Reports courtesy of Mark Seward - much appreciated.
8 Medals for Optoma Loans Team GB/ACU ACU press release
The Optoma Loans Team GB/ACU riders will be returning with an
excellent collection of medals from this very tough International Six Day Enduro. Battered
and bruised they may be, but with 8 finishers medals from the ten riders who started is an
excellent achievement, the only retirements being through machine failure.
The six senior Optoma Loans Team GB/ACU riders, competing for the
World Trophy, return with 3 Gold and 2 Silver medals. 1. Tom Sagar, proving his World
Class ability finishing 4th in the E1 Class - Gold 2. Paul Edmondson, as fast and
consistent as ever, 7th in E2 - Gold 3. Euan McConnell, 13th in E3 despite suffering an
injury on Day 3 which needed constant attention - Gold 4. Dylan Jones, 24th in E1 - Silver
5. Chris Hockey, 35th in E2, successfully riding through the pain barrier - Silver 6.
Edward Jones, lying in 28th until Day 5, when he tried in vain to cure machine problems.
These strong performances gave them 5th place in the World Trophy
Overall standings.
The four Junior Trophy Optoma Loans Team GB/ACU riders returned
with 1 Gold and 2 Silver medals. 1. Greg Evans put in a superb performance despite machine
problems, over several days, finishing 19th in E1 - Gold 2. Oliver Moyce, consistent
performances throughout the week, 34th in E2 - Silver 3. Lee Edmondson, once again
consistent, 45th in E1 - Silver 4. Ashley Wood, unfortunately his machine seized on the
first test, of the first Day
Despite being one rider down from Day 1, they were still able to
make up places on the Final Day, finishing 10th.
The Club competition saw both British Armed Forces Motorcycle
Association (BAFMA) and the West of England MCC return with another five Silver medals.
BAFMA secured an excellent 8th place in the competition. 1. Kevin
Murray, 12th in C1 - Silver 2. Darren Hughes, 14th in C1 - Silver 3. Darren Wilcock, 17th
in C1 - Silver
West of England MCC, 35th despite having a retirement from Day
2's competition. 1. Justin Wilson, 16th in C2 - Silver 2. Mark Houson, 40th in C1 - Silver
3. Julian Crimp, retired from Day 2
John Collins, Chairman, Trials and Enduro Committee said, "The
daily reports from Mick Seward have shown what a tough event this years ISDE has been and
the performances from all the riders has been superb. The injuries received by some of the
Team members could easily have forced further retirements from the competition, but not
wishing to let anybody down, they have continued and relied on pure adrenaline to get them
through. To return with 13 medals, from a possible 16 is an excellent achievement and the
best way of saying 'Thank You' to the Teams' supporters - Optoma Loans, Kriega, D-zign,
Bagnall's and Bob Mullins."
ISDE Final Day
Johnny Aubert was the overall winner from Kurt Casselli. The
Italian team won the Trophy & Spain were the runners up. The Great Britain team did a
fantastic job on unfamiliar going to finish 5th. Paul Edmondson led the team home as he
did all week. Tom Sagar finished 4th in the E1 class on a bike he hadn't seen a fortnight
ago. Euan McConnell rode for 3 days with 8 stitches in his arm. Ollie Moyce, Dylan Jones
& Chris Hockey all rode well & finished inside the top 100. Greg Evans - pictured
below on the final day - made his mark with a top twenty finish in the overall class on
the first day & after loosing his rad he nursed his Mounter KTM home to finish 19th in
the E1 class. Lee Edmondson's hole tank took him out of the top 100 but he overcame the
set back & he finished which is what is all about. Only 2 British riders retired in
what was a very tough ISDE & they were both forced out with unrepairable mechanical
failures. The Army Team of Darren Hughes, Darren Wlcock & Kev Murray did themselves
proud & finished 8th out of 92 clubs. Despite big crashes early in the week Justin
Wilson & Julian Crimp carried on & with veteran Mark Houson riding in his first
ISDE, the West of England team came home with a credit worthy 35th.
It has been great week for the riders, the team manager Dusty
Martin, the sponsor Optoma Loans & the support crew. Well done to you all.
ISDE DAY 5
The finish is now in sight with only the final MX race tomorrow.
All but Edd Jones, came home tonight. Having ridden strongly all week with no problems he
failed to complete the first test this morning when his ET James KTM expired half way
round the test, Edd ran back to the start through the deep sand to retrieve his tool bag
and repair his bike, but to no avail so had to push it back to the paddock then spent the
rest of the day assisting his team mates on the remaining tests.
Ollie Moyce suffered a big crash in the first motor cross test,
but bike and rider suffered no injuries. Dylan Jones suspected a partial seizure when his
CORE Yamaha slowed on the first test, but the little 125 recovered with no further
problems.
Day 5, which is normally a relatively easy day, was quite the
opposite, with seven tough special tests, and long rocky time checks; one of which was the
tightest of the week, but all British team members stayed clean on time, and continued
posting creditable test times. At the end of the day they were all extremely relieved to
be finished. Euan McConnell went straight back to the hospital for the third night running
to have the wound on his arm drained and redressed.
The Army and West of England teams home safe and sound.
This event has been a real man and bike destroyer, with even the
factory teams suffering major problems, as you will see from the retirements. This gives
even more credit to the physical, mental and mechanical preparation of the British Team.
Everybody has taken to their beds early tonight to ready
themselves for the motor cross tomorrow and the partying and celebrations after.
No sand storms or earthquake tremors today, only the report of a
wild Puma being chased by one of the event security guards, it was last seen heading
towards "Gail’s Field Kitchen" in the paddock for some go faster pasta!
Tomorrow will be our last report, hopefully we will have some
good news, until then adios amigos.
PS Congratulations to Alec and Sue Brocklehirst of CORE Racing on
the safe arrival of their new baby boy.
ISDE Chile day 4
They say when the going gets tough the tough get going, well our
lads did today. Everybody home again some in style and some in pain, but all finished on a
high.
Tom Sager won one test outright! As you will see from the results
on the ISDE website the lads have been posting some excellent test times.
Euan’s times have been a lot faster than they should have
been considering he has had 8 stitches in his forearm, which he cut to the bone yesterday
when crashing on the special test, and has been in a great deal of pain, to say the least.
Chris Hockey’s thumb has now turned blue, and after the
first test the pain he was in it was debatable if he was going to continue, however the
adrenalin must have kicked on and he finished the day.
Greg Evans changed a rear brake calliper this morning on his
Mounter KTM, he had a couple of falls in both the motor cross tests at the start and
finish of the day, but still set some very fast times.
Tom Sagar was the fastest Brit today even though he was suffering
with a sore wrist and foot.
Everybody else has had a trouble free day, both from injuries and
mechanical failures.
One Italian trophy rider dropped out today, and Salmen’s
clutch failed 100 meters from the finish of the final test, and he was given assistance to
finish both the test and to get to the pre-finish, so he is expected to be excluded. Which
is all good news for our trophy team.
The Army Team all came home safely.
The West of England/North of England Team again finished in good
spirit, however Mark Houson did get lost, but found his way back and still stayed clean on
time. Justin Wilson still walking like an old man had a trouble free day and finished on
time.
Julian Crimp however didn’t have a trouble free day due to
loosing his front brake early on and then boiling his rear! He lost time but still
returned back to the finish within the hour.
On the team bus on the way home Dusty asked if there was anything
he could get for anyone, DJ said "Two new arms" and Chris asked "If he had
had his tonsils removed".
Sorry if our reports are getting a little boring, as everyone is
taking things very serious now as there is only one and half days left to go.
However, whilst Tom Sagar was being interviewed by Chilean TV, a
female member of the team (who will remain nameless) tried and succeeded to make him laugh
by bearing her bum!
Adios Amigos.
Stop press news – Nev and Judith have just arrived back from
an out check looking like extras from Lawrence of Arabia after been caught in a sand
storm, after the last rider came through, loosing both awnings in the process!
CHILE DAY 3
Another tough day today with everybody battling
on, Greg Evan’s radiator problems continued this morning, when he struggled to remove
a hose clip in the 10 minutes work time. Therefore he had to push his bike through the
start and past the 20 meter mark to take a ten second penalty, where he eventually managed
to complete the repairs. He then had a test to ride and a long check, unfortunately not
being able to make up the time lost, dropping a further 6 minutes; which is very
disappointing because again he set some very fast test times.
Paul Eddy came to the end of the first test of
the day, he’d had a crash and lost the front end of his Maximum Solutions Suzuki, and
was speaking in a very high pitched voice, we hope he isn’t thinking of increasing
the size of his family in the near future!
Lee Edmonson, was the next to suffer problems,
when a frame bolt rubbed a hole in his GMX tank draining nearly all the fuel, just after
the service check. He coolly removed the tank and repaired the damage with instant metal,
managed to acquire some fuel, but unfortunately it leaked again, and he stopped somewhere
out on the course. He managed to repair it and finish the day loosing 43 minutes and is
still in the event.
Chris Hockey on his HuskySport 250cc, on the
second timed test of the day, in a dry rocky river bed, had a heavy fall damaging his
thumb, after pain killers and strapping it up, he finished and stayed clean. Chris is now
topping up his tan by the pool, with an ice pack on it! Trying and failing to get some
sympathy.
As all our sympathy goes to Euan McConnell today,
who also crashed his Electraction TM 300cc, on the same test cutting a nasty hole in his
elbow, he was clearly shaken up and in a lot of pain, luckily he could n’t see the
hole in his elbow, Kylie patched it up and we told him it was just a scratch. He made it
to the next check on time, where it was redressed and he was on his way again. He dropped
a minute with a time keeping error at the next check.
The remainder of the GB team, Ed Jones and Tom
Sagar on their KTM’s, Ollie Moyce and Dylan Jones on their Yamaha’s quietly got
on with their jobs all putting in good test times and staying clean on going.
The Army Team had another good day, all finishing
if not battered and bruised.
Julian Crimp restarted today and finished the day
loosing only 4 minutes, and is looking forward to day 4.
Justin Wilson is obviously in a great deal of
pain and still walking like an old man, but is battling on, and moving up the leader board
in true Accrington spirit.
Mark Houson on the other hand is looking fresher
everyday, staying clean and is up holding the Yorkshire honour, in the Yorkshire,
Lancashire and Southern Club team.
There were earthquake tremors today here in
Chile, or was it Crimpy crashing on the motor cross test?
Until tomorrow, adios amigos.
ISDE Day 2
Another hot and difficult day
for the lads today, but everyone home from the British team not without incidents though,
Greg Evans again made a good start but then crashed on the going badly damaging his
radiator, luckily he was carrying some instant metal which temporarily sealed the hole, he
then emptied the water from his Kriega pack back into the rad, which got him to the next
stamp check where he acquired a bottle of water from the marshals. This getting him to
Mike Tizzard’s service check, which he fuelled at and rode straight out but loosing
him 5 minutes. As you will see from his times, he rode the next three texts very
conservatively to save his engine. Unfortunately KTM gave him the wrong radiator at the
end of the day we now have the right one, which will be changed in the morning, and
he’ll be back to full speed.
Euan McConnell’s test times improved today, but on the last
test he had a crash, right in front of Kylie! I did’nt see it, but heard the gasps
from the crowds, so it must have been a big one, but still managed to finish with a
creditable time.
Paul Edmonson on his Maximum Solutions Suzuki kept the pressure
on with consistent fast times on all his tests.
Everyone else told me that they had an uneventful and smooth
running day, but the banter in the team bus returning to the hotel, told a different
story; with tales of near misses, close crashes and lucky escapes. Everyone is still on
good form and in excellent humour.
The only retirement of the day was to be Julian Crimp, starting
the day still troubled with a cactus thorn in his finger, was finally ruled out after a
big crash in the second test when he was thrown over the bars when the chain jammed due to
a stone in his front spocket, but will be restarting tomorrow to gain team points. Justin
(The Daddy) Wilson, after having acupuncture and cupping on his back stayed clean on time,
but is now looking like "Grandaddy" Wilson. The star of the team Mark Houson
again, put in a good performance, on the little 125cc Husky.
The Army Team are all still going strong, Daz Hughes, Daz
Wilcock, and Kev Murray looking after his new Yamaha better than his first one. Daz Hughes
is battling on with a badly swollen forearm, the result of a heavy fall into a cactus
bush.
Tomorrow is a completely new course, with rocky technical tests,
which should favour some of our riders, rather than the deep sand of the last two days.
Thanks again for all your best wishes, I was going to post them,
but half of them would have to be censored, and other half far too embarrassing for the
riders, but all are appreciated.
Off to the pub now, adios amigos, wish you were here to enjoy the
racing with us.
ISDE DAY 1
A good start to the six day for most riders today, but
unfortunately not so for one, as you will have seen from the results Ash Woods, PAR Honda,
cold seized a main bearing not more than 100 mtrs from the start having to push his bike
back to the park ferme, Dad Trevor and mechanic Joey quickly removed the barrel hoping it
was a piston seizure and be able to repair it to get Ash back on track before his hour
allowance lapsed, but we are sorry to report the problem was more serious and he is out of
the competition.
Conditions on the going were very tough today, with a mixture of
deep sand, a lot of dust and a very rocky trail section, which the riders said went on for
ever and ever. The tests were very dry and sandy and extremely physical. As you will see
from the results the riders preformed very well. With the old campaigner Paul Eddy leading
them home, but the performance of the day was from young Grey "Special" Evans on
his Wayne Mounter KTM, putting in some stunningly quick times. Tom Sagar spent today
getting accustomed to his factor 250cc KTM, which was quite a lot different to ride to his
usual 450cc.
Today was only the first day and we are sure as the week
progresses Tom will get stronger and stronger.
Ollie Moyce also consistently put in some fast times, only
slowing to pose for the cameras!
Euan McConnel on his Electration TM also achieved some excellent
times, which should have been faster had he not missed a corner in the dust, selected a
false neutral, trying but failing to literally OVER take a Hungarian rider (and failing)
and crashing on the final corner of the final test. He has promised to try harder
tomorrow, Nick.
The Dirt-trax supported West of England Team had a mixed day,
with Justin Wilson damaging his back early in the day, he too is also walking like Pete
Edmonson, but still managed to finish with out loosing time. Julian struggled today after
getting a splinter in his little finger! Orrrrrr bless. Mark Houson had a storming day on
his MPS Husky, even having time to rescue his starting partner out of a cactus bush. Which
incidently several other riders made contact with, having to have thorns delicately
removed by tweezers!
As always the support crews have done stirling work today, some
based in a barren wasteland, others on the beach, it’s a hard life for those drawing
the short straw!
Thanks to all of you who have sent best wishes, we are all
working our socks off here, but the good food, wine and company are pulling us through it.
Congratulations to Andrew and Rachel Edwards on the birth of your
baby boy another Welsh enduro rider of the future
Buenos nachos from a very sun burnt roving reporter
ISDE CHILE FINAL PRE RACE REPORT
All pre-race preparation is now complete the bikes are all in park ferme
with all riders fit and ready to go.
Saturday evening saw the opening ceremony which if not a little
late starting was a very well organised event. The whole British team were well turned
out, the riders in white Optoma Loan shirts and support crew in green T shirts (it was
bloody freezing), we were serenaded by the purple helmets from a hotel balcony as we
marched past. The biggest cheer of the night was for the Irish team, one rider and one
support crew! A lot of time and effort had been carried out by the Chileans with opera
singers, traditional dancers and finally a firework display.
Today has been a relaxing day for most with all taking time out
for remembrance and reflection at 11.00 am.
As I write this the lights are going out in the riders rooms one by one as
they get an early night to prepare themselves for what looks like being one of the
toughest both physically, and mechanically 6 days event for many years.
My next reports will be more on the performances of the riders
and teams on the day hopefully all good.
Anyone wishing to send any messages can do so
through mick.mpsracing@btinternet.com
Chile ISDE Day 6& 7
Wednesday
The Army problem took another turn today, they decided due to
their commitment to Yamaha they would hire a new 250 so Kev is now Yam mounted again and
ready to go.
Our team leader Paul Edmondson arrived in his private jet, we
picked him up from the airport and nearly killed him by driving the wrong way down the
motorway, but we weren’t the only one so did Phil Hodges.
Some of the lads went for a trail ride and Chris Hockey’s
Husky broke down after changing the plug and lots of checks he put the fuel onto reserve
and it started!
Thursday
Signing on went without a hitch, unfortunately scrutineering was
not as straight forward. Euan McConnel was first for a change, and also first to fail with
no sprocket cover. Dusty made a visit to the local push bike shop and bought a selection
of novelty horns, Ash Wood and Ed Jones had a crocodile and Tom Sagar an elephant, next
problem came when the helmets were checked all the hard work carried out by Lee of D-Zign
painting the helmets was nearly wasted when the scrutineer insisted they should be British
racing green, but some swift intervention by our ACU man Dave Willoughby saved the day
with a promise of them being green next year.
Justin’s Yamaha was just to bling, and failed because it had
a LED front light (why it should fail because of this nobody knows ) hopefully this will
be sorted tomorrow.
Dusty was given a request from the boy’s, they were missing
home cooking and wanted a roast dinner so Marnie and Mary cooked a roast chicken dinner
with cake for afters for 18 of us.
At this moment I have an audience to censor everything I write!
HERE ARE SOME QUOTES FROM THE TEAM
HHHHHHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSQVARNAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…. Kiwi
Where toooo but…
Greg
Missing you Jem
Ash Wood
Really pleased with how things are going at the moment the team
are all here now and in good spirits, the bikes are all in, morale is high and we are well
ahead with test walking so we should be able to go back to some and take another look. The
whole contingent look great wearing their team shirts kindly supplied by optoma loans,
really looking forward to a great six day.
Dusty
Marnie
ISDE Day 5
The boys up bright and early again for a run on the beach Lee
Eddy is walking just like his dad now! I didn’t get any photos again Marnie ,Mary
(Kerr ) and I were busy making sandwiches but team spirit is higher than I’ve ever
Known credit to Dusty and the lads , a quiet day today with some more fine tuning and test
walking
The Army team suffered the first disaster of the trip when Kev
Murrys Yam dropped a valve destroying the engine whist running in. Richard Hay
came to the rescue donating his 125 Dennis Irvine KTM to Kev.
The weather is not as good as it looks on the photos very cold
until about 3.00pm then very hot! The riders will be grateful for their Kreiga hydration
back packs in the afternoon sun
Mark Houson has been interviewed by a TV crew Justin Wilson went
very shy before the cameras rolled so Mark had to take over.
Our peace and quite and ordered way of life is soon to be
shattered as the infamous Sheep scull enduro team the Purple helmets arrive to stay at our
hotel tomorrow so my reports may get a little more interesting .
And as a final note to Sadie, Lee says I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU, I
LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU hopefully this might keep him off the phone for a few mins!
DAY 3 & 4
We spent Sunday finding out where everything was ie the best
bars, restaurants , massage parlours etc eventually we found the containers. For the first
time in history, the British team were the first to arrive! Dave M-M and his helpers
unloaded the bikes and contents and everything was in order. The MPS Husky of Mark Houson
was the first bike to be started, Justin Wilson’s rocket Yamaha looked the smartest
closely followed by Chris Hockey’s all blinged up with their union jack stickers. The
next hour was spent with the rest of the team trying to compete with them.
Monday morning started at 7.30 sharp with the lads going for an
early morning run, lead by Daz, the army physical training instructor. Unfortunately due
to the shock of seeing Lee, Tom and Euan jogging I did not get a photo. Even Dusty joined
in (on a push bike) they disappeared for over half an hour, rumour has it that Lee hide
behind a wall and missed half the run, joining in on the way back. The morning papers were
delivered with a half front page photograph of the British Army prepping their bikes, plus
another photo on the sports page.
Back to the Park Ferme where all the bikes were started and again
the British team were first out on to the practice track all looking good in their Bagnall
shirts and Lee Design helmets. After several laps the bikes were found to be running too
lean with the Jones boys’ having to drill out their main jets, at the end of the day
most seemed happy with their set up. Whilst Dave M-M spent most of the day fine tuning his
motorised ride on tool trolley to the amusement of the local TV crew.
As we are writing the lads are playing football against the
Australian riders, while we sit at the bar sampling the Chilean beer.
So far everything is going to plan we seem to have everything
under control and cant wait for the event to start.
Log in for the next instalment for now adios.
ISDE 2007 
Chile
La Sarena 