ISDE SPAIN DAY 4 RECAP | TEAM USA MOVES BACK INTO 2nd!

The fourth day of special test racing concluded today at the 2024 International Six Days of Enduro in Spain. Leads were extended, passes were made, and crashes were plenty.

In the fight for individual honors, current leader Josep Garcia, despite a fall, took the first test win of the morning. He would win four more tests on the day, taking his third day victory out of four, extending his lead over Steve Holcombe by over thirty two seconds, with one day of special tests remaining. Holcombe would take the remaining special test victory for the day, as well as claim second overall on the afternoon. Third overall and top junior was Sweden’s Max Ahlin. After losing time over Days 2 and 3 to Italy’s Kevin Cristino, Ahlin would take his second junior victory of the week, and pull nearly a minute on Cristino in the junior individual standings. Fourth outright was France’s Theo Espinasse, who continues to show the consistency that along with his teammates, have placed France in the world trophy team lead since the opening day. Despite a crash in the final special test of the day, Italy’s Samuele Bernardini would round out the top five overall for the day.

Words by Kyle Wolfe
Photos by Future7Media

Spain’s Josep Garcia leads the overall standing by over 30 seconds.

Finishing sixth outright and top American for the day was Johnny Girroir. With four tests inside the top five, including a third in the final special test of the day, Girroir has his best day of the week after a rough start through the first three days. Seventh was American Grant Davis. The leading USA junior had two results inside the top five, including a fourth just behind Girroir in the final test of the day. Italy’s Morgan Lesiardo recovered from a rough Day 3 to place himself in eighth on Day 4 ahead of France’s Leo Le Quere, and fellow Italian Matteo Cavallo to round out the top ten for the afternoon.

Finishing sixth outright and top American for the day was Johnny Girroir.

Josh Toth finished just outside the top ten in the eleventh spot for the day, with an eighth placefinish in the third special test. Cody Barnes would finish seventeenth overall on Day 4, with Dante Oliveira placing nineteenth. A seventh in test three and a second in test six vaulted D.O.’s day from a thirty fifth in test five that left him further down in the standings. Mateo Oliveira took twenty ninth overall for the day with Jason Tino finishing forty fifth on Day number four.

Danta Oliveira had a tough day.

Brandy Richards took the win on Day 4 in the Women Trophy classification, winning three tests on the day, battling it out with New Zealand’s Rachael Archer, who claimed the other three test victories on the afternoon. Richards took the day win by fifteen seconds over Archer. Third on the day was Australia’s Jessica Gardiner, just ahead of American Rachel Gutish, putting in her best performance of the week. Seventeen year old Australian Danielle Macdonald was fifth for the day ahead of Canada’s Shelby Turner. Several crashes hampered Spain’s Mireia Badia to her lowest scoring performance of the week in seventh, ahead of Italy’s Francesca Nocera. Australian Tayla Jones was ninth with United States Ava Silvestri rounding out the top ten women for the day.

The Women’s USA Trophy team leads with over a 3-minute gap over Australia.

In the World Trophy standings after Day 4, France leads by 7:51 over new second place team United States, with a 1:43 advantage of their own over Spain with one day of special test racing to go. Australia holds fourth, 22:42 out of the lead position, with Czech Republic over nine minutes behind the Aussies.

In the Junior Trophy standings, Sweden continues to lead over France, the gap not changing from Day 3 after a dismal day for Axel Semb, who suffered a crash during test two that left him riding out the rest of the special covered in mud on his left side. USA still retains third, and increased their advantage over Australia by more than a minute on Day 4. The Aussies have eleven minutes on their side over fifth place Great Britain in the team standings.

Grant Davis is still holding strong for the Junior USA Trophy team.

In the Women Trophy standings, USA extends their lead by thirty seconds over Australia, and carry a near four minute advantage going into the final day of special test racing. Sweden retains third after Day 4, nearly sixteen minutes behind the Aussie trio. France is alone in fourth, with Spain rounding out the top five, thirty minutes behind France.

Day 5 tomorrow brings two new tests to the riders, and they more than likely will be the toughest special tests the riders will face all week. Up in the Spanish country side in elevation, along with windmills lining the mountain top, the tests will be windy, possibly rainy, and even slightly less visibility than the riders are used to. With most positions firmly locked in for the team trophy standings, the riders main goal tomorrow will be to stay upright and not make the big mistakes that could cost them heaps of time.

OVERALL DAY 4 ISDE RESULTS

1. Josep Garcia

2. Steve Holcombe +32.24
3. Max Ahlin +50.76
4. Theophile Espinasse +1:05.57
5. Samuele Bernardini +1:04.69
6. Jonathan Girroir (USA) +1:20.90
7. Grant Davis (USA) +1:26.00
11. Josh Toth (USA) +1:41.88
17. Cody Barnes (USA) +1:54.43
19. Danta Oliveira (USA) +1:58.28