Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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The event didn't begin without stress for the Americans. In what has become an International Six Days joke in -recent years, the container that holds almost the entire U.S. team Six Days effort was shipped late again and didn't arrive until very late Friday night, and Saturday was impound day for the Americans. Reacting to the jeopardy they were in, the American Trophy team hurriedly put together a deal with the Gas Gas factory, through the help of team manager Drew Smith, and if need be they were ready to ride the event on the Spanish bikes. "We had a pretty anxious time before impound, and I think a lot of the other countries had a laugh on us," said Smith. "But I think we're all committed to showing a lot of dignity, and not being a lot of spoiled Americans but instead a lot of tough Ameri- and Brian Garrahan and Fred Hoess finished sixth. Pat Garrahan found himself in serious trouble on the first day with a rear tire that may have had a weakened or broken bead; whatever the cause, the tire popped off the rim and he was forced to try to continue riding it to a service check but wound up breaking his hub in the rocks along the way. He houred out trying to get it in, and the Trophy team was down to five members. That didn't affect the team result, because only five scores are counted each day on the Trophy team, but special-test times relegated the American team to 10th place on the first day. Unfamiliarity with the race format and a wealth of experience that favors long, grueling events resulted in slow special-test times for the Americans early in the week, but to their credit they rallied to set competitive test times by the last half of the event. The American Junior Trophy team - John Beal, Craig Wesner, Ben Hale and Rob Zimmerman, under the management of Dean Joyner - finished 11th for the week, with all four riders still going (for which Joyner had to express his appreciation in an unusual way). The TimekeepersMC.com team of Brian Sperle, Tim Stowe and Glen Martinson was the top finishing American Club team. The top finishing (or lowest-scoring) American rider was Russ Pearson, who finished 12th in the 250cc two-stroke class. cans." They came very close to being five Gas Gas riders and Fred Hoess' Husky 250, but everybody pitched in and helped unload and set up, and everyone impounded in time. American Six Days veteran Jeff Fredette, riding his 22nd ISDE, was a special victim of the container fiasco, as his Kawasaki was never even loaded into the container Stateside. When it started looking like he wasn't going to get his bike at all, he rented The American Trophy team was a family affair, with three Pearson relatives and a pair of Garrahan siblings (Hoess was the only lone"'. Nick Pearson (left) contested the 125cc division, finishing 31st, while Russ Pearson's (below) 12th 250Cc ride made him the top-placing American rider. (Below) Part of the appeal of the ISDE is the unique European flavor that surrounds the event, as these contestants navigating the streets of Uzerche can attest. cue I • n • _ S • SEPTEMBER 1·9. 2001 37