Aussie teams announced for 2017 ISDE

 

Simply dominant in the Women's Trophy category, the trio of Jones, Wilson and Gardiner first won the Women's Trophy in 2013 and have been unbeaten since, despite strong competition from the likes of France and Spain.

 

The lineup for this year's ISDE is unchanged from that which won at Navarre, Spain, last year, with Jones, Wilson and Gardiner all confirmed. The latter is currently competing in the French Enduro championship, while Jones and Wilson are racing in Australian competition in the lead up to August's action.

 

Last year, the runners-up behind Australia were Spain and Germany.

 

(reserve: Lachlan Stanford)

 

Last tasting the top step of the podium in the controversial 2015 ISDE in Slovakia, the Aussie senior men's squad consists of familiar names from that year, with the only new addition being Sanders.

 

A member of Australia's championship-winning Junior Trophy team in 2015, Sanders impressed in his senior debut last year and is currently honing his skills in the first year of a two-year deal with the Red Bull KTM team in EnduroGP in Europe. He's racing against Phillips, who is defending the E2 and inaugural EnduroGP titles he won last year with Sherco.

 

Experienced enduro campaigners, Green and Milner are both competing in this year's AORC national championship, with Milner currently leading the championship.

 

At last year's ISDE, Team USA won the Senior Trophy - their first - ahead of Great Britain and the Czech Republic.

 

Sanders won the E3 class and finished second in the individual category, but the Senior Team's chances were crushed after Josh Strang broke an ankle on the first day of competition. Under new rules for 2016, the worst-placed rider's score could not be dropped, so teams that managed to field a full four-man squad for all six days had the advantage over those - like Australia - who lost a rider through injury, especially early in the competition.

 

The Junior squad consists of two international debutantes in Ruprecht and Snodgrass, while Simpson returns to the junior team after making his ISDE debut last year.

 

Both Ruprecht and Snodgrass are in AORC action this year, with Active8 Yamaha Yamalube and the KTM Enduro Race Team.

 

Last year, the Australian Junior Trophy team finished sixth overall, with Sweden winners from the USA and Italy.

 

Manager for the Australian team will be Don Atkins, who is confident of the squad's chances at Brive in August: "We were last in Brive in 2001. There were some very good results that year with the Australian Trophy Team winning a few of the days.

 

"There are some significant goals to achieve at this year's event, and the selected teams are capable of achieving the highest results."

 

For further updates on the 2017 International Six Days Enduro, go to: isde-france-2017.com