IN
THE
WIND
P40
TEAM USA TUNES UP FOR ISDE
T
hough the final results may
not have indicated it, Team
USA enjoyed some promising
moments at the 2015 ISDE in
Slovakia for its FIM World Trophy
and Junior World Trophy teams.
Obviously, there was Ryan Sipes
making history by setting the
fastest individual overall score,
the first time an American had
done so.
But earlier in the week, you
had Kailub Russell leading the
field as well as the E1 (125cc
two-stroke/250cc four-stroke)
class before his race ended in
injury. As Taylor Robert pointed
out, four Americans occupied
the top five individual spots over-
all in the early going!
And the Juniors were equally
impressive if you look past the
injuries that plagued them. Well,
maybe most impressive was
Steward Baylor who suffered a
separated shoulder at the begin-
ning but gutted it out for the rest
of the week through numerous
tire changes and special tests to
end up 21st in E2 (250cc two-
stroke/450cc four-stroke), the
third Junior in the class!
Much of the credit to this rise
in power can be traced to the
expanded effort that's gone into
fielding a winning team. Key
among that effort is the Team
USA ISDE Training Camp for
World Trophy and Junior riders
on the American roster. The
third annual edition of the camp
took place July 26-28, based for
two days at the Hayfield Draw
Off-Highway Vehicle Area just
south of Cottonwood, Arizona,
with a third morning spent at the
Canyon MX track in Peoria.
With the new rules cutting
team numbers to four in Trophy
and three in Junior, getting ev-
eryone to gather in one place at
one time is a bit easier—at least
for some. Sipes, Thad Duvall,
Taylor Robert and Kailub Russell
comprised the entire U.S. World
Trophy squad while brothers
Grant and Steward Baylor and
Trevor Bollinger made up the
Juniors present.
Walking tests is more impor-
tant than ever as Robert discov-
ered while competing in the FIM
Enduro World Championship
this year.
"There have been tests this
year that by the end of the race
The final event
simulated the final
motocross test of
Day Six and used the
Canyon MX track. Here,
Kailub Russell stays
ahead of Thad Duvall.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
MARK
KARIYA
