2023 ISDE Results: Day five drops water in the works for Italy

Results from day five of the 2023 International Six Days Enduro in San Juan, Argentina where team USA are on the verge of 2023 Six Days glory as Italy and Spain go out the competition – USA the only team left standing in the Women’s World Trophy.

2023 ISDE day 5 in a nutshell:

You won’t believe it but we saw some water today in Argentina. So amazing was this spectacle, in test two and five at Villicum, that it drew the biggest crowd of the week so far.
Barron doesn’t cover how dusty, dry and rocky this place is otherwise but today, the tests crossed a river which would prove crucial in the fight for the World Trophy podium.
The big news is the wheels came off both Italy and Spain’s challenges. Kevin Cristino and Jaume Betriu both only got as far as finishing test one with the Spaniard going out with a hand injury sustained yesterday which proved too painful.
The Youth Enduro World Champion, Italian Cristino, found that water and engines don’t mix after swamping his Fantic in that water. Judging by the reports from the test, and videos, some old-school lessons in fixing a drowned bike wouldn’t go amiss in that camp…
That means Spain and Italy go out which allowed Great Britain to ditch the rear-view mirrors and concentrate on France up the road ahead. Much like day four, the French quartet edged faster times test by test and finished with a gap of 14 minutes behind Team USA and a margin of two minutes to GB in third. With just the motocross test tomorrow, the podium in the big class looks settled.
Ah yes, the USA. We haven’t mentioned them so far because frankly what’s to say? Fast collectively all week, Taylor Robert, Dante Oliveira, Johnny Girroir and Cole Martinez have been the model of consistency and now have just one test standing between them and that famous trophy for the first time since Portugal in 2019.
The Junior class is as nailed on as any of the men’s categories with the Swedish Juniors running away with it from day one. With more than 20 minutes advantage, victory tomorrow would be a welcome return to the top step for Sweden at the ISDE (the first time since Spain in 2016 fact fans).
A timesheet check throughout this morning showed just how evenly matched Josep Garcia and Andrea Verona are. The pair had traded wins by fractions of a second to sit just 0.28 apart at the end of lap one. Garcia turned up the wick on lap two to finish 16 seconds clear scratch but the individual honour is all these guys can aim at now after their teammates’ woes. Baring disaster, Josep has the outright win in the bag for the third time in succession.
What’s this? Brandy Richards didn’t win the Women’s individual scratch? It’s unheard of in recent years, when Richards is on two wheels at ISDE she is head and shoulders ahead her WWT rivals. But today, the 16-year-old Aussie Danielle McDonald took over the reins, finishing almost a minute ahead having done just one senior race before this. Someone sign-up Danielle for EnduroGP.
Wait, there is a reason. Brandy Richards is riding with a broken collarbone after a crash yesterday. FYI she was second today despite that...
Bluntly it matters little, Richards and her USA team have it in the bag despite ridign wounded. They have no contest and need only finish since all the female teams went out. That’s right, just one Women’s World trophy team remains, USA. It’s nuts and unprecedented.
With the only other team left, Latin America, losing one rider today Australia are now classified second despite having two riders. None of this is to belittle Richards’, Steed and Gutish’s performances however as they were surely in the driving seat from the get-go.
The Club Team Trophy looks as settled as any of the above with the XC Gear squad in charge ss they have been all week and extending their lead today to almost 20 minutes. Josh Toth is been theirs, and the Club class, stand-out performer – he’s clocked fastest times in 27 of the 30 tests ridden.
However, we reckon the biggest cheer at tomorrow’s podium ceremony will be reserved for the Argentine Club team riders Carlo Bellone, Fernando Hierrezuelo and Nicolas Giustozzi who are heading for third.
Day six is serves up the final motocross test, one more hurrah for the fans and teams with some stress for riders who know all they need to do is bring it home. But in a mass-start race (ridden in bike capacity classification and reverse class order) often brings a bit of chaos, even if it doesn’t always affect the result.
One more day, that’s all…