this year's eve nt. Po land fin ish ed ah ead of Irelan d w ith pl ent y of room to sp a re . Nearly 7000 p oints sepa ra ted th e tw o team s w he n it was all over, while the Dutch team had to se ttle for a distan t third . Holland looked to be head ed for a second Wor ld Trophy title until one of their team ride rs broke do wn on day four . . The Fr en ch team, led by two-time ISDE individual wi nne r Stepha n Peterhansel , n abb ed fou rth, w hi le Gr eat Brita in, led by th ree-t im e 125cc World Enduro Champ ion Paul Edmondson, rounded out the lop five overa ll in the World Trophy competi tion. The U.S. World Tro phy team, made up of four-time AMA Nation al End uro Rand y Ch a mpion Hawkins, Fred Hoess, Steve Hatch, David Rhod es, ISDE rook ie Ty Davis and la s t y ea r' s " To p Am erican " in Au stralia, Rodn ey Smi th, fi nished 13th ove rall after losing two of its rid ers during the course of the week. In the Junio r World T ro p hy d iv ision (fo r rid ers 23 years of age and und er), H o ll and scored th e wi n for the fifth tim e, their p revious w in having come in 1956. France, Cze cho s lo v a k ia, Spai n a nd Sw ed en fil led o u t th e first five overall. The U. S. Juni or World team - Pa t Gar rahan, Ch r is Smi th, Josh Whit aker and Scott McLaugh li n - fared e ven w o rse th an the Ll.S, Trophy team. Only one rider - Garrahan, an M