ISDE 2014 Argentina

Las delegaciones se van preparado para el desfile, que comienza 20.30hr ...

Australian team

Brazil Photo Team

South African World Trophy and Junior Team!

November…

Tel un preux chevalier, notre Grand Despon s’est rallié à cet événement annuel:



Non, sans blague, nos pilotes ne sont pas habitués aux décors que voici…:






Merci au Grand pour ses photos…

Pierre Schmits abre el desfile con la bandera de Bélgica / Schmits opens the parade for Belgium  

CzechEnduro.cz ...

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.722880827801032.1073741892.310913432331109&type=1

 

Saturday November 1, 2014

With the majority of the bike work completed yesterday, today was spent doing some final prep (triple-checking bolts, going through checklists again, and ensuring every last detail is complete). The riders all impounded their bikes today and once a bike is in impound, they will not start them again until Monday morning when they leave.

Prior to impound, there was a team photoshoot, and then everyone went through tech inspection and impounded their bikes. From my general observations, there was no drama with any bikes failing the sound test. They had a sound test section set up the past few days that riders could pre-test, so most already knew what their bikes were going to read and then address any problems prior to going through final tech inspection.

Judging from the number of bikes in impound and the final rider list, I’m very surprised to see how much the total rider count is down from last year in Italy. I don’t recall total counts last year but I thought it was close to 600. I think total rider count his year is around 340, and Argentina has close to 140 riders (not official numbers).

They also published the Day 1 schedule and start times. Due to the anticipated dust, Trophy Riders will go out 2 racers per minute starting at 7:45 in the morning. Club riders will have 3 to a minute, but there is a gap of about 6 minutes between the Women Trophy riders and the first Club riders. I was pleasantly surprised and happy with Josh’s starting row. He is the 12th row, heading out at 9:13 a.m. on Monday, and they continue 3 to a minute until 10:22 on Monday.

The first day of the Six Days, the racers are not organized based on speed. Each subsequent day they will adjust start times based on the previous days performance. What this means is that on Day 1, you could have a lot of either faster or slower riders around you. If you have slower riders, this can be a detriment, even if you pass them in the transfer sections because this year, all the Time Checks are stationed immediately before the Special Test. Therefore, even if you pass a rider in the Transfer, they will start in front of you at the Test. This should only be an issue on Day 1.

Tonight was also the Opening Ceremonies. Rather than hosting them in the stadium, they conducted a parade in the downtown city center and then had a nice plaza set up with a stage, announcers, jumbotron backdrop, music, etc. It was a pretty cool setting and was fun for all the racers and team support members to have their moment on stage.

Here are some pictures from today’s events.

Team USA Junior Trophy team members (L to R: Trevor Bollinger, Grant Baylor, Justin Jones, Stu Baylor).


Photographers Mark Kariya and Steve Berkner doing what they do best.


Justin Jones and his father.


These locals were excited to get their picture with Mike Brown.



Womens Trophy Team (L to R: Sarah Baldwin, Mandi Mastin, Rachel Gutish)



Anthony and Taylor. The team has this cool Caselli banner as a backdrop on the team container. Only fitting that it would be these two in front of it.


Mandi being interviewed by the FIM TV crew.



World Trophy Team (L to R: Kailub Russell, Charlie Mullins, Zach Osborne, Taylor Robert, Thad DuVall, Mike Brown)





Zach Osborne’s cool looking Airoh helmet.


Mike Brown having a quick interview with the TV crew.


Josh enjoying a rare moment to sit down.





Cory Buttrick ready for photoshoot.


Headed to Photoshoot.




World Trophy Team USA



Rest of Team USA waiting their turn during the photoshoot.


Antti Kallonen (KTM Offroad Racing Manager) and Zach Osborne and Taylor Robert. I like all the improvements made to the team and overall organization brought by Antti and KTM.


Robert Pearce from KTM (he is Team Manager for the Junior Trophy Team) and brothers Grant and Stu Baylor. Pretty cool experience for two brothers to be on the Junior Trophy Team together.

Junior Trophy


Next came each of the club teams. Here is the Wellard USA Club Team. From L to R: Chris Bach, Andrew DeLong, Gary Sutherlin. For a club team, you have your current 2014 National Enduro Champion (DeLong), your 2014 WORCS champion (Sutherlin), and a top GNCC contendor…….I would say this is a pretty solid club team!! I predict Sutherlin turning some heads. This terrain is right up his alley.


Senior Club Team (L to R: Brian Storrie, Jeff Fredette, Paul Krause). These guys combined, probably have more cumulative ISDE’s than the rest of the total U.S. team combined. Total studs to be doing this at their age and their no slouch’s either. They’ll be putting the smack down on lots of guys years younger than them.


Does a living legend need an introduction!


Beta Factory Team (L to R: Nick Burson, Cory Buttrick, Justin Sode).



GoFasters.com Team (L to R: Travis Coy, Alex Dorsey, Josh Knight)



Tony Agonis Team (L to R: Michael Pillar, Glen Kelley, Ben Kelley)


Missouri Mudders Team (L to R: AJ Lehr, Kyle McDonal, Cody Schafer)


Nick Burson enjoying the wait.


Photo time.




These little kids were given a few handouts by the team. You would have thought they had been given 100 dollar bill. This is one of my favorite parts of the ISDE…..seeing the host country take pride in welcoming the world to their city and country.


A few shots of the entire group shot. Based on my lense, I couldn’t capture everyone, so a few group shots will have to do.




Lots of Team USA helmets. Everyone looking good and excited!



Bike Impound



GoFasters.com team (Travis Coy, Alex Dorsey, Josh Knight)



These guys are awesome!



Fredette going through tech inspection for one last time.


Paul Krause


Stu Baylor going through sound test.


Josh going through sound test……no issues, thank you FMF.


Grant Baylor taking the time for an autograph with some locals. The irony is he’s probably not much older than them. Grant is the only member of the team younger than Josh, but he could probably grow a beard better than half the men on the team


As part of Tech Inspection, the racers bike has some of the key components marked with paint (i.e. engine cases, hubs, etc.). This intended to identify parts that cannot be replaced during the Six Days. Part of the challenge and mystique of Six Days is knowing how to preserve both bike and body for six straight day of racing.


In addition to the bike, each racers helmet is inspected by the F.I.M. for the proper certifications.


No turning back now. Josh entering impound.




Bike impound.




Travis Coy, Taylor Robert, Justin Sode, waiting for sound test.


Taylor’s 500 passed. I seriously can’t wait to watch him ride this thing in these conditions. I’m making a prediction right now that he’s going to win at least 1 of 2 of the Sand Tests on Days 3 and 4. That bike is going to rip.


Travis Coy completing sound test.



One of the cool things about the ISDE is that it becomes a melting pot of motorcyclists from all over the world. How many KTM 990’s can you fit on one trailer?


A rare opportunity to be in a photo rather than taking one.



Another Six Days moment…..eating in the food tent area in Parc Ferme. In this photo, there were Germans to our right, an Argentine guy providing entertaining and singing so loud it was bursting our ear drums, the Japanese team right near us, us attempting to communicate our menu choice to the Argentine waiter in Spanglish, and a stray dog wandering around in the middle looking for scraps and nobody thinking anything of it. Good times at the Six Days.


You’ll have to deal with a cell phone pic of the entire team shoot. I couldn’t fit everybody in with my lense.


The U.S. Team at tonight’s parade.


Some local kids enjoying the parade and looking for some handouts (stickers).


The city center where they had a stage announcing all of the teams.




“Estados Unidos”




There’s a story behind this photo. Many off-road junkies may recognize the guy to Josh’s right. This is KTM Factory off-road racer Toby Price of the Australian Trophy Team. A year ago last spring, Toby was in the U.S. doing some testing with KTM North America and decided to ride one of the National Hare n’ Hound events in Lucerne Valley California. About 15 miles into the race, while running somewhere in the Top 3 just behind the late Kurt Caselli, Toby crashed. Shortly thereafter, good friend and National Hare n’ Hound racer Skyler Howes crashed. Both Toby and Skyler were within a few hundred yards of each other, each laying on opposite sides of the trail. Josh was running in the Top 10 and was the first to come upon both of them. He stopped, attended to both of them for about an hour until medical help arrived. Skyler had broken his back and Toby had broken his neck. Toby eventually made a full recovery (as did Skyler) after being in a halo for a few months in his homeland of Australia. He was aware that a rider had stopped with him, but never knew who it was. Tonight, after the parade, Josh introduced himself to Toby. The look on his face was priceless and he gave a genuine thanks to Josh and couldn’t believe they would meet up on the other side of the world in Argentina.


__________________

Start List for Day 1 ...

http://www.fim-isde-live.info/