RecoverR8 Team Australia increase their lead in the FIM International Six Days of Enduro (ISDE) with a winning ride on day two in Portugal.
Continuing to establish themselves as the nation to beat, both the Australian FIM World Trophy and FIM Junior World Trophy teams topped their respective categories.
In the FIM Women’s World Trophy class there was a change in the lead with the United States moving past Germany and to the top of the standings. The defending Aussie team is six seconds behind Germany in third.
The Aussie Women’s team is 1m14s off the pace of the U.S. Tayla Jones finished third for the day, Jess Gardiner fifth and Makenzie Tricker 16th.
At the head of the FIM World Trophy team it is RecoveR8 Team Australia, fronted by a hard-charging Daniel Sanders – Husqvarna, who led the way. With Sanders winning all-but-one of the day’s seven special tests, they extend their advantage to fifty seconds over closest rivals United States.
Yamaha rider Luke Styke finished Day 2 fifth overall and second in E1. Josh Green (Yamaha) was 15th for the day and sixth in E2. Matt Phillips (KTM) improved on his result fro Day 1 and finish 26th for Day 2, ninth in E2.
Matching their FIM World Trophy teammates, RecoverR8 Team Australia extend their lead in the FIM Junior World Trophy classification with a winning result. Clearly enjoying the rough and sandy conditions, the Australians are now almost three and half minutes ahead of the United States in second.
The three-rider junior team of Michael Driscoll, Fraser Higglett and Lydon Snodgrass are running consistent times and are all within 40 seconds of each other. Driscoll finished 19th for Day 2, Snodgrass ninth and Higlett tenth. Their combined times are good enough that only the Australian and U.S World Trophy Teams are faster.
The speed of the Australian teams has left the other nations scrambling to find ways to close the gap. Italy remains in third but are now over five minutes off the lead. “Australia and United States are incredibly fast,” explains Italian team member Davide Guarneri – Honda. “They are setting the pace for sure. We are looking forward to what tomorrow will bring and will try to close the gap. But at the moment we need them to make a mistake, which hasn’t happened yet!”
Great Britain end day two forty seconds behind Italy in fourth, but extend their advantage over fifth-placed Finland to one-minute and thirty seconds. Spain complete the top-six thanks to the strong efforts of Josep Garcia – KTM. Currently second outright to Sanders and leading the Enduro 1 category he is enjoying his FIM ISDE return.
“It’s been a really good start to the FIM ISDE,” tells Garcia. “I’ve finished second outright both days and have extended my lead in the Enduro 1 category.”
“Daniel has proved very fast during these two days and is looking strong – for sure he’s the rider to beat. But tomorrow we arrive to a new set of special tests that I feel will work better for me on the smaller bike, so I will fight to close the gap to him.”
