Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

; 0IF·ROAD International Six Days Enduro ~ After five days of competition, the Australian Six DayS was decided at the final motocross special test, where the Italian Trophy team pulled off a come-from-behind victory. Italy fights back, wins Down Under By Kit Palmer Photos by Mike Klinger and Palmer CESSNOCK, NSW, AUSTRALIA, AUG. 25·30 t was all or nothing for the six-rider .. Italian World Trophy team. Down by 8.43 seconds to the Swedes going into Sunday's final motocross special test after five and a half days of blinding dust, steep downhills, rocky uphills, mud, tight trails and just about everything Eastern Australia could throw at them, the Italians pulled off one of the closest . International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) victories in recent memory. When it was all over, the Italian Trophy Team, led by overall individual winner KTMmounted Giovanni Sala, edged the' Swedish Trophy team by only 113.16 seconds in the 67th edition of the international event It was a dogfight between the two countries right from 'the start. Italy· jumped out to a 32.27-second lead after the first day of competition and extended its lead to 68.05 seconds on day two, but a crash in a special test section by a Trophy Team rider on day three relegated the Italians to second place in the .standings, with Sweden inheriting the lead. From then on it was an uphill struggle for the Italian team, which was made up of Paolo Fellegara, Fabio Farioli, Stafano Passeri, 350cc FourStroke World Enduro Champion Mario Rinaldi, Arnaldo Nicoli and Sala. It wasn't until the final day's MX special test when Italy finally inched past Sweden and scored the narrow win to take home the prestigious World Trophy. While many of the stronger teams fell by the wayside - including the Czechos- I 4 lovakian, German, British and American squads, the Spanish Trophy team remained intact and finished a respectable third, though a distant 3476.55 seconds behind runner-up Sweden. Also taking advantage of the high attrition rate was team Holland, which placed fourth, 181.47 seconds behind Spain. Rounding out the top five was Poland, which trailed Holland by 530.46 seconds. Fifteen teams competed in the World Trophy division. The U.S. Trophy Team - Randy Hawkins, Kevin Hines, Jon King, Jimmy Lewis, David Rhodes and Rodney Smith - was running as high as fourth before King's motorcycle seized on day three, effectively ending any hopes the U.S. team had of winning its firstever World Trophy. In the Junior World team division, for riders under the age of 23, it was another stand-off, this time between Sweden and CzechoslovaJ<,ia, while the U.S. team consisting of Danny Hamel, Steve Hatch, Kelby Pepper and Chris Smith - nipped at their heels the whole way. When it was over, the Swedish team prevailed with 156.13 seconds to spare over the CzeChs, while the defending champion American team landed third, 170.13 seconds behind the squad from Czechoslovakia. Host country Australia finished fourth, while New Zealand filled out the top five. Italy was a close second to Sweden after day oile, but sank rapidly after a team rider developed mechanical problems that eventually knocked him out of the event and his team out of contention. Despite the below-par finish by the American'Trophy and Junior World Teams, spirits remained high as the American COD tingen t, approximately 170 strong, packed their bags for the long journey home. ISDE rookie Rodney Smith of Oakley, California, had given America its best-ever individual overall finish in Six Days competition. Smith ended up fourth overall, and had it not been for a bobble in a day-two special test, the former GP motocrosser would most likely have finished second overall, or perhaps even won. Instead, 41.91 seconds separated Smith and the winner, Sala, who alsO topped the 500cc class. Smith, aboard a modified Suzuki RM250, was the runner-up in the 500cc class. "I really didn't expect to do so well,"· said Smith. "I came here more for the experience to get ready for the ISDE next year in Holland. I really had a good time, especially riding against Sala and the Italians. Those guys are tough." Finishing between Sala and Smith in the overall individual standings were ruDner-up Joachim Hedendahl of Sweden and third-place Paola Fellegara of Italy, both Trophy Team riders for their respective countries. In all, U.S. riders earned 10 gold medals, 13 silver medals, five bronze medals and nine did not finish. Medals are awarded on a percentage basis: Riders who finish within 10% of the class winner's total points earn gold medals, those within 40% of the class winner's score,.earn silver, and the rest who finish the event take home bronze. This was the first time the ISDE was held in Australia and only the second time the event has been held outside of Europe, the first time coming in 1973 when the U.S. hosted the Six Days in Massachusetts. This year's enduro was held in th~ area surrounding the small town of Cessnock, which is a two-hour's drive north of Sydney, and attracted a grand total of 395 riders from 21 countries. However, a few of the entered countries, including New Caledonia, Lithuania, Ireland and France, chose not tO,compete because of the high cost of traveling halfway around the world. As a result of France's decision to pull out of the competition, Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel, who was the overall individual winner last year in Czechoslovakia, did not return to defend his title. While it might have been more expensive than usual for the European teams to compete in far-away Australia, hosting the ISDE Down Under did mean one very importaI;lt thing: All the teams would compete on equal terms, as all but the Australian riders had to work out of containers that were shipped over from their respective countries, something the American and Australian teams have been doing for years. And chase riding was all but eliminated, since any chase bikes had to be shipPed over as well. Even though the Australian teams had the homecourt advantage, they were not favored to win. Thirty-seven riders from the U.S. competed, including the six World and four Junior Trophy Team members. The remaining 27 Americans competed on three-rider Club teams. The top U.S. Club team was the Salt Fork Dirt Riders - Jeff Fredette, Alan Randt and Tom Webb - who finished sixth. The event got underway on Tuesday rather than the traditional Monday. The promoters felt that by having the final MX Special Test on Sunday, they could attract more spectators. While the final test has been free to spectators

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