The ACU British ISDE teams hold identical seventh place positions in their respective categories (World and Junior) after the first day of the 2017 ISDE in Brive, France. Held in searing heat of up to 38ºC, the day comprised four runs through two separate cross tests and one run through an enduro test, with the entire lap totalling 259km.
Damp and slippery ground in the morning was quickly replaced by dust in the afternoon, making it hard for the riders as they started the day in a
‘random’ order, meaning many faster riders were left in the dust of slower ones. For the ACU British ISDE teams the goal was simply to get through the day unscathed – not a given, as evidenced by the forced retirement of USA’s Thad Duvall, putting their World Trophy team out of contention.
As ever, the British riders had plenty of stories to tell. Lee Sealey, riding in the World Trophy team had the unique honour of starting on the very first minute of the event – only this was an initial disadvantage as he had to ride the first tests in their
‘green’ and slippery condition
(after overnight rain), making for slower times. However the day improved for him.
Lee Sealey (#23, Trophy Team): “After the slippery start the second test of the day went quite well for me, I’m not really sure why, and I placed 15th fastest despite the handicap of the wet. After that the dust started kicking up which was difficult, and the heat – we’re not really used to it!”
For
Nathan Watson the day began with a close call as the KTM rider suffered a huge crash, he was thankfully uninjured but was left shaken.
Nathan Watson (#20, Trophy Team): “I had a big crash on the enduro test, I cartwheeled down a hill and it was a bit scary! I bent my bars and levers and so I’ll be using the 15-minute work period tomorrow morning to repair them. It was pretty lethal in the dust as you couldn’t see and you were catching other riders. Today was more luck than anything else; you just had to hope for a clean run.”
In the ACU Junior Trophy ISDE team it was an eventful day for Devon’s
Dan Mundell; the loss of his rear brake made the first test challenging, but he remained positive despite some mishaps.
Dan Mundell (#26, Junior Trophy Team): “It was a bit tricky without a rear brake at the start, and after that I had two crashes, one when I hit a downed rider in the dust. It was a bit of a nightmare but the main thing is I got through it and so did my team-mates.” ACU ISDE Team Manager Andy Martin:
“It was a steady day, which is what we needed, it’s not been easy out there but they’re all home safe so we’re glad about that.”
For Day Two the riders will face the same tests, but their starting positions will be reordered to reflect their Day One results. This will hopefully mean less time stuck behind slower riders and make visibility in the tests a little easier.
2017 International Six Day Enduro - Brive-la-Gaillarde, France. Day One, Provisional Result
FIM WORLD TROPHY:
1 France 2:34:42.00
2 Finland 2:36:32.05 +1:50.05
3 Australia 2:36:58.65 +2:16.65
7 United Kingdom 2:42:38.30 +7:46.30
INDIVIDUAL:
38 Nathan Watson KTM 39:44.04 48 Lee Sealey Yamaha 40:06.27 57 Fraser Flockhart KTM 40:40.57 85 Kevin Murray Beta 41:57.42
FIM JUNIOR WORLD TROPHY:
1 Sweden 1:57:57.43
2 Italy 1:58:26.28 +28.85
3 France 1:58:29.91 +32.48
7 United Kingdom 2:00:53.17 +2:55.74
INDIVIDUAL:
44 Joe Wootton Husqvarna 40:01.48 46 Dan Mundell KTM 40:02.53 60 Tom Ellwood Sherco 40:49.16