Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128241
78th Inte rnational S ix D a y s E n d u r o B each Par k Reso rt Ty Davis fi nished right behind Caselli overall and was the World Tro phy team's top finisher. He finished 10th in the 250cc Two-Stroke class. 2 5 0 cc T w o -S tr o k e cla ss , as did KTM ' s Laffe rty in the 4 0 0 c c F ou r St rok e class . But the rid er wh o rea lly started tu rni ng head s was U.S. Juni or Troph y ri der Kurt Cas elli in the 250 cc T wo -Stroke cl ass. His tim es sud de nly ri valed thos e put up by such riders as 250cc Wo rld En duro Champion St ef an M er r im an , Ti a in en , Le T o u qu et sta r A rnau d D em ee st e r , Gi o v anni Sal a and Dav is. In o ne t est, Cas elli was seco nd- f ast es t; o n ly M err im an was qu ic k er. " I' m j ust try ing to be smooth," th e young Californian said . "Those guys , like Ev erts , are so smooth , the y don 't loo k th at fast , but they are. I look fast becaus e I'm a ll ov er th e place [ in co m parison]. Th e key is to be sm ooth and pi ck your lin es c are fu lly; don 't always get sucke red in t o th e mai n lin es." Casell i stayed co nsistent all week, and hi s determ ination pa id off, earn ing h im the unofficial title (and one that man y are trying t o de -empha size) of "T op America n" w ith hi s lowest t o t a l point score. He ed ge d out Davis for th e honors, fini sh ing 17th overall t o Dav is' 19 t h. Case lli a lso finish ed an im p ressive eig ht h in the 250 c c Two-Strok e cl ass . Da vis fin is h e d ninth , K i ed rowski 16th and Rain es 19th. Laff ert y fini shed out the w eek sev enth in th e 400 c c Fo u r Stroke c la ss, wh il e Smith fi ni she d 8 NOVEMBER 19,2003 ยท cue 35th in the 125 cc c la ss. (Sm it h was sandwiched by U.S. Jun ior Troph y riders Jonath an Seehorn in 34 th and Wally Palmer in 36th.) T he U .S . T rophy t ea m ' s p er sis ten ce pa id off, as we ll. The t eam went from 12th to ninth , w here th ey hovered fo r a wh ile befor e shooting up to seventh on the last day . Despite Caselli 's her oic efforts , th e U.S. Junior T roph y t eam struggled in th e he at a nd th e sa nd . Th e t e am , m ad e up of Caselli , Russell Bob b itt, Palm er and Dav id Pearson , sta rted off in eighth , dropp ed o ut a co u p le of r out e p oin t s a nd fi n is he d o u t t h e week in ninth . Fr ance ended up takI e ne1lVS M ike La fferty elected to ride the KTM 4 0 0 ra th e r th an the 450 in Brazil. He finished seve nth in th e 400 cc Fou rStroke cla ss. in g th e wi n , a hea d o f F inl and and It aly . The battle fo r this yea r's top over all ind ivid ua l hon ors wa s a good on e. It bo il ed d o wn t o a t h ree- ma n ra c e in v o l v in g World Enduro Ch am p io n Sa l min en , 250 c c Wor ld Endur o Ch ampion Merr iman of Australia and W orl d M X C h a m pi o n E v ert s . B o th Evert s and Sa lmine n ar e k nown fo r their sand-rid ing prowess , wh ile Merrima n fe lt a littl e out p lac e o n th e soft st uff, bu t it was Merrim an w ho led after the fir st c oup le of days. By da y three, ho wev er, Evert s began fee li ng ev en m o re com fo rta ble in what was hi s f ir s t IS D E . E v ert s eve nt u a lly caug ht and passed Merrima n , and by da y five, enj oy ed a sma ll 16 -se c ond le ad . And all t h at wa s le ft wa s the final MX 't est - actu all y somewhat of a supermot o th is ye ar, w ith a co m bination of d irt and pavem ent. In t h e 400 c c F ou r -S t rok e cl ass, Ev ert s ba ttl ed ba c k an d f o rt h w it h Salmin en , w ho act ually pa ssed Evert s dur ing th e 16-minute m o t o . Everts go t him back and we nt o n to win the m ot o by just tw o seconds over Salmi n en . M er r im an , o n t he ot h e r hand , was si xth -fastest in his 2 5 0cc Two Stro k e-cla ss m ot o - 2 5 sec onds off Everts' pace. Everts wrapped up the individua l title, 4 2.25 sec onds ahead of Merriman , and o ne min ut e and 34 seconds ahead of Salminen. Ev ert s also wo n the 400cc Four Stroke c l ass ov er Sa lminen , w h i le M err iman t o ok th e 250 c c T w o Stro k e -c lass titl e. Portugal 's Held er Rodr i gu e s ea s il y w on th e 1 25c c class , while Sweden 's Peter Bergva ll , on a Yamah a, edg ed out It alian Mario Rin ald i by nin e seco nds to wi n t he 25 0c c Four-Stro k e cla ss. Perh ap s th e m o st intriguin g m atch -up of th e Six D ay s w as in th e t alent -l aden 500c c Fou r-Stroke cl ass,