Triumph and tragedy for Team Australia as ISDE gets underway in Spain
It has been a mixed start for the Australian riders at the 2016 FIM International Six Days Enduro Championships in Navarra, Spain, However, in fighting tradition day one has concluded with some fantastic results from the Aussies, setting the scene for the remainder of the week.
Australia’s Senior Trophy Team member Lachlan Stanford was the first of over 500 bikes to hit the test this morning to commence day one of the prestigious event.
For the Yamaha Blu Cru Australian Women’s Trophy Team it was a slow start for Yamaha mounted Tayla Jones, but as she and the warmed up, she was an unstoppable force for the day, finishing in first position amongst the seven competing women’s teams.
Jemma Wilson was just behind team mate Jones finishing the day in fourth position, and although Jessica Gardiner started the day out with a fine performance leading the event, she finished with a DNF due to mechanical issues, which ended her day short. However, Gardiner will surface once again tomorrow for day two to regain valuable positions.
2016 Australian Off-Road Champion Daniel ‘Chucky’ Sanders kicked off day one in flying style cementing an overall fifth position for himself and winning his first outright test win on test four as he shared below.
“It was a good start here today for day one of the six day. We got off to a reasonable start, the first day is always the hardest,” Sanders started.
“In the first test I passed three people and nearly a fourth. There was a lot of dust on the track, which made it hard to pass.
“Over the next couple of tests I just tried not to make any mistakes, and on the fourth test I won it outright, which was pretty cool to get an outright test win.
“On the last test I blew my four second lead loosing almost 22 seconds. That now puts me down 16 seconds going in to day two. Tomorrow I am looking to get back a bit of time and the track should be rougher,” Chucky finished.
For the remaining three Senior Trophy team members, Daniel Milner finished day one in 12th overall position while Lachlan Stanford cemented himself 23rd overall in the standings.
Unfortunately for Josh Strang an injury to the ankle has seen him forced to resign for the remainder of the competition meaning that the Senior Trophy Team will not qualify to compete and defend their Trophy team title – they will only be able to compete for individual results in their respective classes.
The Australian Junior Trophy Team’s Jack Simpson, Tom McCormack and Nic Tomlison all put in solid performances at day one of the ISDE, and looking to improve heading in to tomorrows festivities.
