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

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.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Another day, another DVD. Same rules as the last one. Make a comment and show Team USA that we are back here rooting for them. We will randomly pick a winner and they will receive a copy of the 2008 ISDE Greece DVD.

UPDATE: Winner of the DVD is EDDIE BRIGHT aka FAST EDDIE , you will be contacted via email.

UPDATE: Winner of the PMB Hat is Brent Hoak you will be contacted via email.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The US Junior Trophy Team and Women’s Cup Team both maintain their postions. Cory Buttrick, Jamie Lanza, and Russell Bobbitt are putting in some good times and are just 5:26 behind Junior leaders Spain and France.

Maria Forsberg is leading the US Women’s Cup Team with Lacy Jones and Amanda Mastin. The US Women are in a solid 4th. France continues to dominate the Women’s Cup and are likely to be the winners by the end of the last day tomorrow. Sweden and Australia are in 2nd and 3rd.

World Trophy Team Results after Day 4

1. France
2. Italy
3. Australia
4. Finland
5. Portugal
6. Sweden
7. USA
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. Argentina
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 5 Special Test Results

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

Day 5 Results by Class

• E1
• E2
• E3
• Women
• C1
• C2
• C3

Progressive Results by Class after Day 5

• 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

This Daily Video Update is sponsored by Pro Moto Billet / Fastway Performace

Click here to view the embedded video.

The DVD is sponsored by: Motion Pro, TCX Boots, Husaberg, Cycle Gear Stores, and Tucker Rocky.

We already gave away the Pro Moto Billet Kickstand, and tomorrow we will be giving away Fastway FLAK Shields. Seeing as many people are whining that we are teasing you too much about the with the update videos, we are going to give away a copy of the 2008 ISDE Greece DVD. Its the same deal as the last one, leave a comment on this post and we will randomly pick one lucky winner to receive a DVD copy of last year’s show 2008 ISDE Greece. The deadline to enter this contest is 5pm PST tomorrow.

UPDATE: DVD Winner was Zach Ivey and will be contacted via email.

World Trophy Team Results after Day 3

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

Junior Trophy Team Results after Day 3

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

Women’s Cup Results after Day 3

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 3 Special Test Results

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

Day 3 Results by Class

• E1
• E2
• E3
• Women
• C1
• C2
• C3

Progressive Results by Class after Day 3

• E1
• E2
• E3
• Women
• C1
• C2
• C3

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

Day 3 Start List

Day 3 Time Schedule

The Day 2 Video is coming soon.