OFF ROAD
92ND FIM INTERNATIONAL SIX DAYS ENDURO
AUGUST 22-SEPTEMBER 2, 2017
BRIVE-LA-GAILLARDE, FRANCE
P64
The 93rd ISDE will take place in Vina
del Mar, Chile, on October 22-27.
It's less than hour and a half from
Santiago and on the coast, but is
much farther south than La Serena,
the host city for the 2007 ISDE.
Riders will base out of the paddock,
which is set in a dry riverbed in town.
Organizers are negotiating with the
city and hope to land the final moto-
cross test not far from downtown.
The last time France hosted the ISDE
was 2001 (also in Brive-la-Gaillarde).
And that was the last time that former
GNCC champ Shane Watts raced it.
"Wattsy" rode the 2017 event just to
enjoy and not race competitively, and
explained the long hiatus. "It didn't line
up in the early 2000s and I had a run-
in with Australian team management.
They didn't want to select me and I
didn't want to [be added]. Then there
were a lot of South American events
that don't really interest me, riding in
the dry, dusty stuff." A broken back the
week before he was to ride in Portugal
in 2009 postponed his comeback fol-
lowed by years of scheduling conflicts
before Brive, which he insists will
be his last hurrah. "I've come to the
realization that I don't need to do these
events any more."
Nick O'Bryant was told he wouldn't
be allowed to ride the Yamaha
YZ250FX he'd sent along with every-
one else's bikes in the AMA con-
tainer. Apparently, the AMA learned
too late that you have to be 18 in
order to ride a 250cc motorcycle on
the street, and since practically every
Six Days uses public roadways to
connect sections of trail, bikes and
their riders have to be street-legal in
that country. But some last-minute
finagling produced a brand-new KTM
125 XC along with plenty of spare
parts so he could still compete as a
member of the Appalachian Dirt Rid-
ers. Unfortunately, the bike quit on
day two and the team finished 118th
with Van McCarren and Mike Pillar
still going.
Currently, Six Days is all about the
special tests and if you're serious
Briefly...
