VOL. 53 ISSUE 40 OCTOBER 11, 2016 P85
easy event for you.
[laughs] Yeah I hope so. It's
just good that I went over and
did that. Not only for my own
personal benefit, but there's a lot
of little tips and tricks that I can
pass on to the other team USA
guys. Hopefully give us just that
little extra edge that we need to
get an overall.
What was the appeal that
led up to you wanting to go to
Europe for an entire season?
Because that's not a common
thing for an American to do.
No, it's not. I think I'm only the
third American to do the whole
series. Nate Kanney did it and
Ian Blythe. It was something I've
wanted to do since the first time
I went to Six Days in 2010. I was
like, 'man I'd really like to go over
and try some of those World
Enduros, because I think they're
obviously some of the fastest off-
road riders in the world, so I'd
like to try to mix it up with them.'
When I signed my KTM contract
for 2014, I told Antti [Kallonen,
KTM North America Off-Road
Team Manager], 'If I have any
opportunity, I'd love to go over
and try some World Enduros.'
He was like, 'I don't know if we're
going to be able to make that
happen.' Then after Six Days last
(Above) Robert
gets some team
support during
the final round in
Cahors, France.
(Left) Before
taking on the
EWC, Robert
also contested
the winter FIM
SuperEnduro
World
Championship.
(Right) Poised
and focused at
the beginning
of what would
be a long and
exhausting day
in the Italian
mud.
year Fabio Fairoli, the guy who
runs the KTM team in Europe,
asked if I had any interest in do-
ing the whole series and I was
like, 'Yeah, I do!'
What was the reception like
over there?
I would say everyone was
really cool with having me over
there. Obviously they don't want
to be beat by me and I don't
want to be beat by them, but
they were all super nice to me.
My girlfriend went with me to a
