International Six Day Enduro - Press Release

[Joni]

This email came through to KB... should be a goodie for off road fans.

NZ TAKES ON THE WORLD ELITE

New Zealand's six-man No.1 team to contest November's “Olympic Games of motorcycling” has a distinctly motocross flavour and they fancy their chances of bringing home gold.

The annual International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) kicks off near Taupo on November 14 with Taranaki-born and bred brothers Darryll and Shayne King spearheading the Kiwi campaign.

They will be joined in New Zealand's elite six-rider “Trophy Team” by fellow motocross international Scott Columb (Queenstown) and by enduro guns Kevin Archer (Te Awamutu), Chris Birch (Waimauku) and Paul Whibley (Pahiatua).

Whibley will return from racing in the United States -- he's currently fifth in the national series there -- especially for the ISDE.

The Trophy Team is New Zealand's No.1 squad to tackle the big event in the Kinleith Forest, between Taupo and Tokoroa.

The No.2 squad, the four-man Junior Trophy Team, comprises Jason Davis (Whangamata), Karl Power (Hamilton), Adrian Smith (Thames) and Michael Phillips (Rotorua).

In addition, New Zealand has more than 28 separate three-rider Club Teams entered.

In all, 94 New Zealand riders are entered, not surprisingly the largest contingent of any of the 29 countries represented at the Taupo event. It is the first time the ISDE has been staged in New Zealand and therefore offers the Kiwi elite their best opportunity to win gold because they may be more familiar with the typical New Zealand pine forest course and huge support is expected from the Kiwi public.

The sport of enduro racing can be compared to rally car racing, with riders setting off in groups of three, one minute apart, over marked courses that include anything nasty that nature can throw up -- logs, tree roots, rocks, mud, creek beds, gorse-strewn hills and ravines, rolling grass farmland, sandhills and swamp -- most of which the riders have no chance to preview before they come across it.

And they're on their own, with no outside assistance allowed. Flat tyre? Broken engine? Bent handlebars? Lost? Run out of fuel? Gashed arm? Riders must deal with these emergencies and reach the next check-point, or they're out.

This year's ISDE involves more than 600 of the world's best dirt bike racers. A strong representation is due from Europe and Australia with riders competing in national teams (Trophy Teams) and also competing as individuals for personal glory.

The 78th ISDE was held in Brazil in 2003 and was won by Belgian motocross legend Stefan Everts, the 79th was held in Poland in 2004 and was won by New Zealand's Stefan Merriman and the 80th was held in Slovakia in 2005 and won by British rider David Knight.

Although originally from Tauranga, Merriman has raced under an Australian licence for a number of years and he will again be a part of Australia's Trophy Team.

Merriman, a four-time former world enduro champion (2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004) and defending world enduro champion Samuli Aro (Finland) will go head-to-head at the Taupo event, along with former 500cc motocross world champion Joel Smets (Belgium).

It sounds like, for at least one week in November, New Zealand is going to be crawling with motorcycle world champions past and present, and the Kiwi team is determined it will be among the medals.

[Joni]

Schedule of the 2006 ISDE: 29 Nations, 6 days, 600 riders - 1 winner.

Pre-event
9 November All 600 + motorcycles impounded in Parc Ferme until Day One.

12 November Opening Ceremony, 1.00pm. Olympic-style with riders representing 29 countries parading in uniform along Horomatangi Street, in Taupo.



The 2006 ISDE runs from Tuesday, November 14, until Sunday, November 19.

14 – 18 November Days One to Five, Special stages held in and around Kinleith Forest.

19 November Day Six, Motocross Special Stage at Digger McEwen Park, Taupo.

19 November Awards ceremony and dinner, Taupo Events Centre, from 7.30pm.



For further information, rider interviews or high resolution photographs contact:

2006 ISDE Media Manager Terry Stevenson on 021 999-160

Email terry@isde06.com or visit www.isde06.com

[Crasherfromwayback]

Show....thanks for that!

[Joni]

Some more stuff that was sent though

A PROUD NZ HISTORY IN THE OLYMPICS OF MOTORCYCLING

New Zealand has a proud history in the International Six Days Enduro.

This November the ISDE, considered the “Olympic Games of Motorcycling”, comes to New Zealand for the first time and this brings enormous smiles to the faces of many Kiwi dirt bikers.

New Zealanders have achieved much in the world of motorcycling but have only rarely been able to strut their stuff within view of their adoring public, their supporters, fans and a wider Kiwi audience.

But, from November 14 to 19, in forestry north of Taupo, nearly 100 Kiwi riders from all parts of New Zealand will take on the world on their own turf in this year’s Yamaha and Maxxis-sponsored 81st edition of the big event.

There are also many people in this country, brought up on a steady diet of rugby and cricket and perhaps uninitiated in the ways of off-road motorcycle racing, who will be surprised, and no doubt impressed, when more than 600 riders from 29 countries descend on the central North Island tourism hot spot.

When Tokoroa motorcycling legend Sean Clarke, himself a gold medal winner at this elite level of endurance cross-country racing, was given the task of organising this year’s ISDE, he jumped at the chance.

Clarke assembled a crew of experienced former racers and tapped into New Zealand’s vast network of motorcycle event organisers, officials and club volunteers.

The fruits of their labour will no doubt be tasted long after the last bike has been crated up and taken to the international departures terminal.

New Zealand is in for a busy time in November with the economic impact predicted to reach about $15 million as each of the visiting riders brings with them a crew of support personnel, and international journalists, television crews and officials arrive for the week-long spectacle.

Though usually a long way from the enduro hotbed of central Europe, New Zealanders have been among the leading competitors at previous ISDE events.

New Zealand won the six-man team bronze at the ISDE in 1983 in Wales and the four-man and six-man teams won the Watling Trophy for Most Improved Team in 1992 in NSW, Australia.

New Zealand finished seventh in the six-man event and fifth in the Junior Trophy in 1998, in Victoria, Australia.

Kiwi internationals Stefan Merriman and Paul Whibley are at least two of the New Zealanders expected to feature at the front this November.

Merriman, from Tauranga, is a four-time world enduro champion.

Whibley, from Pahiatua, is currently racing in the United States Grand National Cross-country Championships and is among the leaders there.

The figures at Clarke’s fingertips make for impressive reading.

“This year we have 94 New Zealand riders at this event and 73 from Australia, 49 from Britain, 43 from the United States, 28 from Mexico and 25 from Canada, to identify just a few of the larger contingents,” he said.

He said the team from Finland is one of the favourites with big names enduro riders Mika Ahola (Honda), Samuli Aro (KTM), Jari Mattila (Honda), Petri Pohjamo (TM), Juha Salminen (KTM) and Marko Tarkkala (KTM) forming the Finn’s official “Trophy Team”, the No.1 line-up nominated to represent Finland.

New Zealand, too, has a powerful squad for the 2006 ISDE.

The No.1 team, six-rider New Zealand Trophy Team, comprises former world motocross champion Shayne King (New Plymouth), three-time former Australian motocross champion and former motocross world No.2 Darryll King (Hamilton), current Grand Prix motocross star Scott Columb (Queenstown), and international enduro riders Chris Birch (Waimauku), Kevin Archer (Te Awamutu) and Paul Whibley (Pahiatua).

The No.2 squad, the four-man Junior Trophy Team, comprises Jason Davis (Whangamata), Karl Power (Hamilton), Adrian Smith (Thames) and Michael Phillips (Rotorua).

29 Nations, 6 days, 600 riders - 1 winner.

:spudwave:

[Crasherfromwayback]

I was a flatmate of Stefans when I was in Brisbane, and I can assure you all he's a down to earth typical Kiwi bloke!

Go the Kiwis!!!

[cowpoos]

I wish I was still that fit....would be a blast competing in that sort of feild!!! argh!

[SDU]

Thanks Joni
Would be awesome to be there. Pity its all happening up North. I hope they show some decent TV coverage.

[Motu]

It's on the same weekend as the WRC.....I don't know what I'll be doing around then,but I'd like to see a day of each.

[Joni]

Latest "teaser" that was sent through to KB:

SCOTTY BEAMS HOME IN BID FOR GOLD MEDAL

He has never raced an International Six Days Enduro before, but Queenstown's Scott Columb is brimming with confidence as he looks ahead to this year's edition.

The ISDE, widely regarded as the “Olympic Games of Motorcycling”, will happen in New Zealand for the first time in the event's 93-year history this November and presents New Zealand's best chance of taking home a handful of gold medals.

This year's ISDE is to be run in the Kinleith Forest, just north of Taupo, from November 14 to 19.

More than 600 of the world's best dirt bike racers, from 29 countries, have entered. Included in that number are a number of current and former world champions, many of them big-salary riders under contracts to the major bike manufacturers and household names in their own countries.

“I have never raced an ISDE but I have raced two Australian four-day enduro events,” said Columb, speaking from his base in Belgium. The 22-year-old is currently racing the World Motocross Championships.

“My first Australian four-day event was when I was 17. I finished seventh in the 400cc class and won a gold medal,” he recalled.

“The other time I raced the Australian event was in 2003. I rode a Suzuki RM125 and I was second in class and sixth outright. I was the fastest Kiwi.

“I have grown up riding trail bikes. That is what my whole family does and what I love most. I want to be the fastest Kiwi at the ISDE and get a gold medal too.”

“I don't know about the riders I'll be facing. All I know is these guys go fast on any condition. As long as I ride well, I will be happy, it will be fantastic experience and it will be good just to represent New Zealand.”

Columb has been chosen in New Zealand's elite six-rider Trophy Team, considered this country's top contenders. Other members of the Trophy Team are Shayne King (New Plymouth), Darryll King (Hamilton), Paul Whibley (Pahiatua), Kevin Archer (Te Awamutu) and Chris Birch (Waimauku).

The No.2 squad, the Junior Trophy Team, comprises Jason Davis (Whangamata), Karl Power (Hamilton), Adrian Smith (Thames) and Michael Phillips (Rotorua).

In addition, New Zealand has more than 28 separate three-rider Club Teams entered.

The ISDE is an event that draws in riders from all corners of the planet.

Columb has been based in Europe this season. He is working hard to cement a spot in a Grand Prix motocross team for 2007. Having arrived this year as a GP rookie (riding for the Czech Republic's Delta Suzuki team) it was hard work getting his speed up to the pace of the Grand Prix riders, but slowly he is making headway.

In international motocross races in Belgium, England and Czech Republic he has managed to finish inside the top 10.

Now he's aiming to achieve similarly impressive results in the long-distance, cross-country branch of the sport and they don't get any bigger than the ISDE.

[Joni]

Latest ionformation that was sent through to KB:

AXEMAN SHARP FOR ISDE

His nickname is The Axeman and that should make Pahiatua's Paul Whibley more comfortable than most when the going gets tough in the Kinleith Forest from November 14 to 19.

The forest, just north of Taupo, will host more than 600 of the world's elite off-road motorcyclists when the 81st annual International Six Days Enduro is staged in New Zealand for the first time.

The Yamaha and Maxxis-sponsored event, a gruelling test of man and machine, plays right into the hands of a hard-as-nails man like Whibley.

His background in the forestry industry and his undoubted skills on a motorcycle combine to make the 28-year-old Whibley one of New Zealand's leading contenders for gold medal honours at the ISDE.

Whibley spent five years a logger, based in the central North Island town of Marton, and that's where the catchy “Axeman” moniker became his trademark.

In recent years he has changed jobs -- he's now a professional motorcycle racer, based in the United States -- and he ranks high among the world elite.

“I started riding when I was five-years-old, on the family farm. My first bike was a Yamaha PW50. My first race was a Bush Riders Motorcycle Club (Pahiatua) motocross on a Honda XR200. That was when I was aged 15.”

Whibley has packed an awful lot into his racing career.

He is currently fifth in the United States Grand National Cross-Country series and, riding in the E3 class, he finished fourth and fifth on the two days of the World Enduro Championships round in Canada recently.

“Obviously, I'm aiming for a gold medal at Taupo's ISDE,” he said.

Whibley will race a Honda CR250 at Taupo.

“I want to finish top five in the E2 class. I will be aiming to win but it would be a big ask with the depth of riders entered in the E2 class.

“I raced the ISDE in Australia in 1998 and Slovakia last year, on that occasion in a club team with Sean Clarke and Kelly Paterson. At both those ISDEs, I received a gold medal.”

It would not be unreasonable to expect that, when “the Axeman” emerges from the Kinleith Forest at the end of this year's ISDE, he might just collect a third gold medal.

Whibley's roll of honour:
Two-time ISDE gold medallist.
Two-time Australian Enduro champion.
Three-time New Zealand Enduro champion.
Two-time New Zealand Cross-Country champion.
2005 - 12th World Enduro Championship (WEC), E2 class
2004 - 6th World Enduro Championship, E2 class
2003 - 8th World Enduro Championship, E2 class

[Wellyman]

:
How many KB'ers going down to spectate this one.
I would be keen on catching up with some of you guys down their, as im going to specate.
WM

not tooo long now
WM


and some more, just coz its so exciting

[Joni]

I'm starting to feel like their press release officer... however here you go for the people who are interested.

Merriman Set for Third ISDE Victory

One of New Zealand’s most successful off-road riders arrived ‘home’ last week to prepare for the ‘Ironman’ of world-level motorcycling, the Maxxis International Six Days Enduro (ISDE). The ISDE, the toughest off-road motorcycle endurance event in the world, will be held in the Taupo area from November 14 –19, and Stefan Merriman is getting ready for victory number three.

With huge fields of riders from 31 nations around the globe, Merriman has incredibly won the ISDE twice outright - his first victory came in 2000 in Spain, adding his second crown four years later in Poland. Amongst his many prizes, no less than four World Enduro and six straight Italian Enduro titles adorn Merriman’s trophy cabinet.

With such a remarkable pedigree, the only problem for the New Zealand six rider Trophy team is - Merriman will be riding for the Australian Trophy team! “The reason behind the Australian team is I lived over there for seven years before I went to Europe. In that time I managed to get an Australian passport and my first Enduro event was in Australia. They sponsored me to go over to my first ISDE in ’98, in Italy, I got a good result and that’s how I started my career. So I stay loyal to them.”

Merriman grew up in Tauranga and calls himself a Kiwi, but he doesn’t have a home to speak of. “The last eight years I’ve been based in Europe and I really don’t have a home over there, we’re travelling around in a caravan from race to race,” Merriman said between training runs on his Yamaha YZ250.

The key to winning the ISDE is experience, according to Merriman. Experience in pacing himself throughout the event and in machine maintenance, as each rider must perform their own work during limited timed sessions at the beginning and end of each day. “There are a couple of young guys that can go out and win a couple of tests, but six days is pretty long and not getting injured early in the race is important, because if you get an injury you suffer for the rest of the week. It’s definitely important that you are on a good reliable bike and that’s why I stay with Yamaha.”

“Anything can happen and you’ve got to be able to change a piston or something in a very short time. You can change each tyre in about six minutes, plus change a filter. Hopefully that’s all I’ll be doing - changing filters and tyres!” Merriman says, knowing he already has an advantage over the European riders by arriving in New Zealand earlier than his competitors to fully recover from jet-lag. The Finnish riders will be very fast for the Taupo to Tokoroa event’s pumice, sandy and loamy soil conditions, however Merriman surprisingly expects his main competition for individual honours will come from NZ Trophy team members Darryll King, Shane King and Paul Whibley. “I’m sure they’ll be the biggest opposition for me.”

Merriman hopes to announce his plans for 2007 at the conclusion of the ISDE.

Tickets to the Day Six Motocross Special Stage available at Ticketek now!

[Joni]

Anyone actually reading these? Ah well, heres another release...

New Zealand Greats (August Rides Again)

New Zealand has a rich vein of talent and experience when it comes to racing dirt bikes.

And that's something the organisers of this year's International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) near Taupo have been happy to tap in to.

Men who competed as far back as the late 1950s, right through to Kiwi competitors at last year's ISDE event in Slovakia, have all rallied to the cry for help as the build-up continues towards the November 14-19 marathon.

This year's ISDE event director, Tokoroa's Sean Clarke, is himself no stranger to racing at this elite level.

Clarke is a two-time ISDE gold medal winner (in 1992 and 1998) and the 39-year-old even added a silver medal to that when he raced at last year's ISDE in Slovakia.

That makes him ideally qualified to arrange and manage this year's big event, often referred to as the “Olympic Games of motorcycling”.

“Wait until some of the Kiwis see the speed of these Europeans. Our riders will seem slow. The Europeans are supermen,” said Clarke.

And New Zealand has produced some supermen of its own in past ISDE events.

Palmerston North's Tim Gibbes (73) is a six-time former ISDE gold medal winner (taking glory between the years 1956 and 1963) and, in later years, he became a team manager. He is still heavily involved in the sport and is highly regarded, often seen operating an electronic timing and lap-scoring system at many of the country's motorcycle championship events.

Gibbes' experience, in all facets of the sport, has been invaluable to Clarke and his team of more than 200 volunteer ISDE staff.

“I was team manager when New Zealand first sent riders to an ISDE, in Czechoslovakia in 1982,” said Gibbes.

“The men who are organising this year’s event haven’t needed much from me,” said a modest Gibbes. “I think they have more than enough experience without calling on me. From what I’ve seen so far they’re doing a bloody good job of it and you couldn’t get better people to set up and run an ISDE than the Kiwis we’ve got.”

Another “old timer” this year’s ISDE organisers have “plugged into” is Taupo motorcycle shop owner Darryl August. The 47-year-old is a rare ISDE veteran and has again entered this year’s event.

“It’s right on my back door. How could I not ride this one?” he smiled.

When he wheels his Kawasaki KX250 to the start line on November 14, it will be the fifth time he’s started in an ISDE. He’s previously raced the ISDE when it was staged in Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, Spain, and Australia, so he knows more than most about what’s in store.

But it has been 15 years since he last raced an ISDE.

“I’ve lost touch with some of the rule changes, so that’s where I’ve talked to the guys who have done it in more recent times,” he said.

“The ISDE is bigger than big – not only on the riding side (with more than 1200 kilometres to cover during the six days), but on the tourism side of things too.”

“The Europeans are going to be blown away by what we’ve got to offer over here.”

August is also a director on the management board for this year’s ISDE.

November’s event is being staged in the Kinleith Forest, stretching from just north of Taupo to within 10 kilometres of Tokoroa and west to Atiamuri and Lake Whakamaru.

Clarke believes that, while the course will push riders to the limits of their skill and endurance, the picturesque terrain will do wonders for New Zealand tourism.

“There are more than 2400 people booked for accommodation just through our nominated travel agent alone,” Clarke said. “There's not a spare bed to be had in Taupo from November 14 to 19.”

“We've had requests already for accreditation from more that 100 international journalists and photographers. It's going to be huge.”

[charles23]

can we expect to see any TV coverage of the race?

[Ghost Lemur]

This is bollocks.

Oh ah, 100 international journalists and photographers. How about some NZ ones? How about even the smallest amount of TV coverage here.

I'm sorry but we get a world renowned international event and there's zero support. All the "organisers" can do is wank on about their own performance. How about doing you jobs and selling this event to the wider New Zealand public.

This bugs the hell out of me, and has done since I discovered (via wikeipdia) the this event was being held in NZ. I've been in awe of the 6 Day since seeing On Any Sunday as a kid.

Is half hour/1 hour highlights coverage each night too much to ask. A bit of advertising in mainstream media. Look how successful the rally of NZ has been. All it takes is compitent organisers.

Shame that David Knight is passing on this event this year in order to defend his Las Vegas title.

/continues ranting as he crawls back under rock.