Story: Noel Flatters | Editor - Enduro.Media
Images: © mjsmmotophotos courtesy Team Canada ISDE
November 6th, 2023

Day 2 of the 2023 went off today in the desert outside of San Juan, Argentina. Today was a repeat of the Day 1 course but with modified transfer sections. As the Canadian team told us yesterday, the transfers were very technical and, in conjunction with the brutal heat, made for one of the hardest days that team members had ever experienced.

In a devastating turn of events today, FIM - ISDE announced that Club racer Albert Pos from the Netherlands passed away today. Details are not available at this time, but we join the moto community in sharing our condolences and best wishes to the family, friends, and teammates of Albert on the heels of this tragedy.

Team Canada entered the day with the Men’s World Trophy Team in P8 overall, just under a minute behind Team Argentina. The men (Phillippe Chaine, Owen McKill, Tyler Medaglia, and Jared Stock) made it through the day to move up to 7th overall in the standings. More importantly they finished intact both physically and mechanically, which is key in the ISDE format where each rider finishing outside the time limits (or is unable to finish) counts for the maximum 3 hour time penalty each remaining day of the race. Unfortunately the Canadian Women’s team fell victim to this on Day 1. Both Natasha Lapachelle and Emma Sharpless were unable to finish the day, which left Félicia Robichaud as the sole active ride and with a 6 hour penalty added to her time for each of the remaining days.

Speaking with Jared Stock after the day’s racing, he noted that the slight drop in temperatures (high 30’s instead of 40c), combined with higher winds and modified/faster pace transfers that aided evaporative cooling, meant that “It felt less gnarly on the bike.” He also pointed out that the course was a lot rougher on the second day of racing, and that “It was way more fun out there today, especially with the development of huge braking bumps.” Setting suspension for enduro is often a game of compromises, especially in multi-day events like ISDE. In order to get the suspension stiff enough to handle race pace in the tests, riders pay a physical price in the transfers on these 7-hour days and that price keeps adding up as the week progresses. Day 3 is notorious for being the toughest day at ISDE events, and riders will be working hard to manage bodies and equipment.

World Trophy Men

Italian Andrea Verona (GasGas Factory Racing) took P1 on Day 2 over Josep Garcia (Spain - KTM Factory Racing) in a reversal of the Day 1 finish. American Dante Oliviera (FMF KTM Factory Racing) came home in P3 for the second consecutive day on what was a huge day for Team USA. The Americans were able to increase their overall lead in the Team classification to 5’21.06 over Great Britain, and 7’14.81 over 3rd place France.

The Canadian men had another good outing on Day 2 in San Juan. Tyler Medaglia led the way for the Canadians again, with a P21 finish and just 1 minute out of the top 10. Medaglia’s suspension was stolen from a gear bag at one of the layovers on the way down to Argentina and he’s running stock as a result. He noted that the front fork is a bit soft when he’s on the limit in the tests. On day 1 he was passing two riders every test, which slowed him down considerably due to the lack of visibility from the dust and silt they were kicking up. Today he barely had to make any passes with adjusted start times, and was better able to ride at his race pace. Owen McKill had a really good ISDE day, too: consistent and fast, the crucial elements of success in multi-day racing. McKill was P28 for Day 2, 29th overall. Phillippe Chaine brought it home for P35 (36th overall), and Jared Stock was P34, 35th overall in the World Trophy classification.

WORLD TROPHY WOMEN

Day 2 was a huge one for Team USA on the Women’s side of the World Trophy Competition, too. Brandy Richards (KTM) took a second consecutive win with a dominant performance that saw her finish 2’40 over teammate Rachel Gutish (Over and Out Racing / GasGas), and 2’52.73 over Australian Jessica Gardner (Yamaha). The US now leads the Women’s World Trophy 4’58.59 over Australia, and 3rd overall Team FIM Latin America by over an hour. France had been sitting in the top 3, but an injury and DNF for Elodie Chaplot added a three-hour time penalty. It’s going to be fun watching Australia try to battle back against this impressive US Women’s team over the coming days.

Canadian Félicia Robichaud, the sole remaining Canadian woman, finished P14 on Day 2.