VOL. 52 ISSUE 27 JULY 7, 2015 P85
do and what they can't do," says
Kallonen. "In the last three years
we eliminated pretty much all
the stupid mistakes, but it still
happens once in a while so we
try to emphasize that these are
the don'ts. The mechanic can't
touch the bike, the mechanic
can't really do anything other
than handle tools.
The World Trophy Team has
been close to the number one
position over the last three
years, but silly mistakes have
set us back and cost the team
penalties, so Kallonen had a
talk session with the riders to
discuss past mistakes and talk
about past experiences, what
they've done wrong, and where
they need to improve.
"Every year we've had a
couple mistakes, that have held
us back," says Kallonen. "I re-
ally want to eliminate those. I
feel like we have a fast group of
riders that no doubt can battle
for the win, just that our inexperi-
ence always cost us a little bit. If
it's bike maintenance or it's not
knowing the rules, accidentally
going backwards on the course,
things like that. What to do if you
lose your scorecard, that you
don't panic. It's fairly simple and
easy if you know the rules. For
us it feels like these are crazy
rules. Why are all these rules?
But if you do it for a long time
and that's what you do for a living
like the Europeans do, it doesn't
even cross their mind why. They
just do it naturally the right way.
That's one thing that we have
got to kind of put a little bit more
focus on."
It should be noted that KTM
has made a big financial push to
help the U.S. ISDE effort, and
allow Kallonen to take the time
to lead the team.
"KTM says that Six Days is a
very important event globally,"
says Kallonen. "And if you go to
any Enduro or Six Days event,
you see that KTM is heavily in-
volved, not only with the factory
effort but also you see the other
riders, Cup riders, there's a lot
of KTMs. So we have put a lot
of effort globally. But especially
for this Six Days team here in
the States, KTM North America
has supported this effort now for
the last three years, since 2012.
This is the fourth year. They give
me the time needed to basically
put the teams together, coach
