Aussies strengthen grip on ISDE

Another demanding day confronted all riders as they tackled the course from days one and two in the opposite direction, with the Aussies’ title hopes receiving a welcome but unexpected boost at the halfway point of the World Trophy team competition.

At the end of day three, eight individual riders were excluded from the competition for having missed an intermediate course check-point. The flow-on effect resulted in Australia’s main rivals heading into day three in the World Trophy team classification – USA (second), defending champions France (third) and Spain (fourth) – all disqualified from the competition.

Following the subsequent protests from representatives from each of the riders and teams penalised, this situation remains under ongoing appeal.

Despite the drama unfolding behind them, the Australian team ploughed on to increase their lead to over 12-and-a-half minutes ahead of the now second-placed Italy.

Highlights for the day included Josh Green (Yamaha) moving up to second place in the overall Enduro 1 class standings, while Daniel Milner (Yamaha) continued his enthralling battle with Ryan Sipes (Husqvarna) to sit nine seconds behind the American in the Enduro 2 classification. Matthew Phillips (KTM) remains in contention for a class podium in fourth spot.

Young Victorian Daniel Sanders (KTM) claimed his second Enduro 3 class victory in succession to increase his lead on top of the classification standings, while Lachlan Stanford (Husqvarna) sits third in class.

Other notable performances include debutant ISDE riders Tye Simmonds (KTM) and Beau Ralston (Yamaha) sitting in seventh and tenth respectively in the Enduro 2 class.

On the back of Sanders’ dominance in the Enduro 3 class, the Australians continue to stamp their authority on the FIM Junior World Trophy team classification.

Increasing their lead to over eight minutes, our four-strong team of Sanders, Broc Grabham (Sherco), Tom Mason (KTM) and Tye Simmonds (KTM) enter the second half of the race in a very strong position.

The same can be said of the FIM Women’s World Trophy team, with the tremendous trio of Tayla Jones (Yamaha), Jemma Wilson (Yamaha) and Jess Gardiner (Sherco) continuing to occupy the podium spots in the class to lead the team classification by over 27 minutes.

Day four will see the riders tackle a new course, which will be used for the next two days in succession and ahead of the final day motocross. 

To stay up to date with all of the results or to track Australia’s complete 2015 ISDE campaign, head to http://www.fim-isde-live.info and stay tuned to the Motorcycling Australia website for in depth results as they become available.