Knight claims overall win at 80th ISDE

KTM Enduro Factory Team Farioli rider David Knight became the first ever British rider to claim overall victory, irrespective of class, at an International Six Days Enduro competition when he finished the 80th running of the ISDE staged in Slovakia as the fastest rider in the competition. Topping the Enduro 3 class on each day of the event to dominate the race, Knighter helped Britain’s Trophy team finish in fourth place in the World Trophy Team competition.

Starting the event wanting to claim the outright win, but all too aware that two rounds of the ’05 World Enduro Championship still remain, the six-day event started well for Knight as he topped the Enduro 3 class and placed second in the overall results on day one. Happy to have settled himself into the event with such a good opening day Knighter then upped his pace and attacked day two. Beating his nearest Enduro 3 class rival, Finland’s Marko Tarkkala by one minute, David also topped the overall results.

Faced with a new course on day three, Knighter again topped both the E3 and overall results while Tarkkala retired from the competition following a crash. With rain starting to fall as he entered several of the special tests on day four, Knighter had to be content with winning only the E3 class, finishing 39 seconds ahead of Italian Alessandro Zanni, but disappointingly saw his lead at the top of the overall results almost halved.

But on day five, the event’s wet day, Knighter blitzed the competition to extend his Enduro 3 class and overall leads with just the final day’s motocross remaining. Riding at his absolute best in order to extend his leads by as much as he could, David finished the fifth day of the event one minute ahead of French rider Seb Guillaume and with more than a four minute advantage after the five days.

With his motocross race one of the last to take place on the sixth and final day David knew that all he really had to do was finish to claim both the Enduro 3 and overall class wins. But that didn’t stop him dominating the E3 class, posting the third fastest outright time of the day, and putting on an unforgettable display for the thousands of spectators that turned up to watch the closing stages of the 80th ISDE. Winning comfortably, and mobbed by British spectators, Knight became the first British rider to top the International Six days Enduro.

David’s next international competition will be the eighth round of the FIM World Enduro Championship in Serres, Greece where he is able to claim the ’05 Enduro 3 World Championship title.

David Knight: “I’ve certainly not got any complaints with the way the six days has gone for me this year – I couldn’t have asked for a better week really. I wanted to try and win the overall as well as the Enduro 3 class but so much can happen in the ISDE that you just have to ride as hard as you can and hope for the best. Thankfully it worked out well for me. I started the week riding pretty steadily, getting my bike dialled in and just getting comfortable really. My test times were pretty good and I opened up a bit of a lead in the Enduro 3 class but the test were changing quite a lot during the day so it was hard to really push hard.

“On day two I did push a bit harder, I put a harder compound front tyre on, which worked really well, and I was able to ride faster. I didn’t have any problems and managed to open up quite a good lead in the E3 class as well as win the Scratch.

“Day three was a new course and it went really well. The tests were changing a lot during the day, like on day one, but I didn’t make any big mistakes and managed to win the overall again. On day four I got caught out by the rain a bit. The riders in the E1 and E2 class ahead of me had dry tests and I got rained on a few times, which meant that I wasn’t able to win the overall that day. In the afternoon though the tests were dry and I managed to extend my lead in the E3 class.

“The wet day on day five was a great day for me. I wanted to try and extend my lead so that I wouldn’t have to ride too hard in the final motocross. The motocross test on day five went well but I really pushed hard on the two enduro tests, so that I could relax a bit on day six.

“I was worried that it might rain for my race on the final day but it stayed dry and I was able to win. Being the fastest rider in the event is what I wanted to do so to achieve that is great. Everything went so well all week – I didn’t crash at all, my bike ran perfectly and I really enjoyed the course and tests.” 

Gold medal finishes for Edmondson, McConnell and Wakely in Slovakia

Honda Racing Fast Eddy PAR Homes riders Paul Edmondson (left), Euan McConnell and Si Wakely all returned home from the 80th running of the International Six Days Enduro with Gold medal finishes having helped Britain place fourth in the World Trophy Team competition. Finishing best of the Honda riders was Paul Edmondson who claimed an impressive third place finish in the Enduro 2 class as well as finishing fourth overall.

For Edmondson the 80th ISDE saw the former world champion compete aboard a 250cc two-stroke in the E2 class where he faced stiff opposition from the likes of Australian Stefan Merriman and Finn Samuli Aro. But enjoying the chance to return to two-stroke machinery Edmondson started the event cautiously before finishing as the second highest placed British rider in the event.

Placing in 10th on day one wasn’t the start to the six days Paul was hoping for as he found riding at the front of the Enduro 2 class a real disadvantage on the slippery grass special tests. Improving to sixth on day two, Edmondson was again caught out by the slippery conditions on day three before placing inside the top 10 on day four.

But on day four Edmondson stamped his mark on the Enduro 2 class. With heavy overnight rain having made conditions extremely slippery Paul blitzed his E2 class rivals to top the class by close to one minute. In doing so he lifted himself up the E2 class leader board and into a comfortable third place with just the final day remaining.

Wanting to repeat his day five performance, Edmondson shot to the front of his motocross race and maintained the lead ahead of Finland’s Samuli Aro and US rider Kurt Caselli for two laps before his rear brake started to fade. Not wanting to risk dropping from third in class Paul held his third place in the race to claim third in the Enduro 2 class and finish fourth overall at the 80th ISDE.

For Scot Euan McConnell the Slovakian ISDE didn’t go as well as he hoped despite finishing in 20th position in the competitive E2 class and with a gold medal. Starting the week steadily Euan’s best day was day five where he placed 17th in class before going on to perform well in the final motocross.

For 125cc mounted Si Wakely the six-day long event also started steadily with a 23rd place finish in the Enduro 1 class on day one. Going on to finish in 19th, 19th, 22nd and 15th on the four days that followed Si rounded off the week in 15th position less than nine minutes behind class winner Bartosz Oblucki and finishing as the best British rider in the E1 class.

Paul Edmondson: “It’s been a good week for me, one that’s finished on a real high note. Being back on the two-stroke again has been great fun. I started the week steadily, like I always do at the six days, but it wasn’t easy being one of the first Enduro 2 class riders on the tests. On days one and three the tests were getting drier with each bike that rode them, which meant that it was hard to match the times of some of the riders in the class. I was a little off the pace on days one and three but on it on days two and four. But day five was by far the best day for me.

“Being on a two-stroke definitely helped on day five and I had a great day. I really enjoyed the wet conditions and managed to pull myself right up the E2 class results. The final motocross also went really well. I gated well and lead for the first two laps but then my rear brake went off a little, which slowed me down a bit. To finish third though is great.”

Euan McConnell: “It’s been a really good event – a good course, nice tests, a great final motocross and very little road work. The rain on the fifth day made it a really memorable event. My result wasn’t as good as I hoped it would be but I didn’t have any major problems.”

Si Wakely: “The week started off pretty well for me with good results on days one and two. Obviously the wet day was the best day for me, and the team, it’s was just a shame that a few more of the days weren’t wet. It’s been a really enjoyable event and quite challenging as well. I only had one real crash during the week, which lost me a bit of time but apart from that everything has gone well.” Photo by Jonty Edmunds

Day 1: 4 times World Champion, Stefan Merriman (left) demonstrated his return to fitness after his injury in the Italian Grand Prix by winning the first test of the first day in the E2 class. David Knight also started as he meant to go on by taking the 1st E3 test & Marc Germain led the E1s. The trio went on to win all 5 tests in their class. Paul Edmondson was 13th overall & Greg Evans - riding in his first ISDE - finished 45th. Another rider facing his own personal challenge is American Jeff Fredette (#348) who will be competing in his 25th ISDE. Jeff - who invented the very useful spanner - has unbelievably finished all of his previous 24 ISDEs he has entered. He is a member of the Jafmar Racing team & will be riding a Kawasaki KDX 220. Kari Tiainen retired with a mechanical problem but plans to continue on Day 2. At the end of Day 1 Stefan Merriman was the Overall leader & David Knight was the runner up. The British Trophy team finished the day in 6th position & the Junior team were 5th. In the Club team classifications the Wales A team of Dylan Jones, Rowan Jones & Andrew Edwards were in a creditable 3rd. 

Stefan Merriman Press Release: The opening day of this years ISDE in Slovakia was greeted with mostly blue skies with the odd cloud about. The rain promised for Monday never eventuated (fortunately) and the morning began with wet dew on the grassy cross tests makin it extremely slippery for the Enduro 1 class who were fist through the slippery off cambered, steep hilly tests.

Merriman's ISDE campaign kicked off to a brilliant start winning the first test by more than 9 seconds from arch rival, Samuli Aro.Merriman even managed to take the overall honours of being the fastest rider overall on this test, despite the fact it was drying out and getting faster for the latter classes such as Enduro 3 and the club riders. Merriman continued to dominate in the predominately hard track cross tests and took the class win easily over French grass track specialist, Emannel Albepart by 39 seconds. He also was the fastest rider overall, beating Enduro 3 rider, David Knight by 10 secs.

About the first day Merriman said," I feel really comfortable on this type of terrain. Today was basically the same tests as WEC here last year, and I was able to win both days outright. So I had the bike set up right for these conditions and everything went well. The only problem I had was catching up to other riders and struggling to get past in the test which slowed me down in a few places. However it is only the start of the six days and anything can happen. I hope I can continue at the same pace tomorrow."

Day 2: Stefan Merriman & David knight continued to dominate their classes but in E1 Marc Germain came under pressure from Italian riders Simone Albergoni & Alessandro Belometti as well as Poland's Bartosz Oblucki. Edward Jones improved on his Day 1 performance. Paul Hearn & Mick Seward houred out. Paul lost his brakes & Mick lost his bars. The Trophy team move passed Australia to 5th & the Junior team drop a place to 6th.

Day 3: The 3rd day started with no surprise at the top as David Knight put in another winning performance on the 1st test but Kari Tiainen & Paul Whibley both put in something special to take 2nd & 3rd according to the official results. Day 3 proved to be a bad day for British injuries. Greg Evans was forced to retire after hitting a stump on the fifth test & dislocating his wrist but - after finishing the first two days in the top sixty overall - the nineteen year old Welshman has shown his potential on the World stage. Fellow junior team member Oliver Moyce was also forced out with a arm injury dropping the team down to 11th. David Johns & Julian Crimp also retired hurt. At the end of the day David Knight had extended his lead to 33 seconds other 2nd placed rider Stefan Merriman. Paul Edmondson was 18th. The Wales A team finished the day in 4th.

Day 4: David Knight was holding his form but on the 3rd test of the day he dropped 10 seconds to finish in 64th. The problem was only a minor setback & in tests 4,5 & 6 the Knighter was back at the top of the leader board but with a reduced margin over Stefan Merriman of 20 seconds. Dylan Jones also had a problem & the Wales A team finished in 19th. The Wales B team succeeded them as the highest placed British Club team in 16th place. A 3rd member of the Junior team - Tom Sagar - retired as did Ricky Mair & John Nelson.

Day 5:  At the first test David Knight finished 6th - 12 seconds behind the fastest rider Bartosz Oblucki but crucially 12 seconds ahead of Stefan Merriman in 21st. ET1 & ET2 were cancelled but what was left was all Paul Edmondson's as Eddy once again proved how fast he can be by winning all tests of the day in the E2 class. At the end of the day David Knight had built up a 2 minute buffer over 2nd placed Stefan Merriman. Early contender Marc Germain retired.

Day 6: The final stage of the ISDE was held in the Sverepec Moto X stadium. The weather was poor but the result was not. David Knight was the overall winner with a 2 minute margin over runner up Stefan Merriman. Paul Edmondson was 4th overall & all 6 members of the British Trophy finished to secured 4th place. Congratulations to you all!!!

Gas Gas press release

Paul Whibley has just finished 14th in the E2 class at the International Six Day Enduro in Slovakia. Tom Sagar retired from the event on Day 4 after his recent, repaired broken arm was too sore to continue. The strength in his left forearm was weakening and with two riders from the Junior Team already out of the event, Tom took the wise decision to pull out himself.

For more reports and full results checkout; www.enduronews.com  www.isdeslovakia.sk 

BIG respect must go to DAVID KNIGHT who won the event outright ! Dad would be proud! Also, Congratulations to Paul Eddy for finishing 3rd in the E2 class (4th overall)

Cheers Shirty.

Next event for Whibz is the final round of the FAST EDDY RACE SERIES this coming weekened at Culham.

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