Bronze statue just north of Kotka on route to MX track.

In this year’s event the riders will go from the start at Kotka directly to the Karhula MX Arena directly north a few Kilometers. The motos will be arranged by speed and displacement class. C1 club riders with the most time first down to the fastest trophy team riders.

When the riders get to the MX track they go through a time check, and their bikes are re-impounded and they wait for their moto time to come up. This will be their last shot at gaining a few more points.

With the motos done the 2011 ISDE will officially come to a close. The last remaining event will be the closing ceremonies that night.

Kurt Caselli day 4 special test

Mark Kariya aka “Kato” sent me this story:

Kurt Caselli passes through a clearing in the line of boulders that served as a deterrent to attacks from Russia to the east, along with a network of bunkers, trenches and firing positions.

He won three tests today, though he also lost four minutes while picking up a speeding ticket. Since the circumstances were a bit suspect (he wasn’t the only one cited, though no one from Finland in the group were ticketed), he later got those minutes back after the FIM Jury meeting.

He was 3rd in test 2 and 8th in test 4. Seems like this course is to his liking.

Overall he is in 4th spot behind the 3 Fins, Remes,Salminen, and Tarkala, but the spread between 4th and 2nd is only one minute.

Kurt Caselli tears up special test.

Final results for the day are not in, but with this performance there is a good chance the US will eat into Spain’s position ahead of them….stay tuned.

The course was all new parts of it were in a ski area. This was great riding until the rains came and made things pretty dicey.

Abbott waits at start of the MX special test. PHOTO: Mark Kariya

The US Junior Trophy Team moved up to 4th place, pushing Australia to 5th.

The US Women’s trophy team has retired with Amanda Mastin encountering mechanical problems.

The club teams are doing well in spite of the difficult conditions. Fred Hoess is in 4th place in C1 on his Kawasaki. Caleb Wohletz is in 13th place in C2, and Maz Gerston is in 12th place in C3.

Tomorrow will be a different course with 2 laps and 3 time checks and 3 special tests per lap. And this one will be 340 KM long. This could be the toughest day yet.

J.D. Friebel on the ski slope test just before the rain hit. PHOTO:Mark Kariya

Eero Remes leads ISDE 2011 with 11 second over Juha Salminen. PHOTO: Mark Kariya

Kurt Caselli scored his first overall test win in test 4 where he was .82 seconds ahead of Matthew Phillips of Australia, with Finland’s Salminen, Tarkkala, and Remes behind them.

Test 6 was won by Tarkkala with Remes 7th and Russell Bobbitt of Team USA in 9th. We are waiting for the final results……it will be interesting.

DAY 3 COURSE click on image to enlarge

Here are the details and timing for the route:

Here is the detail on the placings for the top 8 Trophy teams.

Top 8 Trophy Team Standings after 2 days. click on image to zoom in

The USA Juniors have moved up to 5th. Sweden is ahead of France by close to a minute. American riders moved up to fifth.

The USA Women’S Cup saw their effort come apart today. Amanda Mastin was the only starter after losing the other 2 team members on day 1. Amanda Mastin dropped out after the third special test of the day. Meanwhile France extended their lead over the Finland by almost 50 minutes.

Fred Hoess is running 3rd in the C1 club team division. Fred is a 15 time ISDE gold medal winner.

For many riders, this is the toughest ISDE they have been in. The mud makes the rocks very slippery in the forest areas.

USA Club Riders Brent Martel and Mike Sanders exit a forest trail. PHOTO:Mark Kariya

Day 2 test 7 results on the left. Cumulative time for the first 2 days on the right. click on image to enlarge

There are 6 to 8 special tests a day and these are timed sections where the rider leaves at 15 second intervals and are precisely timed by the transponders on their bikes. This date is uploaded to the internet in real time. The fastest time gets “0″ points and everyone else gets a time score.

The trail to get to these special tests is also scored. At the start 3 riders leave per minute and must arrive at a check point before the special test at a specified time. If you are early you can wait until your minute comes up. Usually there is a service area just before the check point so riders can get gas and make repairs while waiting for the time to come up. If you are late checking in, but get time added to your score.

The riders need to do all their own maintenance on the bikes. Crews can hand them tools, but not touch the bike. A crew can add liquids to the bike like gas and coolant. At the end of each day the riders have 15 minutes from the last check point to entry to the Parc Ferme. During this time they go back to the main pit for their country and normally change both front and rear tires and whatever else is needed.

ISDE 2011 COURSE MAP DAYS 1 & 2 click on map to zoom

Eero Remes has the best time in test 1 with Juha Salminen in second. Kurt Caselli finishes 8th. In the next 2 tests Remes has problems and Salminen of Finland and Matthew Phillips of Australia set the best times. Remes sweeps the next two special tests.

Kurt Caselli finishes second to Remes in test 7.

The order in the overall after 7 of 8 tests:

1. Eero Remes FIN
2. Juha Salminen FIN
3. Kurt Caselli USA
4. Marko Tarkkalla FIN
5. Cristobal Guerro ESP
13. Russell Bobbitt USA
25. Destry Abbott USA

Kurt Caselli, USA Trophy Team nails a sandy special test. PHOTO: Steve Berkner