Day one of the ninety-second running of the FIM International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) in Brive, France saw defending FIM World Trophy team champions the USA run into troubles almost as soon as the event started. Crashing on the opening special test Thad Duvall – Husqvarna badly injured his left wrist, forcing him to retire soon afterwards.
France’s FIM World Trophy squad enjoyed a successful opening day, claiming the win despite Loic Larrieu – Yamaha picking up a one-minute time penalty at the end of the day. Sweden topped the FIM Junior World Trophy class ahead of Italy and France with less than one-minute covering the top four teams. Spain head the FIM Women’s World Trophy team category.
Placing one-minute and fifty seconds ahead of surprise runners-up Finland, France enjoyed a dominant opening day in Brive. Yamaha mounted Loic Larrieu posted the fastest times in the five special tests, but was handed a 60-second penalty for arriving late at the day’s final time control following troubles re-fittings his front wheel. Jeremy Tarroux – Sherco topped the Enduro 1 class, Christophe Nambotin – KTM was fastest in the Enduro 3 category, with ISDE newcomer Christophe Charlier – Husqvarna fastest in Enduro 2.
One of the stand out performances of the opening day was Finland’s runner-up result in the World Trophy class. With former Enduro World Championship regular Matti Seistola – KTM coming out of semi-retirement to compete for Finland, the Finns placed twenty-six seconds ahead of Australia in third.
Helped by the performance of Laia Sanz – KTM, Spain have taken an early lead in the FIM Women’s World Trophy category. Some forty-two seconds ahead of defending champions Australia, Spain will have to keep their focus as they head into the second day of competition if they are to stay ahead of the experienced Australian trio. The USA placed third, France fourth with Sweden fifth.
Day two of the ninety-second ISDE will see riders complete the same two hundred and fifty kilometre course.
