Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

(L eft) The start area was p a c k ed w ith motorcycles and motorcyclists from around the world. Check out the ISDE's version of an umbrella girl - she holds a p icture of one of the team's riders at the start. (Ri g ht ) Randy Hawkins l e d the GNCC Club team to second, although teammates Doug B l a c kwe ll and Robbie Jenks definitely helped. whi ch f e atu r ed s u c h off-ro a d sta r s and Ah ol a , And e r s E rik s s on , forme r GP m oto cro s s rid e r J ohan B o on en, A ro a n d Iv a n C erva n t e s. W h en all w a s sa i d and d on e , it wa s the Spani ard , C e rvantes , e mer gi ng vict o rio us o v er (2h24' 40.00"); 7, Karl Ttalnen (2h24' 40.23") ; 8. M ik e A hol a (2h2 4 ' 47 .5 0 " ) ; 9 . Sa mu li A rc (2h24'52.82"); 10. Anders Eriksson (2h24'54,16"); 11. Fr eddy Blanc (2h2S'22.30" ); 12. Giovanni Sala (2h25'46.59"); 13. Alessandro Botturt (2h25'49.58"); 14 . J o rdan C ur va lle (2 h2S 'S l. 69"); 15 . Rodrigue s Helder (2h26'24.60"); 16. Jarl Mattila (2h26'27.56"); 17 . Kurt Caselli (2 h2 6 '39.26"); 18 . Fab ie n Plane t gent g o t to p a rti c i p ate i n t he c1osi ng ceremony trophy presentation th anks (Ya m); 45. John Burgard Jr. (KTM), 250 2 - S T RK : t . Ste f an Me rriman ( Hon) A ll wa s n o t l os t e n t ire ly fo r t h e U .S. tea m i n Bra zi l. Th e U.S . contin - to t he Team GNCC C lub team , m a de up of 10 - t im e ISD E g old meda l ist Randy Hawkins , D oug Blackwell and Robbi e J enks . Th e tri o fi n i s he d i n se c ond pl a c e in t he Club cate go ry and wal k ed off w ith a n i c e tr op h y , wh i ch the y qu i c k l y hand ed o v er t o ISDE T ro p h y team c a p t ain and GNCC r a ce offici a l J e ff Ru s se l l. eN Beach Parte Resort Fortaleza Brazil , Results: November 2-7, 2003 WORLD TROPHY: I. Finland (13 ' 18.93"); 2. Italy ( 19'6.2 4-) ; 3. France (27'26,95- ); 4, Spain (39' 7. 22-) ; 5. Aust relle (4 5'2 4.8 1-); 7 . USA ( l h4'7.72") . J R TROPH Y: 1. France ( 15'45. 84" ); 2. Fin land ( 16' 11.06"); 3 . Il aly ( 18' 49 .22"): 4. Germany (26'21.7") : 5, Sweden (33 '53.9 5" ); 9 , USA (4 1'6,50"). CLUB: I. KBS UAMK Team A (47'3 8.34"); 2. GNCC (53'28.08"); 3. Moloklub .Jiretln ( l h42'29"): 4 . DMSB 1 (l h l'S7.42" ) ; 5 . Casazza M uc ci RA (lh5'46.65"). O / A INO: 1. S te fan Everts (2 h19 '21. 10 "); 2 . St efan Merrim an (2 h2 0'3 .3S ") ; 3 . J uha Salm i ne n (2h20·54.51"); 4. Ivan Cervantes (2h23'43.00"); 5. Joha n Bo onen (2h24 '36 .6r ); 6 . J a ni La ak s o nen Kre iss . Aa ro n Wil son . Aa ron Kop p , Greg Gill ian . Jas on Webb . Russell Bob bitt , Ron Sc hm elzle . Rob Zim me rm an. J eff Fredett e. Brya n Penney, Eric Bee, Lar s Val in , Eric Bai ley. M ike Monr oe, Mik e Sig ety . Mark Thom pson, Paul Neff. A lan Deyo. USA BRONZE: Sha wn Ma son . St ev en Kr eis, J ohn Wells. Pat Flynn . (2h27'3.18"); 19. Ty Davis (2h27' 19.37"); 20. Peter Bergvall (2h27'23.67"). 125 2 -STRK : 1. Hel d er Rod r i g ues ( K T M ) Portug al ; 2 . M i k a Seerenk cskl ( Hus ) Fi n land ; 3 . Sim one A lbergoni (KTM) Italy; 4. Xavier Puigdem ont (KTM) Spai n; 5. Roberto Bazzurri (Hus) Italy; USA : 34 . Jonathan See ho rn (Su z) ; 34 . Rod n ey Smith (Sua) : 36 . Walla ce Palmer (Suz) ; 44 . Luke Mc Neil B o onen , Ah ola , Aro a nd Eri ksson . Fin lan d; 4 . Sem ult A ro (KTM ) Fin land; 5 . And ers Eri ksson (Hus) Sweden. USA GOL D : K u r t Case ll i . T y Da vi s, M i k e Kl edrcw ekf, J ason Rai nes. Dav id Pearson . Rand y Hawk in s, Mike Laff erty . USA SILVER : J onathan Seehom . Rodney Sm ith. Robb ie J enk s. Bryce O lso n, Dou g Blackw ell , Rod A ustralia; 2 . J ani Laaksonen (GG) Fi nlan d; 3 . Karl T iai nen ( KTM) F inl an d ; 4 . Fredd y Bl anc ( KT M ) France; 5. Giova nni Sale (KTM) Italy; USA : 8. Kurt Ce setl t ( K TM) : 10 . Ty D a vi s ( Yam ): 16 . Mike Kie drowski (Suz): 19. J ason Raines (Yam): 20 . David Pearson (Kaw ): 36 . Robbie Jenks (Yam) ; 48 . Bry ce Olson (KTM) ; 49 . Doug Black well (Ka w); 52. Patrick Garra han (KTM) : 56 . Rod Kr eiss (Suz): 57 . Aaron Wilson (KTM); 58. Aaron Kopp (KTM): 62. Greg Gilliann (Hon) : 64 . Jason Webb (KTM) : 65 . Russell Bobbitt (GG) ; 66 . Ron Schmelzle (KTM ): 71. Rob Zimme rman (Yam ) : 7 2 . Jeff Fredette ( Kaw ): 75 . Bryan Penney (KTM); 77. Eric Bee (KTM); 78. Lars Valin (Hen) : 80 . Eri c Bailey (KTM ); 86 . Mike Monroe (GG); 94. Mike SIgety (KTM); 96 . Steven Kreis (KTM); 99. John Wells (KTM); 107. PatFlynn (Kaw); 110. Derek Steahty (KTM); 11 6. Ben Smith (KTM); 124 . Morga n C ra wf ord (K TM ) : 125 . Jo sh Lojak ( Yam ) : 127 . J erem y Puma (Suz); 130 . Ama nda Mast in (KTM ); 136 . Barry Hawk (Yam ): 137. Lissa Arsenault (Kaw) . 250 4· STRK : 1. Peter Bergvall (Yam) Sweden: 2. Mari o Rinal di (Yam) Italy : 3 . Marc Ger ma in (Yam ) France: 4 . Giuseppe Gallino (Yam ) Italy : 5. Glenn Kearney (Yam ) Australia : USA : I I. Randy Hawk ins (Yam) ; 2 1. Ma rk T ho m pso n (Yam) : 3 1. Paul Neff (Yam) ; 35. Fred HoeS5 (Hus) . 400 4· ST RK : 1. Stefan Evert s (Yam) Belg ium; 2. J uha Salm inen (KTM) Finland; 3. Al essandro Botturi (KTM ) Italy; 4 . Sebastien Guillaume (Hus) France; 5. J oak im Lj unggren (K TM ) Swed en : USA: 7. Mi k e Laffert y (KTM): 28 . A la n Deyo ( KTM) ; 100 . Brian Garrahan (KTM ). 500 4-STRK: 1. Ivan Cervan tes (KTM ) Spain; 2. J ohan Boon en (KTM) Belgium; 3. Mike A hola (Vor) Mike K iedrowski fin ished 16th in the 250cc Two-Stroke class. Although he had fun , he said he likely won't go back to the Sill Days. BRIEFLY••• Talk abo ut do minatio n, the win ning Finnis h Tro phy team had eve ry one of its six rider s finish in the top five in each class that they co mpeted in. Also. five 01 their Trophy riders finished in the top 10 overall in the individual results. How ever . no Finnish ride r won a class . Ju ha Salminen wa s the tea m's top -placing rider, in third overal l. This year's Six Day s in Brazil wa s deemed by many 0 1 th e T ro p hy rid ers as be ing too easy. Although many 01 them said that the sand special tes ts were good, they l elt there w e ren 't enough real " o f f-ro ad " or cro ss co untry tes ts tha t really challe nged the riders. Team US A ' s Ty Davis, however, did not co mplel ely agree . - I thou ght it was pret ty tough, " Davis said. " It was good, You had to stay on yo ur toes at all times. I thought there were some really goo d sections. " Mu ch 01 th e co urse co nsisted of sandy dirt roa ds . Including plenty 01 beach sect ions, where the ride rs rode right next to the surf (pictured ) . There were some hard er-pack ed areas , too . wh ich got very dusty . On e small stream dur;ng the week turned into a mud hole, w hich gave some riders fits. But , lo r the most part , this year's Six Days w ill ce rtainly be know n for the " Daka r" -type sand -dune speci al tests and beaches . Overall, everyone agre ed that the Acerbis-spon so red Six Days wa s o ne of the be st-o rgaruzed ISDE s in a long ti me. W orld M o tocross Champ ion Stefan Everts was co mpeting in his lirst Six Days in Brazil, which meant that he had to change his ow n lires. " It wasn't so bad: Evert s said. " I practiced a 101 belore. I had a litt le prob lems once with a new mousse [loam inse rt] ; it was too hard. Aft er that , I moun ted used mousses w hich we re much easier. " Team USA' s Mike Kiedrow ski. also an ISD E rookie, also had to deal w ith changing his ow n tires. The former Nati onal M X Champio n had the tire-cha nging routine down pr et ly well until day five, whe n he didn't quite gel the job done in time and dropped one minute go ing into impo und. This year's ISDE was marred by the death 01 British Club-team rider M att Bowden. The 37 year-old nder wa s competing in his first Six Days when he was l ound laying on the trait. It is believed that Bowden suffered a heart attack. Bowden's motorcycle was left in the impound area through out the rest 01 the Six Days and wa s draped w ith flowe rs. Many of the ISD E competitors wore black armbands with Bowden' s number on them to pay tribute to the Brit. The IS DE organ izat ion also paid trib ute to Bow den wi th a moment of silence during the clos ing ceremo nies. Arnaud Demeester, the French rider who usually win s the famous beach races in Europe. such as the LeTouquet Beach Race in France, felt right at hom e in the Daka r-like sand in Brazil. He wa s a seri ous co ntender in the 250c c Tw o-Stro ke clas s, busting ou t so me of that clas s' be st spec ial-test time s , but his Yamah a gave up o n day fou r. knocking him ou t of contention. Barry Haw k' s early withd rawal lrom the race was harmful to the U.S. Trophy team ' s chances . However , it sho uld be noted that Iialy and France, bo th 01 whom made the podi um, also each had a ride r withd rawal from the eve nt. So , where would the U.S. Troph y team have placed had Rod ney Smith not go tten lo st on day one? Sixth, by our calculations, A 101 01 practice and preparation certainly paid off for U,S. Junior W orld nder Kurt Caselli. Case lli said that he trained for the Six Days by prac ticing in the sandiest parts 01 the Southem Ca lifornia desert near Barstow . Ty Davis said that he also trained w ith Ca selli to practice his sand-riding technique. "J ust sit back and hold it open, " Dav is said 01 the sand , U.S . Wo rld Trophy ride r M ike Lafferty opted for smaller 40 0cc KTM rather Ihan a 450 for the Brazihan ISDE . Laff ert y said that he felt a lighter bike would be more of an advantage than a more powerful one. " I feel more co mfo rtable on the lighter bike ." Lafferty said. " You need to stay on l op of the sand." • j Although Mike Kiedrowski said that he had a goo d time riding the ISD E for the first time, he admitte d that he probably won't ride another. cue I e n e vv s NOVEMBER 19, 2 003 9

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