Two American Teams Visit the Podium at 2021 ISDE
Women’s World Trophy team wins gold, while World Trophy team takes third
PICKERINGTON, Ohio (Sept. 3, 2021) — Two of the U.S. 2021 ISDE teams visited the podium in their respective classes last Saturday as the FIM International Six Days Enduro came to an end in Italy. The Women’s World Trophy team not only won gold for the U.S. but did so in spectacular fashion, beating second-place finishers Great Britain by just over 15 minutes. The U.S. World Trophy team, after running third throughout the event, maintained its third-place podium position.
The Women’s World Trophy team, made up of riders Brandy Richards, Rachel Gutish and Britney Gallegos, grabbed the lead on the very first day and stretched that lead on a daily basis. Driving the team’s success was ISDE veteran Brandy Richards, who won every test across the six days, a rare accomplishment.
“When we started walking the tests,” Richards said, “I thought, ‘you know, I think I could win every single test.’ And after the first day, I was just thinking, ‘okay…you’ve got this!’”
“I’m not crying, I just got a little champagne in my eyes,” Rachel Gutish joked from the podium. “Words can’t describe how it felt to stand on top of the podium with my team, listening to the national anthem as it finally sank in that we were the world champions.”
The U.S. World Trophy team took third place behind Italy and Spain, and the team — made up of Johnny Girroir, Taylor Robert, Layne Michael and Ryan Sipes — fought hard to maintain third the entire six days.
“[We’re] just excited to get through it and still had a pretty solid showing,” Robert said. “It’s not exactly where we wanted to be, but still showed that [we’re some] of the top guys in the world.”
Unfortunately, the U.S. Junior Trophy team, which had been running second, suffered a major loss on Day Four when racer Austin Walton had a huge crash. He finished the test, but it was later determined he had a broken scapula. The loss meant the team incurred a three-hour penalty on Days Five and Six, leaving the team 11th. However, Dante Oliveira did go on to win the final E2 moto of the event.
Joining the 10 Trophy riders this year were 21 Club Team riders, an excellent mix of seasoned veterans and brand-new faces, and the U.S. Club Teams finished in 4th, 5th, 7th, 10th, 26th, 29th and 113th.
Cole Martinez was the top U.S. Club Team rider all week long, never finishing outside the top 10. Good Team, Bad Team, featuring Cole Martinez, Nate Ferderer — who’d been moved to the team when Mateo Oliveira was injured the week before — and Axel Pearson, ran third overall until the final moto, where they slipped back to fourth by just eight seconds.
Taking Ferderer’s place on the Missouri Mudders team was Kobe Knight. Knight had participated in the Qualifier series, but failed to qualify. He was on site at ISDE supporting brother John Knight. When the spot opened, within hours they had a bike rented and Kobe Knight made it through registration successfully to join the team in a time of need.The Mojo Motosport team with Anthony Ferrante in his first ISDE would finish fifth, while the Trail Pros/US Sprint Enduro team finished seventh, with the youngest rider on the team, 16-year-old Cade Henderson, among their ranks.
Fred Hoess participated in his 28th ISDE, finishing 10th overall in Club Team riders on the Eric Cleveland Memorial Team with Nick Swenson and Joel Tonsgard, both competing in their first ISDE. Brian Storrie completed his 17th ISDE on the Elizabeth Scott 40+ team alongside Jayson Densley in his fifth ISDE and John Beal in his third — his last participation being the 2001 Italian ISDE.
While the NHHA/NGPC/D37 team finished 113th, with the only Club DNF being Tyler Vore — who’d been leading the C3 class by 30 seconds before crashing out on day four — all three riders put in strong performances all week.
Look for more coverage of the 2021 FIM International Six Days Enduro in upcoming issues of American Motorcyclist.