France closes in on ISDE win

From KTM Racing

France, Italy, Finland and the US were ranked in that order in the prestigious World Trophy after four days of the 85th Edition of the ISDE Six Days Enduro in Morelia, Mexico.

With just two days left to ride, France was the absolute favourite to retain the World title and KTM's Johnny Aubert had been at the forefront of their efforts. Aubert won the E2 category on all four days, which made him the outstanding individual competitor of the 2010 edition. He led the class standings by four and a half minutes.

Italy's Thomas Oldrati was second behind Aubert in E1 standings, with countrymen Simone Albergoni and Alessandro Belometti respectively fourth and fifth in the E3 overalls. They trailed France by some 7.5 minutes. The battle for the minor places between Italy and third placed Finland was still far from decided with just 18 seconds separating the two teams in the aggregate times.  

KTM's Eero Remes was riding well in E1 and sat second in the standings, an effort that helped Finland stay in third overall. Remes was also just 24 seconds behind class leader Antoine Meo, drawing tight battle lines for the remaining two days. For the US, KTM's Kurt Caselli and Mike Brown were driving Team USA forward in fourth place. Caselli was fourth in E1 and Brown seventh, followed by teammate Ian Blythe in eighth.

Spain continued to dominate the Junior Trophy team competition, with KTM's Lorenzo Santolino and Mario Roman making a major contribution that put them ahead by five minutes overall. Meanwhile the US and Sweden are locked in battle for the minor places.

Heat and dust were tough opponents for all riders at the Mexican event and eventually managed to win over Team USA competitor Cory Buttrick, who earlier in the week hit a tree stump in bad visibility and had to return with bruises and abrasions.

On Day Four riders tackled the same route as the previous day, being forced to weave their way through a rock strewn track. In another test of endurance, the cloud cover of the previous day that brought some respite from the heat dissipated leaving them to face another scorcher.

Results Day 4
World Trophy
1. France
2. Italy
3. Finland
4. USA
5. Poland

Junior Trophy
1. Spain
2. Sweden
3. USA
4. France

Progressive Individual Class Results
E1
1. Antoine Meo, France, Husqvarna
2. Eero Remes, Finland, KTM
3. Alex Salvini, Italy, Husqvarna
4. Kurt Caselli, USA KTM
5. Jari Mattila, Finland, Honda
E2
1. Johnny Aubert, France, KTM
2. Thomas Oldrati, Italy, KTM
3. Juha Salminen Finland, Husqvarna
4. Manual Monni, Italy, Yamaha
5. Rodrig Thain, France, TM

E3
1. Sebastien Guillaume, France, Husqvarna
2. Oriol Mena, Spain, Husaberg
3. Christoph Nambotin Gas-Gas
4. Simone Albergoni, Italy, KTM
5. Alessandro Belometti, Italy, KTM