The second day of racing at the FIM International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) saw British riders deliver the goods and top the World Trophy class at Le Puy-en-Velay, in southern France.
But Team New Zealand – Callan May, Dylan Yearbury, Tom Buxton and Seth Reardon – was on the move too, climbing one position to 11th overall.
Making the most of a better start position for day two, the British quartet of Nathan Watson (Honda, pictured here), Steve Holcombe (Beta), Jamie McCanney (Husqvarna) and Jed Etchells (Fantic) set the pace to top the standings of the day by one minute and 24 seconds.
It has been 69 years since Britain won the ISDE. Can this be their year?
Italy remains unruffled in this year’s ISDE, finishing second overall for the second day running and consistency may get them there in the end.
After day one’s winning performance, Spain plummeted down the classification to third, finishing one minute and 51 seconds behind Britain. That loss also sees Britain take the overall teams’ lead in this year’s World Trophy fight.
“The team have done great today, we are all riding well and that’s key,” said Watson.
“Yesterday we started at the back, so getting further up the running order was a big help today to remain competitive. We’ve a new course tomorrow, so let’s see what that brings.”
France ended their day over one minute behind Spain in fourth, with the United States just four seconds behind the host nation in fifth.
In the overall classifications after two days of competition, Britain now leads Italy, with Spain in third and the USA and France rounding out the top five respectively.
FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Dante Oliveira from Team USA excelled right from the start, capturing his first special test win – and the first for the Americans this week – in the first test of the day. He went on to collect a sixth and fourth in the final tests to close out the day in fifth outright.
“Better day today for me, I finished fifth overall and I got a test-win on the first one,” said Oliveira. “I kind of dropped back on two and three and then picked it back up for four and five. All-in-all, it was a good day. The track is beat up but tomorrow we’re going to have a new course with a bunch of fresh tests and we’ll be able to get another run at it.”
Team Sweden is ranked sixth overall, just over two minutes ahead of Team Australia. Finland is eighth, Belgium ninth and Germany rounds out the top 10.
Team New Zealand have moved up to 11th overall out of the 22 nations after day two, ahead of Poland, Austria and Chile.
Helensville’s Buxton (Husqvarna) was again best-performed of the Kiwi contingent in the World Trophy Team classification, clocking a time of 36 minutes, 54.39 seconds (and he was 47th individual overall after day two).
E1 CLASS
Italy’s Andrea Verona leads the E1 class after day two, with French junior rider Zachary Pichon moving into second and Australian Daniel Milner now sitting third overall.
E2 CLASS
Spain’s Josep Garcia holds the E2 lead by almost a minute from Britain’s Nathan Watson, while fellow Brit Steve Holcombe completes the top three. Top Australian rider is Todd Waters in 17th, 4m42s off leading pace after two days.
E3 CLASS
Sweden’s Mikael Persson is the E3 frontrunner after day two, ahead of Spain’s Jaume Betriu and Frenchman Leo Le Quere.
Junior World Trophy
Riding high, Italy once again proved the fastest Junior World Trophy team on day two. Building their overall lead in this year’s race, Italy fought hard to secure a 10-second margin of victory over closest rivals Finland.
Italy will have to watch their backs on day three, with Finland showing that they have the pace to match them. With new tests in store, the Finns will look to keep the pressure on.
Australia hit their stride on day two. Adapting to the French terrain, they were the nation to gain the biggest improvement in position. Massively bettering their result of seventh on day one, they placed a well-earned third on day two, moving them into fourth overall.
Britain remains inside the top five with fourth on day two, while Spain raced their way to fifth.
At the end of day two the general classification in the Junior World Trophy sees Italy remain out front, but Finland in touching distance in second with Britain holding third although much further back, leaving Australia and Spain to close out the top five placings in that order.
The Czech Republic is ranked sixth, with Team New Zealand – James Scott, Tommy Watts and Wil Yeoman – moving up one spot to now be in seventh place, ahead of The Netherlands, Portugal and Belgium.
Oparau’s Scott (Honda) was again the best-performed of the Kiwi contingent in the Junior World Trophy Team classification, clocking a time of 36 minutes, 27.37 seconds (making him now 46th individual overall after day two and best of the New Zealand riders outright, one place ahead of fellow Kiwi Buxton).
Women’s World Trophy
Day two at the ISDE saw the United States once again top the Women’s World Trophy classification.
Determined to keep extending their lead in this year’s ISDE, the United States were untouchable on day two, claiming a three minute and eight second victory over Britain.
In the overall classification, the United States are already looking favourites to successfully defend their Women’s World Trophy crown, holding a seven-minute advantage over Britain.
Britain are in turn a further seven minutes clear of France, who are third overall.
Photo courtesy Honda
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