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/1511457
NOVEMBER 6-11, 2023 CIRCUITO SAN JUAN VILLACUM / SAN JUAN, ARGENTINA OFF-ROAD I 97TH NOCO FIM INTERNATIONAL SIX DAYS ENDURO P66 again, in triple-digit heat with no trees for shade. Welcome to the Argentine desert. While it affected everyone to one degree or another, it was hardest on Club riders, most of whom ride only on weekends. The comeback of the week belonged to Josh Toth. Riding for the XC Gear team along with Austin Serpa and Ryan Surratt, he started the week strongly, winning the first four tests. But he'd been vomiting all day, the heat taking its toll, and he col - lapsed before the day's last test, managed to ride through it while seeing double, got to the parc fermé and collapsed again after impounding his bike. Taken to the hospital with severe dehydration, he received a half-dozen bags of saline via IV, was discharged to return to the team hotel, and got a good night's sleep. "When I was in the hospital, I was like, 'I am not riding tomor - row! I don't want to see my bike,'" he said. Yet Toth managed to start day two almost as if nothing had hap- pened, though he rode somewhat conservatively, winning five of the six tests. But after that, he pronounced himself fine and won every test for the next three days! Naturally, he was the week's top Club rider and XC Gear won the Club team trophy, Serpa fourth Club individual and third C2, with Surratt employing his But when the gate dropped for their final moto, Richards found herself stalking 16-year-old Australian Danielle McDonald and, after a few laps of sizing her up, passed and went on to win by 7.02 seconds with Tanja Schlosser—the only surviving German—third; Steede was fourth and Gutish sixth, the Americans earning the trophy. CLUB American Club teams immediate- ly served notice that they'd be the ones to beat. After the first day, Americans filled six of the first seven spots individually and five of the top eight team positions. That soon changed due to at - trition, which was highest in the Club ranks, due to a combina- tion of triple-digit temperatures the first few days, which no one seemed to expect or fully pre- pare for, and tackling long trans- fer sections that were so rocky and unending, you needed to be up on the pegs virtually all day— make it a good one," Gutish said. And she did. Her scores were solid all day and remarkably included the fastest time in the penultimate test (the only one with any significant water cross - ings and one she predicted would be her favorite of the week)—only her career-second test win com- ing after her first one earlier in the week while healthy. Even team leader Brandy Rich- ards didn't emerge unscathed; separate crashes on day four resulted in a radiator that needed replacement, followed by another that left her with a fractured collarbone. "It wasn't a horrible day, but it was definitely a tough day," she admitted, revealing the broken ends ground against each other when she tried to pull back on the handlebar in whoops or simi- lar situations. As the only WWT team with all three riders still going, the overriding goal was to get to the finish, so take no chances. Josh Toth suffered severe dehydration which caused him to collapse twice. After his brief hospital stay, though, he rode fine the rest of the week, winning all but one test in the Club competition.