To start off, all riders were surprised by the length and difficulty of the course to the MX track.  The track was over an hour north east of Figueira da Foz by car so the back country roads, dirt roads and trails the riders took were varied, and with a very tight time schedule so hard riding was necessary to stay on time.  Many sections were very dusty, so visibility became a problem.  What is usually just a transit section to get to the final test became a race and some of it on public roads and some on slick dusty trails.  Junior team rider, Russell Bobbitt paid the price when he went down on a dirt road and injured his shoulder.  As a result spent his waiting time in the pits being attended to by the Team USA medics, who iced his shoulder and did the best they could to get him ready for his moto.

As the riders arrive at the MX they go through a time check and their bikes are impounded in another “parc ferme”.  The track itself was a world MX championship track that was well groomed and had great facilities.  A series of motos by class and rider’s time are held throughout the day; the fastest motos are at mid-day and were televised live on Portuguese TV.

In the E1 Heat moto Jamie Lanza impressed everyone with a second place finish behind Eero Remes of Finland by less than a second.  Jaimie rode a hard race and the announcer kept screaming “LANZA – JUNIOR” in Portuguese throughout the race   His 13 minutes 21.63 second moto was the 5th best for the day and top USA rider for day 6.  He beat riders like Meo, Belometti, Sjoo, and even Caselli, and Weigand for the day. Lanza performance guaranteed the USA Junior trophy team the last spot on the podium.

In addition to Lanza, other USA riders also did well in the E1 moto third went to Timmy Weigand, and Damon Huffman was fourth.  Weigand was still in pain from his finger injury the previous day, but did not let that slow him down much.

Next up was the E2 final moto and Destry Abbot placed 10th in this moto in spite of crashing hard and possibly breaking his little finder on his clutch hand.

In the Women’s Trophy final moto, Maria Forsberg was impressive with a 16:05.95 and placed third behind Ludivine Puy of France and Sandra Adriansson of Sweden.

Overall the USA can be proud of their week in spite of being on the podium in only one major classification.  Both the trophy and junior trophy teams lost their fast and experienced veterans early in the week and the rest of the team picked up and gutted it out with good times and impressive riding.  Our rookie juniors were outstanding with Jamie Lanza and Cory Buttrick putting out great and fast efforts.

In the overall standings, Kurt Caselli was 7th, Destry Abbott was 25th, and Russell Bobbitt was 33rd.

We don’t have the medal counts yet, but will post them as soon as we can.

Club teams did well this week with Carter Engineering in 10th of 91 club teams with riders Rory Sullivan, Troy Swettenam, and Zach Lipana.  The Missouri Mudders with Lars Valin, Toby Atkins, and Billy Burns was 12th.  Desert MC was 14rh with Shawn O”Leary, Nick Hamill, and Joel Burkett.  JAFMAR Racing was 17th with Jeff Fredette, Chilly White, and Don Grahn.  Boise Ridge riders were 24th with Brent Martell, David Booth, and Garrett Mayer.

In 60th place was Gofasters.com with Brian Sperle, Ryan Powell, and Jordan Brandt.  Tony Agonis Team, place 61st with Fred Hoess, Nick Fahringer, and Ben Smith.

Next year the ISDE will be held in Mexico and the buzz around the pits at the end of Day 6 was “we are going to Mexico!”  Should be a great event.

FINAL RESULTS
WORLD TROPHY

1. FRANCE
2. ITALY
3. FINLAND
4. AUSTRALIA
5. USA

JUNIOR TROPHY

1. SPAIN
2. FRANCE
3. USA
4. ITALY
5. SWEDEN

WOMEN’S TROPHY

1. FRANCE
2. SWEDEN
3. AUSTRALIA
4. USA
5. FINLAND

Click here to view the embedded video.

We will be giving one final 2008 DVD away and the rules are the same as before. Leave a comment below and we will randomly select one winner from the comments and notify you via email. Good Luck and thank to everyone who has been supporting our site!!

Be sure to check back often, this will be the first place that you will be able to buy the 2009 ISDE Portugal DVD. You will even be able to pre-order your DVD here to ensure that you are the first to have it.

UPDATE: The winner of the Greece DVD is Nils Davis, you will be contacted via email.