ISDE: 2015 Recap

The New Face Of

EVENT 2015 ISDE

ENDURO

When Australia’s first ever ISDE team returned from the 1977 Czechoslovakia event with a 100% DNF rate, they’d never have imagined our Senior, Junior and Women’s teams would clean-sweep the top step of the podium at the Slovakian Six-Day in 2015. Nor would they ever have imagined a court of law would decide the event’s outcome!

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andy wigan

n case you hadn’t heard, Australia did alright at the recent International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) in Slovakia. Better than alright, in fact. They absolutely killed it. Despite a fraction of the funding and support that many other nations receive, Australia’s World, Junior and Women’s Trophy teams all won enduro’s Holy Grail.

It was the third consecutive win for our plucky Women; the second time in history that our Junior team won (the debut win being way back in 1995), and the first win for our World Trophy team. Or was it?

Well, due to what can only be described as incomprehensible officiating, Australia’s World Trophy team has had to swallow the bitter

MARK KARIYA

pill of being provisionally relegated to second place behind France, pending the outcome of an FIM legal hearing. Yes, it’s a sad day when sporting events are decided by arcane workings of a legal system on the other side of the world (and as they say, a slow apology is no apology).

But the Aussies remain confident that justice will prevail and that they’ll finally be recognised as rightful winners of the 2015 ISDE. After all, that’s exactly how they were regarded by everyone (except the French) after the French-run FIM’s baffling eleventh-hour “reintegration” of eight disqualified riders – three of whom were French.

Without getting lost in the rulebook’s fine print or the inexplicable meddling by legal teams from France’s federation and the FIM, let’s take a look at the ongoing points of discussion, and try to separate fact from fiction while this decision hangs in the balance.

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EVENT 2015 ISDE

The 2014 Enduro 3 World Champion, Matt Phillips, got up to his usual antics at the ISDE. Fans love the guy.

n Day 3, eight riders from five nations missed a ‘route check’.

But because they didn’t seek (nor gain) an advantage, they should never have been disqualified from the event in the first place.

It’s true that when these eight riders (three of whom were from France’s World Trophy team) strayed off the course, they did not take a shortcut, but in fact rode a longer route before rejoining the course proper. However, they rode past two “Wrong Way” signs before finding their way back to the course. Other ISDE indiscretions – such as a rider checking into a control

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early or late – is seldom, if ever, due to a rider seeking to advance their position. But, irrespective, it’s still a fundamental mistake for which rules apply. In other words, accidentally straying off the course and missing the route check is not a mitigating factor.

The protests against the riders’ disqualifications were made on the grounds that the course was not properly marked.

The Clerk of the Course and members of the ISDE’s Jury went out to inspect the relevant section of the course to satisfy themselves that it was correctly marked and their decision to disqualify the riders was the correct one.

After doing that, their decision remained unchanged.

The fact that all 500 riders – including these eight –

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EVENT 2015 ISDE

Josh Green was Australia's only E1 representative. He ran a smart and solid fifth in the class on his Yamaha.

In 2013, Slovakia's Košice was the European Capital of Culture. In 2015, it copped a dose of enduro culture.

followed the correct course that very morning made it all that much harder to understand why these eight strayed off-course in the afternoon. It was not a consecutive batch of riders who ‘followed the leader’ and went the wrong way, either; the eight were separated by riders who stuck to the correct course.

Under the rules of the ISDE, missing a ‘route check’ means the rider did not ride the course, which is a fundamental breach of the event’s rules.

One of the founding principles of enduro racing is that riders must complete the entire course. It’s a fundamental tenet of the sport, if you like. This stems from the idea that enduro racing is not simply about being the fastest rider; it’s also very much about riders being able to maintain their bike and maintain their

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focus while fatigued. Failing to follow the course arrows is a clear sign that a rider has lost focus. Like waypoints in the Dakar Rally, ISDE riders have no idea how many route checks there will be on any given day. These checks (where a plastic tag on the rider’s handlebars is clipped by an official) are set up at random places and times on the course, but will often be immediately after a tough hillclimb or technical section, where riders risk damage to themselves or their bikes. The route check in question on Day 3 was at the end of a particularly gnarly rock-strewn creek bed, where several riders (Australian Daniel Milner and Beau Ralston included) derailed chains or busted radiators. No one is explicitly suggesting that this implies the riders missed the route check on purpose, but it illustrates how missing it could materially

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EVENT 2015 ISDE

With a two-minute deficit to the French, the Aussies rode out of their skins in the final moto, but came up one minute short.

Standouts In

affect a rider’s chances and the outcome of the race.

All five teams affected by the Day 3 disqualifications (France, USA, Spain, Great Britain, Italy) protested the decision, so the initial ruling must have been wrong. Right?

After the riders were reinstated for Day 6, the Italian team’s management claimed they were pressured into joining the French team’s protest on Day 3. Subsequent actions by other teams involved suggested they were similarly contrite about initially siding with the French.

Allowing riders to ‘ride under protest’ in no way indicates

SLOVAKIA

utting all the politics, legal proceedings and emotional accusations aside, there were some incredible individual performances from the Australian riders at this year’s ISDE. Here’s a snapshot...

WORLD TROPHY After an event-long ding-dong battle with standout American ISDE debutante, Ryan Sipes, Australia’s Dan Milner had to settle for a very narrow second in both the E2 class and Outright. Milner posted several Outright special test and day-wins during the event.

Matt Phillips and Beau Ralston finished fifth and

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that their protest is likely to be evaluated favourably.

Even if the ISDE’s Jury found the eight riders to be in the wrong, the punishment of disqualification was too severe.

While some agree with this, it remains completely besides the point. The rules under which the 2015 event was run allow only one course of action for riders who failed to follow the course: disqualification. The penalty is harsh because it reflects how crucial following the course is to this event. To dole out a more ‘fitting’ punishment would be entirely arbitrary. That’s not to

ninth, respectively, in the E2 class, while Glenn Kearney (a last-minute call-up to replace Josh Strang) did brilliantly on an unfamiliar bike and next to no preparation to run 20th in the hotly contested E2 class.

Josh Green was Australia’s sole E1-class entrant, and ran fifth Overall.

Lachy Stanford won the E3 class Outright on Day 1.

He went on to finish sixth (and the first four-stroke rider) in the E3 class.

JUNIOR WORLD TROPHY Three of Australia’s Junior Trophy team riders were racing their first ISDE (Broc Grabham,

Tom Mason and Tye Simmonds).

The fourth member of the Junior team, Daniel Sanders, was racing only his second ISDE, and the 20-year-old stepped up big-time. He followed in (his domestic teammate) Toby Price’s 2014 footsteps by winning the E3 class Overall, and ran an astonishing fourth in the Outright standings.

In the E2 class, Tye Simmonds finished an exceptionally strong 10th. He was the second Junior rider in the class.

Broc Grabham did well to run 34th in E2 aboard a 300cc four-stroke machine after a last-minute change from his

preferred 450cc Sherco mount, while Tom Mason posted a commendable top-20 in the E3 class.

WOMEN’S WORLD TROPHY The Slovakian win made it three in a row, with Team Australia fielding the same trio – Jess Gardiner, Tayla Jones and Jemma Wilson – for all three years. This year, the Aussie women won by more than 55 minutes over France, with Sweden a further 20 minutes back in third.

Tayla Jones won all six days of competition and all except two special tests – which were won by her teammate, Wilson.

Jemma Wilson rode the entire event with painful tendonitis in both wrists to finish a stoic second Overall in the EW class.

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EVENT 2015 ISDE

Junior team riders, Tom Mason (#57), Tye Simmonds (#59) and Broc Grabham (#56) – three ISDE debutants.

The Daniel duo – Milner (left) and Sanders (right) – were Australia's standout riders this year in Slovakia.

say the rules can’t be changed for subsequent ISDEs. But for the 2015 installment, the situation is cut and dried.

Take for example the situation when Australia’s Peter Savage was running alongside his bike as he pushed it to the starting line of the 1980 ISDE in France, and his heel inadvertently kicked his bike into gear and caused it to bump-start the engine. According to the rulebook back then, prematurely starting your bike meant exclusion from the event. And that’s exactly what happened to Savage – in spite of the fact it was widely regarded that the penalty of was too harsh for this ‘crime’. The incident prompted a discussion that saw the rule amended for

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future ISDEs (the penalty was changed to one minute), but Savage had to abide by the rules that applied at the time he raced. In other words, rules and penalties can be changed, but that needs to happen before an event; not during or after it.

To prepare themselves for the faint possibility that the French team might be reinstated into the results, Australia’s team management should have manually kept tabs on the French riders’ results.

On Days 4 and 5, the French riders were racing under protest, but seeing as they had been disqualified from the event, Team France did not appear in the event’s

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EVENT 2015 ISDE

results for two days. Individual rider times did appear, so Australia’s management team went through the laborious job of manually adding up the combined total for the disqualified French riders, to determine the hypothetical position of a reinstated French team.

Given that Team Australia had amassed a 12-minute lead over the second-place team, Italy, they rode conservatively on Days 4 and 5 – never once suspecting that the disqualified riders would be reinstated. Which is understandable, given the protest against the initial disqualification had been denied by organisers. Yes, the Aussies were aware that, hypothetically, the French were catching them, but it was only when the eight riders were

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reinstated prior to Day 6 that anyone realised the French team were two minutes ahead of the Australians. At that late stage of the game – with only Day 6’s final motocross remaining – it was too late for the Aussies to react to the “reintegrated” riders and the re-shuffled results.

Riding their hearts out on the final day, the Australians halved the two-minute deficit to the French, but could do no more. Remember also that by reinstating the riders from France, GB, Spain, USA and Italy, Team Italy was relegated from second to fourth. So they too will be hanging on the decision of the FIM’s International Disciplinary Court (CDI). The real question should be why it took a few days between the decision to disqualify

DON...

According To The

A last-minute call-up to replace Josh Strang, Glenn Kearney brought his vast experience to the team.

on Atkins has attended 20 ISDEs. He’s been an integral part of Australia’s management team since 1998, and Team Manager since 2011. So, what did Don make of what went down in Slovakia? We asked the quietly spoken enduro tragic to help put Australia’s stellar performance – and the event’s officiating – into clearer perspective for us.

TM: What does the whole shemozzle boil down to in your mind, Don? DA: If a rider wants to race a motorcycle discipline where he or she is only judged on being the fastest, then there are other disciplines designed for them. If the rider wants to demonstrate they’re a more complete package, then they’ll race enduro. And an absolutely fundamental part of enduro is following the course. Having every rider complete the same course is the central objective that organisers of any enduro event work to achieve.

I’m not saying those eight riders intended to do anything wrong in Slovakia, but they did. And the rulebook has very specific penalties for that – disqualification.

How does the current situation – where the decision has gone above the event’s Jury and is now being played out between legal teams from the FIM and the French federation – sit with you?

Not at all well. I find it interesting that, prior to the event, there’s all this talk between the countries of there being “gentleman’s agreements” with things such as helpers being allowed to hand bumbags over to riders at tests, but not putting extra parts or tools in those bumbags. The next thing you know, we’ve got lawyers at 20 paces. I understand that the process is there to allow for that. But it remains very unusual that things escalated so quickly. One minute, it’s all about doing things for the good of the sport; the next, the results are being determined by courts of law.

My understanding is that the FIM’s International Disciplinary Court should have a decision by October 23, but it appears unlikely that that timeframe will be adhered to.

And until that decision is made, there is absolutely nothing that we or Motorcycling Australia can do.

In the 20 years you’ve been involved with ISDEs, have you even seen anything like this before?

No, never. Not that I’ve been aware of, anyway. I’ve seen final motocross races stopped and punch-ups between riders and officials, but nothing like this. I wasn’t aware that this sport

resorted to those extremes to sort out their problems. I believe the Jury’s President threatened to resign over the way this was dealt with by the FIM, so that’ll give you a feel for how unusual these circumstances were.

I am bitterly disappointed about the direction the sport has been taken.

If it’s any consolation, it seemed as if an Australian win had the unanimous support of all other countries, and that even the FIM officials on the ground were speaking to the Australian team as rightful winners.

Yes, there was an amazing amount of support for the Australian World Trophy team after the French team was reinstated in the results. That support came from a range of countries and officials. That’s nice, but it’s not a consolation.

There are certainly lots of positives to take out of Slovakia, though.

Absolutely. And it’s very unfortunate that this preoccupation with the protest and appeal process has taken attention away from the fact that our Women’s and Junior Trophy teams both won the event, and that Australian riders put in some sensational individual performances.

I know of many long-time Australian enduro aficionados who have welled up with emotion about this incredible achievement. And rightly so. Many also made reference to the late John Hall, who took Australia’s first ever ISDE team to Czechoslovakia in 1977.

In 2012, the French won the World, Junior and Women’s Trophy Teams – the only time that has been done.

If the decision goes in our favour, not only would we match that 2012 French result, we’d take it one step further because we also won a fourth trophy – the Watling Trophy – this year, which is awarded to the most improved nation. I believe four trophies at one event would be unprecedented. It’d be a fitting tribute for the dedication shown by many people – riders and supporters – in the Australian off-road scene for years.

What are the odds of Australia being belatedly announced as winners of the World Trophy Team?

I honestly couldn’t say. But if I believe in enduro and everything it stands for – and this sport has been a huge part of my life – then the French federation’s appeal must be denied and this win handed to Australia. I think that, for the good of the sport, you can’t ignore the rules to that degree. And to some extent, the future of the sport depends on the right decision being made here. Otherwise, it could establish a damaging precedent.

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EVENT 2015 ISDE

It might look like a celebration, but it was equal parts protest against being provisionally relegated to second place.

and reinstate the riders. That’s an untenable situation in any sporting event, and for everyone involved. The fact the FIM is an organisation run largely by the French sure doesn’t help in this situation, either. In the public’s eyes, it tends to give the FIM a FIFA-like bent quality.

And who’s to say there’s no merit in those views?

By standing on the top step of the podium, and then walking off (instead of moving to the second step of the podium), the Australian World Trophy team demonstrated poor sportsmanship.

Well, if that was the case, no one who attended the presentation (French team and federation aside, that is) seemed to think so. The Aussies were universally cheered for their admittedly cheeky statement – a protest by celebration, if you like. The French team was universally booed by the large crowd when they finally

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took their place on the top step of the podium – which is unfortunate because the riders themselves had little to do with the debacle. So, if anything, the poor sportsmanship came from the crowd, not the Aussies.

Regrettably, things escalated later that night at Košice’s downtown watering hole where a majority of teams and riders congregated. Such was the disgust about the favouritism that the FIM had seemed to show the French riders, the multilingual pub descended into a collective chorus of “Fuck the French! Fuck the French!” for quite some time. Sadly, in the whirlwind of emotion, even punches were thrown. By all accounts, it was ugly and unsavory. And if all the booing at the event’s presentation didn’t do enough to leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, then the drama that went down that night at the pub sure did.

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