Australia makes brilliant start in ISDE

Australia’s three teams – senior, junior and women’s -- have started with a bang in the centenary edition of the International Six-Day Enduro (ISDE) in Sardinia, Italy, and sit third, fifth and first respectively after day one of competition.

The senior team (Daniel Milner, Matt Phillips, Josh Green, Chris Hollis, Glenn Kearney and Josh Strang) is one minute, 26.97 seconds (1:26.97) behind the leader, defending champion France, and just 11 seconds in arrears of second-placed America. Australia was second in the Senior Trophy in 2012.

ISDE scoring allows a team to drop its worst result (ie only five of the best six times count), and on day one Phillips (Husqvarna) was removed from the equation – the recently crowned world junior enduro champion starting brightly before things began to fall apart in the fourth of the six special tests.

Phillips even came out on top in the third special test, after Milner had won the first two. The last three special tests were won by Frenchman Antoine Meo (twice) and American Taylor Robert (Kawasaki).

Milner, the current Australian Four-Day Enduro and Australian off-road champion, was superb on day one, and not only leads the E2 class on his Yamaha but also the overall individual standings ahead of Alex Salvini (Honda) and Meo (KTM). Milner is just 1.01 seconds in front of Salvini, the big local hope for the 2013 ISDE.

Other Aussies to finish day one in the top 10 of their respective classes were Kearney (fourth E1, Husqvarna), Strang (seventh E2, Suzuki) and Hollis (fifth E3, KTM).

Meanwhile, the men’s junior team (Ben Burrell, Lachlan Stanford, Scott Keegan and Tom McCormack) is behind France, Italy, America and Great Britain, with the Aussie women (Jessica Gardiner, Tayla Jones and Jemma Wilson) already 1:13.04 leaders over Sweden.

Day two will take the 600 riders in the ISDE on the same route as day one – six special tests over 229km of rugged Sardinian terrain.

For full results and standings, visit www.fim-isde-live.info.