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.

Destry Abbott is running, a very respectable, 25 overall and 11th in the E3 class at the end of day 5.

Timmy Weigand crashed in one of his special tests.

Day 5 is one that Timmy Weigand would rather forget.  He was sick with food poisoning and got little sleep the night before.  He crashed in a special test and hit a tree root with this little finger.  The nail was torn off and he seems to have fractured his finger.  The Team USA medics were tending to him at the end of the day.  He had good times in the tests in spite of all of this.  He was in surprising high spirits and looking forward to day 5.

Damon Huffman also had a rough day.  The tendinitis in his forearms was really flaring up and the long sandy whoops sections today only aggravated the condition.  He was happy to finish the day and was seeking some relief the Team USA medics for the last day’s MX event.

The trophy team dropped to 7th place and has very little chance of moving up in the standings on Day 6.  The American are good MX riders, but the other countries are fast as well.

The junior team remains in 3rd place and are likely to stay there.  It would be difficult to gain on second place at this point.

Jamie Lanza is enjoying a terrific rookie ISDE ride.  His times are excellent and this 21 year old college student never seems to get tired.  Even at the end of a tough day he is grinning and upbeat.  If he wasn’t walking test before the event he was studying for his college courses.

Russell Bobbitt during the last "Beach" special test that was run at the end of Day-five.

Russell Bobbitt has lots of ISDE experience for a Junior rider.  He just seems to get faster all the time, and look extremely comfortable and fast in the conditions of Portugal, despite being from the east coast.

Maria Forsberg had one of her best days and put in some very good special test times.  She was second overall to Ludivine Puy of France for day 5. Lacy Jones is putting in a good ride and continues to show lots of heart with her determination.

Amanda Mastin had a very challenging day.  She started out by nursing a sore ankle.  Then early in the day at the start of a special test she realized that her rear tire was spinning on the rim because the mousse had gone bad.  If she accelerated hard the tire would spin.  She put some very large zip ties on the rim through the spokes and around the knobs in an attempt to hold the wheel place.  This worked a bit but slowed her down all day.  She finally had to take the time to remove the mousse and insert a normal tube.  This cost her quite a bit of time, but she was happy to finish and not hour out.  It is possible for the USA women to move into 3rd place with good moto times tomorrow.

One of Team USA's service checks.

Of the club team riders Jeff Fredette is still in good position for a silver medal in his 29th ISDE.  He has had no bike problems with the Kawasaki and is fanatically loyal to the brand that has brought him many of his medals.

Nick Fahringer is going very well on his Husaberg as is Rory Sullivan. Sullivan was 3rd on the day in the C3 class and is 3rd overall in the C3 class.

The riders look forward to day 6 today which is a short transit ride to the special MX test. The most demanding part of this day will be putting in a fast time at this final Motocross.  The motos are arranged  by class starting with the slower times.  For some riders a respectable finish is all that is important for others seconds will count.

Check out all of the Day 5 Results for more information.

1. France
2. Italy
3. Australia
4. Sweden
5. USA
6. Finland
7. Portugal
8. Great Britain
9. Netherlands
10. Poland

Junior Trophy Team Results after Day 4

1. Spain
2. France
3. USA
4. Italy
5. Sweden
6. Portugal
7. Australia
8. Germany
9. Czech Republic
10. Slovakia

Women’s Cup Results after Day 4

1. France
2. Sweden
3. Australia
4. USA
5. Finland

If you don’t see your favorite team or club rider here are some links of results that you can look at to see how your favorite rider is doing.

Day 4 Special Test Results

• Test 1
• Test 2
• Test 3
• Test 4
• Test 5
• Test 6
• Test 7

Day 4 Results by Class

• E1
• E2
• E3
• Women
• C1
• C2
• C3

Progressive Results by Class after Day 4

• E1
• E2
• E3
• Women
• C1
• C2
• C3

US club team rider Jordan Brandt crawls his way up a hill climb during Day-four. photo:Berkner

The Team USA trophy moved up to 5th place in the standings on day 4, moving ahead of Finland.  The Finnish team lost Juha Salmenin yesterday and today Simo Kirssi’s slower pace dropped them almost 2 minutes behind the USA.  Caselli and Abbott were the fastest for the USA.  As they start thinking about day 5, the trophy team is still healthy and their bikes have no major problems.  Nathan Kanney had to change an exhaust system to get through the sound test at the end of the day.

Jamie Lanza negotiates a rocky trial section. photo:Berkner

The USA Junior team remains in 3rd place and still intact while producing very good times.  They are 2 minutes and 40 seconds behind France with two days to go.

Maria Forsberg rides a creek bottom. photo:Berkner

The Women’s Cup team is still in 4th place about a minute behind Australia.  Maria Forsberg is third overall in this category and gaining on Sweden’s Jessica Jonsson.  If she keeps this up she could move into second behind Ludivine Puy of France.

The JAFMAR club team with veterans Jeff Fredette, Chilly White, and Don Grahn is in 17th out of 91 three man club teams.  This is Jeff Fredette’s 29th ISDE and he is hoping for a silver medal to add to his collection.  Jeff did have some problems with a slipping clutch on his Kawasaki 450 so he did a 4 minute clutch change in the pits at the end of the day.  Jeff loves the bike, and feels that the clutch change and the oil change is all he should need for tomorrow.

Chilly did some great on-board video on day 1 in test 1.  Go here to see it.

KTM’s Samuli Aro, one of the most experienced riders on the track, maintained similar times to the two previous days when he held the lead in E3. But Aro lost time on Wednesday to Frenchman Christophe Nambotin and had to settle for fourth on the day and slipped to third in the progressive results. Meanwhile USA’s Kurt Caselli is making good progress in E3 with steady improvements each day. Given that he has not competed since last year’s ISDE, Kurt is looking increasingly confident. He is enjoying the bike and is well known as a strong performer in the deep sand.

Finland’s holds on to its hopes of taking the World Trophy and although they slipped in the standings, the team still benefited by the strong riding of KTM factory rider Eero Remes in E1. Although second behind Poland’s Michel Szuster on Wednesday, he is still in the overall lead.

Day 5 will be a new course it will be north east of the city and have as few elements from other days.  All of the USA teams will work hard to move up in the standings.

The unofficial standings for Day 4 are:

TROPHY TEAM

1. France
2. Italy
3. Australia
4. Sweden
5. USA

JR TROPHY

1. Spain
2. France
3. USA
4. Italy
5. Sweden

WOMEN’S TROPHY

1. France
2. Sweden
3. Australia
4. USA
5. Finland

Start list has once again been reshuffled with the riders go out in order of overall individual rankings.

Day 4 Start List

Day 4 Time Schedule

Click here to view the embedded video.

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