With this year’s International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) now nudging past the halfway point, it’s important to catch up with the Team New Zealand riders and marvel at their progress at Le Puy-en-Velay, in southern France.
New Zealand last contested this “Olympic Games of dirt bike racing” in 2006, but they are more than making up for this 16-year absence in 2022 and are currently in the top half of the talent-laden, 700-plus field of international elite assembled at the venue south-west of Lyon.
New Zealand’s four-rider Trophy Team – Oratia’s Callan May, Cambridge’s Dylan Yearbury, Helensville’s Tom Buxton and Whanganui’s Seth Reardon – has a strong grip on 11th overall position out of the 22 nations represented in this premier classification.
But, at the top of the Trophy Team rankings, the British have extended their advantage, now two minutes clear of the teams representing Italy and Spain.
The New Zealand foursome are nearly 38 minutes behind the leading British riders, but, significantly, are only a couple of minutes behind the 10th-ranked team representing Germany.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s three-rider junior (under-23) squad – comprising Oparau’s James Scott, Wairoa’s Tommy Watts and Taupo’s Wil Yeoman – holds onto seventh position in the Junior World Trophy (JWT) classification.
In the JWT class, the Italians raced to their third victory in as many days to further cement their lead in the overall classification, ahead of Finland, with Australia, Britain and Spain rounding out the top five.
The Czech Republic is ranked sixth in JWT, just ahead of the Team New Zealand trio, with The Netherlands, Portugal and Belgium completing the top 10.
In the individual classification, the win streak of Spaniard Josep Garcia (KTM) ended on day three, with Italy’s Andrea Verona (GasGas) racing to a well-earned victory, but Garcia still holds the No.1 individual ranking for the event overall, with Verona second, but now just 35 seconds behind.
These two men respectively lead their E1 and E2 bike categories.
Sweden’s Mikael Persson (Husqvarna), currently sixth overall, leads the E3 bike class.
Scott (Honda) is the best-performed of the Kiwi contingent and he has improved to now be 45th individual overall after day three, two places ahead of fellow Kiwi Buxton (KTM).
Individually, all the Kiwi riders are well in the hunt for medals at the ISDE, with Yearbury currently 57th overall, Watts 64th, Reardon 79th and Yeoman 82nd.
Further back, other New Zealand riders are also performing well.
Helensville’s Josh Jack, Rangiora’s Ben Dando and Waitoki’s Ben Cottrill are also tackling the ISDE, but as individuals in the “club rider” classification.
Of the 368 riders entered in this club rider class, Jack is ranked 13th after day three, Dando is running 64th and Cottrill is currently in 152nd position overall.
Yearbury, Reardon, Watts and Scott have been champions on the New Zealand scene in recent years, Yearbury twice winning the national enduro crown in back-to-back seasons, in 2021 and 2022, with Reardon winning it in 2019. Watts was the 2021 national cross-country champion and Scott wrapped up the 2022 cross-country title earlier this season.
Even with such credentials, the Kiwis know they are really up against it in racing the world’s elite such as Garcia, Verona and Persson.
Three days of racing remain, covering up to 200 kilometres of tricky terrain each day, with a motocross to wrap it all up on Sunday (Monday morning NZ time) and anything can still happen, with rider fitness, bike reliability and a huge element of luck sure to be determining factors in the final outcome.
The New Zealand ISDE team is supported by Motorcycling New Zealand, Ward Demolition, New Plymouth Underwater, Macaulay Metals, SignBiz, MJH Engineering and MotoMuck.
World Trophy Team
Reaching the halfway point in this year’s ISDE, Britain took victory on day three to further strengthen their lead in the World Trophy competition.
Leaving the beaten-up special tests of days one and two behind them, the ISDE competitors headed south into the Loziere region for a new course and new tests too.
With momentum behind them following their day two, Britain was on a charge. With all four riders again featuring inside the top 15 in the outright classification, they steadily etched out their lead to win by 58 seconds over Italy.
They now enter the second half of the ISDE with a two minute and 23-second lead over the current second-best nation in the rankings, Italy.
For the third day in a row, Italy placed as the runners-up. While not getting close enough to challenge for victory, the Italians are proving incredibly consistent and are ready to pounce on any mistakes that their rivals may make.
There was added reason to be upbeat in the Italian camp, with Verona (GasGas) also closing out day three with his first outright win of the week.
Spain was third on day three to maintain their position of third overall in the race. France took fourth, with the United States fifth, mirroring their World Trophy standings.
However, after three days of racing, only three hundredths of a second separate both France and the United States, which is set to make for an exciting second half of the annual event.
E1 CLASS
Italy’s Andrea Verona (GasGas) leads the E1 after day three by a healthy margin, ahead of French junior Zach Pichon (Sherco) and Australia’s Daniel Milner (Fantic).
E2 CLASS
Spain’s Josep Garcia (KTM) holds a minute lead over Britain’s Nathan Watson (Honda) in the E2 class, with fellow Brit Steve Holcombe (Beta) 30 seconds further back.
E3 CLASS
Sweden’s Mikael Persson (Husqvarna) leads the E3 class after day three, with a 23-second lead over Spain’s Jaume Betriu (KTM), while Frenchman Leo Le Quere (Sherco) is third.
Junior World Trophy
There was no change at the top of the Junior World Trophy classification with Italy winning day three of the ISDE.
A new day with a fresh set of special tests did little to disrupt the rhythm of the Italians in France, as the defending champions remained composed and comfortably topped the result sheets.
With all three riders working together, Italy led home closest rivals Finland by 26 seconds.
Although putting in some strong rides, Finland was not able to get the measure of the defending champions and had to settle for second on day three.
Entering the second half of the week-long race, Finland trails Italy by two minutes and nine seconds.
In the fight for the final step of the podium, Australia is growing in confidence.
Britain is currently ranked fourth, with Spain completing the top five on day three.
Finishing fifth outright, France’s Zach Pichon (Sherco) was the quickest Junior World Trophy rider on day three.
Women’s World Trophy
The United States stamped their authority on the Women’s World Trophy competition on day three.
As has been the case so far this week, the Unites States proved unbeatable, racing clear to an impressive almost four-minute margin of victory.
The trio of Brandy Richards (KTM), Rachel Gutish (GasGas) and Korie Steede (KTM) now lead the overall classification by a healthy 11 minutes plus as they begin the second half of the ISDE.
Although pushing a high pace, Britain was unable to make any inroads into the US advantage and had to be content with second place. Like the Americans, they too have a comfortable advantage, sitting more than nine minutes ahead of France in third.
t is still all to play for in third. France holds the upper hand over Australia, but they are only separated by one minute and three seconds.
Sweden holds fifth overall, but they are now 20 minutes behind the Australians.
Photo courtesy FIM
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