FONTE: FIM-ISDE2014.COM
SOURCE: FIM-ISDE2014.COMJUNIOR TROPHY: 1^ USA, 2^ FRANCE, 3^ AUSTRALIA
After the last day of competition on the MX circuit, the Americans safeguarded their first place and kept the biggest prize in the Junior Trophy. The last time the US won in this category was in 2006, in the hands of Kurt Caselli. France finished second and Australia completed the podium in the youngster’ category. The Argentinean Junior team got a historical result on the fifth position.
The International Six Days of Enduro 2014 came to an end and the closing day was great fun. The MX circuit offered by Club ASER (Asociación Sanjuanina de Enduro y Rescate) received the riders who were able to stay in the race after five extreme days of demanding terrains in San Juan.
The riders who raced in the Junior Trophy, arrived to the end with a small difference in their positions. The United States was a little more than one minute over its closest chaser, France. A little behind them, Australia and Sweden were fighting for the third place.
The Americans were consistent all the way throughout this Six Days and that paid. They were first on Day 3 and for the rest of the week and completed the ISDE 2014 with a total time of 12h03m43/65, with a gap of 1m42/07 over France and climbing to the top place in the podium.
“I feel great. I’m just disappointed I fell in the first corner. Anyway, I think we still won the Junior championship and this is the best performance in my career so far. I’m super excited about the good results we got here. Everybody did well, we had a little bit of bike issues. But it was a good week. I enjoyed every second of being here in this country. It’s awesome.”, said Justin Jones who finished in the seventh place in E2.
Grant Baylor, who finished in 18th place in E2 showed he was happy for the victory achieved togehter with his teammates: “I feel great, we won the Junior Trophy and it is the third for tht United States and the first since 2007. I had a good day in MX. It was not so good at the beginning but I was able to improve. Half of the race I was behind my brother and I liked that. It has been nice to be here in Argentina. The tests on the sand were very difficult but the rest was very good. I had a very good time and I would like to come back» the American said.
This victory is significantly special for the US, since the last time they won the Junior Trophy was in 2006, when the late rider, Kurt Caselli, was the captain and the emblematic figure among juniors. The American rider’s plans included coming to Argentina for ISDE 2014 in the World Trophy category, but last year he died in an accident in a race. For that reason, the whole American team paid homage to him with a badge “Kurt Caselli 66” and the victory was in his honor.
The French team, struggled to the end with an outstanding Larrieu Loic all along the Six Days, but it was not enough to beat the Americans’ strength. The Europeans were not able to repeat their achievement from 2013 in the Junior category and had to hand in the trophy.
Loic referred to the warm welcome he received in this 89th ISDE. « I enjoyed a lot being here in Argentina. This is my second Six Days. I started to participate last year. I´m very happy with my performance except for this final MX test with my bad start. In general the terrains were quite similar with lots of dust and stones. The organization was very good, it was a great event », he said.
Behind, there was kind of a personal duel between the Swedish and the Australian teams, who were exchanging the third position from Day 2 to the end. After the MX race, the kangaroos grasped the third place in the podium with a total time of 12h09m21/57. Meanwhile the Swedish team lost another rider (Kevin Olsen) on the last day and the team was dismissed to the sixth place, making it possible for Argentina to go up one more place.
I enjoyed watching but it would b better to be in there riding. I had a big crash on Day 4 and hurt my shoulder and head. That´s how it is. I enjoyed a lot here, I liked the tracks very much. It was one of the best Six Days for me, said Nelson Oliver, who was the first to leave the Swedish team.
The Argentinean left a mark
Nicolas Kútulas, Juan Ignacio Zunino, Agustín Maldonado and Martín Mercado placed Argentina in a historical position in the Six Days. As from Day 3, the local team had three riders since Maldonado’s bike dropped him out. The remaining three riders continued battling and were able to finish the Six Days with a total time of 12h58m17/93, 54m34/28 behind the winner. Thus, Argentina finished in the sixth place in the Junior Trophy.
The last time the local team participated in Junior was in Finland 2011, where they finished in the 15th place. Before, in 2010 (México) and 2009 (Portugal) the Argentine team had closed their participation in the 10th place.
Zunino was finally in the 12th place in E2 and in this way he rounded up a great performance in the six days of competition. “I´m very happy with the team achievement and personally I did well, too, so I’m happy. We have never been in such a good position even less with the Junior. I’m glad to be part of the Argentine team”, the local driver said.
