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/128398
-- ---- September 13-18. 2005 OFF-ROAD For the rest of the American Trophy team, made up of Gas Gas riders Fred Hoess, John Barber and Jimmy Jarrett, and KTM riders Aaron Kopp and Jason Dahners, things did not go much better, as their scores would prove. At the end of day one, Team USA was back in 13th place, eight minutes and 20 seconds behind France. Day two, however, went much better for Team USA. Caselli started to put together top-10 E2-c1ass test times and was showing his true colors. "I guess Iwas putting too much pressure on myself," Caselli said. "I needed to relax a little. I made it through the day without crashing, and that made the difference." From that point on, Caselli rode consistently and gradually worked his way up to an eventual sixth in class, which was won by Merriman. In the overall results, Caselli finished 13 spots behind Great Britain's David Knight, who rode in class E3. "I just couldn't get back what Igave up on day one," Caselli said. Even with Caselli's much-improved day-two scores, the U.S. Trophy Team remained in 13th place overall, a lot of which had to do with Hoess' fine ride. Riding in the EI class, Hoess was able to finish on Gold (finishing within 10 percent of the fastest rider in his class). Adding to the U.S. team's frustrations, Trophy riders Jarrett and Barber got caught napping 38 _ BOth International Six Days Enduro when they both went into a check late when they could've checked in on time. "I just plain screwed up," Jarrett admitted. "I came into the pre-check [the check prior to the work area] with plenty of time, so I started to check things over on my bike. The day before, we were on a slower B schedule and we had plenty of time to check over our bikes before going into pare ferme. I just wasn't thinking, and by the time I looked things over a little, I was down two minutes." Barber, who was riding one minute behind Jarrett, repeated jarrett's mistake, as he was keying off Jarrett, and went in late as well. Day three was a turnaround of sorts for Team USA, as all six riders on the Trophy Team were able to finish on Gold, moving them up two places to I Ith overall. "We're notorious at starting off slow," Drew Smith, Team USA's manager, said. "For the first couple of days, the guys are all trying to adapt to a format that is just different enough to our off-road series that we always need a couple of days to sort things out." But just as things were beginning to look up for Team USA, Barber crashed when he slid out on wet pavement. He spent the night in the hospital with a concussion. He was released the next day, but his Six Days was over. "We got to him right away, but he wasn't responding very well to questions we asked him, so we called for an ambulance," a U.S. team assistant said. Barber had no recollection of the fall. oaOBER 5,2005 • CYCLE NEWS With Barber's retirement, Team USA was now forced to count each of its remaining five riders' scores - no more throwaway scores. The scenario left no room for error. The rain that started to fall on day four continued through the night and for all of day five. The rain, however, actually helped the more technical-minded U.S. Trophy Team riders, as they were able to pick up two places and moved into ninth. ':All week long, we had to deal with a fast trail pace that kept us on our toes," Dahners said. "Most of the checks left little room for error:' Riding in a later row in the E3 class, Dahners picked up five route points when he had problems with a hillclimb. "They were the only late points I had all week," Dahners said, "but there was nothing I could do about it. There was just no traction to be found [on the hill], and once you lost your momentum, that was it." Again, bad luck struck Team USA on the final day, when Hoess crashed in the final MX test, resulting in the team's dropping back a spot, despite Caselli's second-place finish in his mota. Hoess collided with another rider in a first-lap crash and was also landed on by another rider. The result: a bent front-brake rotor and a broken clutch. "It was possibly the worst thing that could've happened," Hoess said. "I had no front brake and no clutch and was unable to ride aggressively. To make matters worse, I got lapped by the Dutch rider who won that mota." It was the Dutch team that benefited most by Hoess' downfall, as the two teams, the Americans and the Dutch, swapped positions in the overall standings. Hoess, however, still managed to finish out the ISDE on Gold. Hoess and Caselli were the only Americans to take Gold medals home. Hoess, who was competing in his 16th ISDE, said: '~t the time, I thought my chances at keeping my Gold were gone. As it turned out, I was like the last rider to finish on Gold." Team USA's Junior Trophy Team, the class designed for riders 23 years of age and younger, finished in eighth place. The U.S. team, made up of Gas Gas riders Wally Palmer, Russell Bobbitt and Cody Mastin, and KTM rider Ryan Powell, started out the Six Days in 10th after the first day. Afterward, Team USA was awarded the Watling Trophy for overcoming the most adversity during this year's ISDE. The ISDE International Jury awards the Watling Trophy to the country that puts forth the best effort under adverse conditions, shOWing the true spirit of the event. eN 80TH ISDE POVAZSKA BYSTRICA, SLOVAKIA RESULTS: SEPTEMBER 13-18, 2005 WORLD TROPHY TEAM: I. Italy 25:22.40 (Alessandro 8otturi, Alessandro Belometti, Simone Albergoni, Alessandro zanni. AIes:s.io Paoli. Giuliano n1gan): 2. Finland 26:34.37 ( SamuJi Am. Petri PohJamo. Mila. Ahob. Jan Mattila. Petteri Sitvan. Marko Tarkkala); 3. 5weden 36003.81 (Bjome Cari=n. Rkhord Un>on. NikW Gustavsson. Andreas Toresson. Dan~ Persson); 4. Great BriWn 38:30.56 (EdwMd Jones. KeY Mumoy. 50 Wakely. Paul Edmood>on. Euan McConnell. DavKl Knight); 5. Austr.>lia -48:10.76 (Stefan Merriman. Jake S~leton. Anthony