The British Army enduro team has been a part of the ISDE since it began, after a few last minute changes of manpower due to work commitments the team was once again on the road driving the British enduro team trucks. After 2 days of driving and ferry crossings the team jumped into the pre competition formalities, walking the 10 special tests all taking nearly 2 hrs each, we also completed any last minute prep to the bikes. After the start of the event only the rider will be able to work on his bike and only with what he can carry except for 15 mins in the evening and 10 mins in the morning where he can be handed spares and tools, this event is truly a test of both man and machinery.
The team comprised of 3 Riders, Sgt Kevin Murray, Sgt Philip Cooper and Cpl Kalem Hicks, all very experienced rider’s, however when it comes to the ISDE this was Kalem’s 1
st Philips 2
nd and most senior being Kevin on his 9
th ISDE. We had 1 reserve rider SSgt Marc Jenkins who also acted as support along with Cpl Michael Van-Santen. Finishing off the team was WO2 Neil Hestleton and myself SSgt Matt Taylor as manager and support manager.
The event began on Monday 30
th Sep with over 600 bikes leaving Parc Ferme based on the Docs of Olbia with the sun shining. Over the following 5 days our riders rode over some of the hardest terrain possible, this was made even worse by poor visibility due to dust causing massive rocks to appear out of the cloud and smashing both riders and machines, distances were around 200Km a day with 6 timed special tests.
All was going reasonably well with only minimal time lost however all riders were struggling with slower traffic on the test with dust making it near impossible to pass. Morning of day 4 was the day that the Sardinian terrain jumped out and bit Phil Cooper with him hitting a large rock in the dust cloud which caused his chain to come off and smash his clutch slave cylinder. Phil spent the remainder of the day with no clutch trying to tackle massive rocky hill climbs and miles of rock gardens. Through shear Squaddie pig headedness Phil managed to complete the day only dropping 24 mins (30 mins dropped and you’re out) he even managed to change his clutch during his work time fair play to him.
The 6
th and final day consisted of a 1 hr check followed by a 5 lap moto X race with crowds of people watching what was to be a great spectacle with all riders and support buzzing. Phil was 1
st up and made a great leap out of the gate however his wheel spun up as he had not had time to change tyre the night before due to clutch repairs, this didn’t stop him and at the 1
st corner he barged his way through elbows out coming through to finish the race well up in the pack. Race 2 was Kalems and Kevs turn with Kalem being on a Moto X start gate for the 1
st time. He held it together getting stuck in and having a great race fighting with much more experienced racers. Kev a massive fan of Moto X was out the gate and through the 1
st corner in the top 5 riders, however a few corners later a crazy Swiss guy decided to T bone him from off the track meaning he had to fight his way back through the best he could. All riders finished happy and smiling even though things hadn’t gone completely to plan.
After all this The ARMY Enduro Team managed to finish 35
th out of 139 international Club teams an amazing feat with Kev Murray 12
th in C2 gaining his 4
th GOLD Medal, Kalem Hicks 29
th in C2 receiving a Silver medal on his 1
st ever ISDE and Philip Cooper 100
th receiving one of the hardest fought bronze medals.
The Army Enduro Team would like to say a massive thank you to everyone that has helped both getting out to the ISDE and during the whole event. This includes all the other club teams from UK (WALES, SCOTLAND, ST GEORGES, WHITLEY and The Isle of Man) and Last but far from least Dave May Miller and Bod.
Also thanks to our sponsors who without their support we would not have been able to go out and compete:
TEAM ARMY and THE ROYAL BRITISH LIGION,
www.michelin.co.uk for providing us with the best enduro tyres and BIB mousses on the market,
www.ripnroll.co.uk for supplying the riders with goggles,
www.oro2u.com,
www.missionmx.co.uk and
www.acu.org.uk .
One final thing good luck to Kevin Murray in the future as this will be his last ISDE with the Army Team, he is leaving the Army in the next few months due to redundancy.
“We will not miss your admin”!