No drama: AMA Team USA arrives in Portugal for ISDE
10/10/2009
Story and photos by Steve Berkner
"No drama" has been the status quo for AMA Team USA this week as they make final preparations for the Portuguese International Six Days Enduro being held in Figueira da Foz.
With less than 24 hours to go before the American team is scheduled to impound its bikes, U.S. team manager Bruce Wakeley had nothing but praise for the efforts of the 34 riders efforts as they made final race preparations.
"For a change, it’s been nice to not be so rushed to get our equipment unloaded and the bikes prepped and ready to go into impound,” Wakeley said, referring to years when the trip to the international event has not gone so smoothly.
Over the last couple of years, AMA Team USA has had a variety problem as the team shipping container has been delayed on getting delivered on time.
“Not this year,” Wakeley said. “Everything showed up on time."
Wakeley had other praises for the U.S. riders, who have been busy preparing for next week’s ISDE.
"This whole group of riders has been great so far,” Wakeley said. “About a third of our riders this year are rookies and they’re handling it pretty well. Everybody has been real easy to work with and we’ve pretty much have had no drama.”
The U.S. team is scheduled to impound bikes Saturday morning with opening ceremonies schedule for Saturday evening.
“Sunday is a free day for our riders to catch up on sleep, walk tests or do some sightseeing,” Wakeley said. “Then Monday morning the first rider is out at 8 a.m.”
Headlining this year’s American Six Days effort is the U.S. World Trophy Team, led by Ricky Dietrich and Kurt Caselli whose efforts last year powered AMA Team USA to a third overall finish and Dietrich with a second place overall individual finish.
“We like our chances again this year,” Caselli said. “We started the year out with the same team we had last year (in Greece) with Ricky, Nate (Kanney), Destry (Abbott), Jimmy (Jarrett), Nathan (Woods) and myself, but injuries to Jarrett and Woods left us in a recruiting situation where we brought on Damon Huffman and Timmy Weigand, both ISDE newcomers. Not a bad move as both of these guys have what it takes to set some respectable times in the special tests. It’s going to take both of them a couple of days to figure the whole Six Days’ routine out, but on paper they have what it takes.”
On the four-rider U.S. Junior Trophy Team, for riders 23 and under, newly crowned AMA/Rekluse National Enduro Champion Russell Bobbitt will lead the way with teammates David Kamo, Jamie Lanza and Cory Buttrick joining forces to compete in the division the U.S. won back in 2006 in New Zealand. Bobbitt is the only returning junior team eligible rider from that 2006 team.
U.S. women riders Maria Forsberg, Amanda Mastin and Lacy Jones will try and win back the Women’s World Cup trophy that the U.S. won in the inaugural year in 2007, but finished second for in 2008. Mastin and Jones rode on the 2007 U.S. team, while Forsburg won a gold medal competing on last year’s U.S. Women’s World Cup Team in her first Six Days.
The remaining seven three-rider club teams competing for the USA are:
JAFMAR RACING
Jeff Fredette
Chilly White
Don Grahn
MISSOURI MUDDERS
Lars Valin
Toby Atkins
Billy Burns
TONY AGONIS
Fred Hoess
Nick Fahringer
Ben Smith
DESERT MC
Shawn O'Leary
Joel Burkett
Nick Hamill
GO FASTERS.COM
Brian Sperle
Ryan Powell
Jordan Brandt
NW CLUB TEAM
Rory Sullivan
Troy Swettenam
Zach Lipana
CLUB TEAM 2
Brent Martell
David Booth
Garrett Mayer
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U.S. World Trophy Team rider Damon Huffman works on his tire changing.
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US Trophy team rider Destry Abbott (from left to right) and U.S. Junior Trophy Team riders Jamie Lanza and David Kamo pass the time in the U.S. pit area at the Parc Ferme in Figueira da Foz, Portugal.
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Lar Valin works on his motorcycles while unpacking his shipping crate.
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