International Six Day Enduro

Australia’s World Trophy team has finished fifth in the 2003 International Six Days’ Enduro (ISDE), which concluded in Fortaleza, Brazil, on November 8.

The six man outfit – Stefan Merriman (Honda), Yamaha trio Damian Smith, Ryan Bouquet and Kirk Hutton, and KTM duo Stuart Bennett and Bradley Williscroft – saw out the ISDE with fifth in the final special test – seven laps of a 1.8km Supermotard circuit in downtown Fortaleza.

Australia, led by Merriman’s overall victory in the 250 two-stroke (2T) class, finished just over six minutes behind fourth-placed Spain in the World Trophy, with Finland emerging victorious from Italy and France.

Finland, with three world enduro champions in its team, dominated the event, with victory always on the cards after it led by nearly three minutes after the opening day.

In the 19-nation Junior Trophy, Australia finished a brilliant second on the final day – due in no small part to 22-year-old Glenn Kearney’s sensational victory in the 250cc four-stroke (4T) class.

With Jake Stapleton (TM) and Anthony Roberts (Husqvarna) underwriting the great effort of Kearney, Australia finished sixth overall in the Junior Trophy, behind France, Finland, Italy, Germany and Sweden. France successfully defended its title – but only after an absorbing battle with Finland, which was gunning for a rare senior/junior double.

In the five individual classes, as expected, Helder Rodrigues (KTM, 125cc 2T), Merriman (250cc 2T), and Stefan Everts (Yamaha, 400cc 4T) emerged victorious, with the Australian the most comfortable winner – by 4:36.55 over Finland’s Jani Laaksonen.

In contrast, Swedish rider Peter Bergvall’s 250cc 4T triumph was a thriller, with Italy’s Mario Rinaldi just 9.02sec behind after six days of competition. The final winner was Spain’s Ivan Cervantes in 500cc 4T.

Only one class winner went through the competition undefeated in their class – Everts. Therefore, it was no surprise when the seven-time world motocross champion also clinched the individual overall title from Merriman and Finland’s Juha Salminen (KTM).

Everts won by 42.25sec over Merriman after winning the final special test – which broke an impasse with the Australian. After day five, Merriman and Everts had won nine special tests each, but the Belgian extended that to 10 with a dominating performance on the Supermotard circuit.