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/1354648
IN THE WIND P50 one hour, eight minutes, 21.652 seconds. Pearson was the runner- up at 1:08:51.419. Oliveira claimed third in 1:09:36.532 aboard his Motorex/Direct Connection/Klim 250 XC-F practice bike. "I felt like I was right at home," Campbell said. "The enduros I've done out here, the hare and hounds I've done out here—I felt comfortable all weekend. No crashes, no tip-overs, no mistakes. When I'm on the line for one of these, I just go 100 per- cent because I knew [each test] is short and I just try to hang on for 10 minutes instead of an hour and a half or something." Though the tests started and finished in the same places on Sunday, DMC modified each with new sections, so they weren't exactly the same. This time, Pearson kept things even closer, and he traded test wins with Campbell all day. Howev- er, test C both times saw him drop time to Campbell, and at the end of the day, Campbell, once again, showed up atop the results with his total 1:21:49.188, Pearson just nine seconds back in 1:21:58.111. Though somewhat outgunned in the faster going of test A espe- cially, Oliveira proved he could hang. In fact, he set the fastest time of the day in the final test (C) on Saturday, his time relegating Campbell to second best by just under three seconds. Oliveira's time for Sunday was 1:22:46.089—a laudable result for his first official Qualifier since his season in the WORCS Sprint Hero series. One of the few who opted to walk the approximately seven- mile-long tests on Friday, Oliveira admitted that reading the ter- rain and course markings was probably his biggest challenge compared to the grand prix-style races he normally does. "I enjoyed it," he insisted. "It was cool to try and learn the terrain. I guess in this [type of] racing you have to really read the terrain a lot more to [decide] where you're going to go and see what's around the next corner. In WORCS and [AMA National Grand Prix Series races], you're pretty wide-open after you've done practice. "It was a cool experience once I figured it out." With just 15 seconds between each rider's start in each test, though, Oliveira admitted that al- lowed him to sort of key off those ahead of him. He noted, "I defi- nitely felt I was at a disadvantage [on the smaller bike] in tests one and two, but the third test was a bit more technical and the bike, I thought, performed pretty well." Interestingly, none of the top three has raced Six Days, though Giacomo Redondi has, being a former FIM World Junior Enduro Champion. The Italian finished fourth overall on his 3 Bros./ Hatch Racing GasGas in his first- ever desert race after claiming fifth each day. Redondi observed, "It was really nice, a nice experience. It's difficult [for me] because it's completely different [than enduros in Europe, of course]. It was really high speed, but I really enjoyed test three." (On Sunday, Redondi actually beat Campbell by a 10th of a second for the fastest time in that test on the final lap.) Being ineligible for the U.S. team since he's an Italian citizen, Redondi had to enter the Heavy- weight AA division, which he won. Utah's Josh Knight has been on the U.S. ISDE team a couple times. He ended up fifth on his Rocky Mountain ATV-MC KTM followed by Kenda KTM rider Austin Serpa, Maloney Training Facility KTM's Anson Maloney, Lightweight AA winner Nic Col- angelli on his DT Racing/3 Bros. KTM, Precision Coatings/Team Green rider David Fullmer and E1 winner Bryce Smith aboard his MotoAdventure Kawasaki. Rounds three/four take place next month in Arizona. Mark Kariya SATURDAY OVERALL 1. Preston Campbell (Hon) 2. Axel Pearson (GG) 3. Mateo Oliveira (KTM) 4. Austin Serpa (KTM) 5. Giacomo Redondi (GG) SUNDAY OVERALL 1. Preston Campbell (Hon) 2. Axel Pearson (GG) 3. Mateo Oliveira (KTM) 4. Joshua Knight (KTM) 5. Giacomo Redondi (GG)