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Stress for Organisers and Merriman on top
In some ways running an Enduro is a logistical nightmare. A few hundred riders getting individually timed over 4-5 special tests to the hundredth of a second. Running a four day like the Australian Four Day Enduro means 4 times the work so then consider running a Six Day Enduro with 500 international riders speaking different languages… See what I mean about a mission.
So it was somewhat understandable when I turned up to the 2005 Yamaha Australian Four Day Enduro and they cancelled 3 of the 6 timed tests from day one due to incorrect results. Massively stressful and embarrassing for the organisers and so frustrating for the competitors.
I attended the A4DE for 2 reasons. One to promote the 2006 ISDE in NZ to the Aussie Enduro fraternity and secondly to learn more about how a multi day enduro worked. I think my boss Sean Clarke thought I was a bit green regarding enduros. My only experience was a national round I raced in 2003 when I crashed and broke a rib then struggled around a wet track for what seemed like forever, but I did finish. I seem to remember a sticker going around a few years back saying “Enduro Finishers are Winners”. So I guess I was a winner, but I actually felt slow and cold!
Anyway back to mission number one – promote the NZ ISDE. Well that was pretty easy because over the course of the event, it became clear that the Aussies are super keen to do the NZ Six day. And I can see why with the Aussie tracks pretty dusty and full of rocks, rocks and rocks growing on rocks. Some top Aussie Enduro officials predicted that 150 riders will attend.
But I was still keen to get the word out to the faithful and possible riders. We (Kim Herd, Peter Herd and myself) distributed the flash new ISDE brochures to all the teams and officials. Then on day four Sean had a wee speech followed by a 3 minute promo DVD we had made full of great NZ riding and Taupo adventure sport. Sean was on after the comedian which was a tough act to follow but old Sean has the respect of the Aussies having ridden heaps of Four days even winning his class back in the 80’s on an XR 250 ridden with the throttle pinned wide open.
Mission number two – Get to know how a multi day enduro works. “I reckon we should play conservative Pete and go the long way” I said as Pete turned up a valley looking for the short cut. (Pete is Kim Herd’s husband and mad keen Enduro rider). “Nah Nick you’re a hopeless navigator”. “Oh well”, I shrugged, “you’re driving”. 30 minutes later after coming to a dead end we were back on the road I had chosen so I gained a tiny bit of respect from Pete as a Navigator. Any way after about 1.5 hours we made it to the special test only to find it was a bit of a walk in to the road and most riders had been through. The big lesson here was to make most of the special tests close to the Park Ferme (base) as possible if they are to be accessible to support crew and viewable by spectators.
A few snippets on the NZ team. We heard some funny stories about the evergreen Mark Whytes driving ability in the rental HiRace (HiRace means Hiace van driven by a Motorbiker). Lets just say, the phrase “drive it like you stole it” applies well to Whytey. Lochie Columb was smoking in the final Moto coming fourth I think behind Merriman. Likewise Michael Phillips rode a fantastic final Moto taking the frustrations of a day 3 mechanical out on the Horse racing Moto track. The NZ Junior team took second place so good on them. Whytey was styling in his final Moto aboard the booming DRZ 400 only to bin it on lap three – I reckon he was too used to sliding the HiRace.
But I guess the major lesson of the A4DE was to get the results done perfect. No mucking round with shoddy or unproved people, equipment or systems. The heart of the event is the results. Yes sure the tracks must be rideable and the motels should be nice, but getting accurate and timely results comes before all. Right now we are considering either an Italian Club or a French timing company to handle the results. Both have considerable experience with the World Enduro Championship and past ISDE’s.
The riding highlight of the event had to be multi world champ Steffan Merriman. Trust me he is in a class of his own. The corner speed he carries and just how dam smooth he rides makes winning look effortless. I raced Steffan in his early days of cross country racing in NZ and if I rode beyond my ability, loose as a goose, I could just keep him in sight. Man has he progressed and I have regressed. He truly was a pleasure to watch on his Yamaha WR450 taking the perfect lines with not a hair out of place.
I met Stefan’s partner Lexi and had a good chat about the World Enduro Championships and the timing and results at ISDE’s. I will keep in touch with Stefan and Lexi for inside info on the world enduro scene.
The second interesting conversation I had was with John Hall who organised the 1992 Aus ISDE and helped run the 1998 ISDE. John reminded me of our own Tim Gibbes, an experienced aged gentleman with heaps of knowledge and passion for motorcycling. The flu I picked up from the air conditioning in the plane on the way over was kicking in and I was sneezing like crazy but I managed to extract heaps of vital tips and statistics form John. Facts like you need 300 staff, you need a Human Resource person to manage the staff, it cost a million dollars in 1998 to run, you must have huge buy in from the town it is run in, get a checklist to plan everything that happens form 2 weeks out. Sean must have no official job on the day and so on.
So a good experience the A4DE from which I learned a lot. Just 15 short months to go until the light shines on NZ for the Taupo ISDE and lots to do. I know that we can do the country proud but we have to get the results out perfect…
