![Liesel 25-09-2012 ISDE Saxony Steep hill Hormersdorf No](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Liesel_25-09-2012_ISDE_Saxony_Steep_hill_Hormersdorf_No._244_Michal_Kadlecek_Trophy_Team_Czech.jpg)
The International Six Days Enduro (ISDE), formerly known as the International Six Days Trial (ISDT), is the oldest 'off-road' motorcycle event on the
FIM
FIM may refer to:
Organizations and companies
* Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation
* Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States
* Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media
* ...
Calendar.
The ISDT was first held in 1913 at
Carlisle, England
Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...
. It has occurred annually, apart from interruptions due to
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, at various locations throughout the world. The early events were a true test of machine, rider skill and reliability. Held on the 'roads' of that era, today most of the routes are truly 'off-road'. Originally titled the International Six Day Trial, in 1981 the FIM decided to update the name to International Six Days Enduro, the name Enduro having been devised by the Americans and popularised by many motorcycle manufacturers also greater reflected the change in the event from a trial to more akin to a rally featuring skills more associated with cross country motocross.
The sport has been associated with many great motorcyclists before its 100th anniversary in 2013; this also includes women such as 1920s-30s star
Marjorie Cottle
Marjorie Cottle (5 September 1900 – 17 July 1987) was an English works supported motorcycle trials rider. She was one of Britain's best-known motorcyclists in the 1920s and 1930s. She competed regularly in reliability trials and was considered ...
. Up until 1973 the contest was always held in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. In 1973 it went outside continent for the first time, to the United States. Since then it has been outside Europe more frequently: twice in Australia (1992 and 1998), once more in the United States (1994),
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
(2003), New Zealand in 2006,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
in 2007 and 2018, and Mexico in 2010. The 2014 event was held from the 3 to 8 of November in
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to:
Places Argentina
* San Juan Province, Argentina
* San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province
* San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province
* San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
, Argentina.
The event has attracted national teams from as many as 32 countries in recent years. Over its long history the rules and conditions have changed to keep in step with the developments in the sport, but it remains a supreme test of rider and machine. Over the six days and upwards of 1250 miles a rider must contend with strict rules about time allowances and restrictions on mechanical replacements, carrying out his or her own motorcycle repairs. The ISDE can attract entries of more than 500 riders, together with thousands of support crew and spectators. This has a major impact on tourist income for the venue in which it is based each year. For 2013, the 100th anniversary of the holding of the first ISDT, the FIM announced that there were a record number of pre-entry requests of 820 covering 35 nations from across the Globe with 600 entries being allowed to compete.
Usually referred to as the 'Olympics of Motorcycling' with trophies for best four-rider national, three-rider junior national, three-rider women's national, three-rider club national and three-rider manufacturing teams. Gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded on an individual level. The medals are typically awarded based on percentage of finishers, or relative to the best individual performance in the event within their specific class. Individual gold medals go to participants who finish within 10% of their class' top competitor's total elapsed time, silver medals are awarded for those who finish within 25%, and bronze medals are awarded to any rider who finishes all six days within their time allowance.
Most recently the ISDE has been embroiled in controversy. During the 2015 event held in Slovakia, the Australian team were leading the overall Men's World Trophy team classification on day 3. During this day, three of France's six competitors were disqualified from the event by the multinational ISDE committee for not completing the required course. Australia then rode the following days to manage their lead against second place Italy, until day 5 when the French team were reinstated into the event by the French-founded ''Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme'' without any penalty, despite having not completed the assigned course. This put the French team into the lead and with only one short day of riding to go the Australian team was unable to cut the French lead down enough during the final day. The FIM ultimately gave the victory to France in highly controversial circumstances. Australia protested by walking off the podium and lodged a protest against the result due to the uncertainty of winning the ISDE actually requires riding the course.
However, on 2 November of that year, the FIM International Disciplinary Court (CDI) rejected the appeals lodged by the Fédération Française de Motocyclisme (FFM), the Real Federación de Motociclimo (RFME) and the Auto-Cycle Union (ACU) therefore, the decision made by the ISDE committee to disqualify the eight riders for missing a routine check was upheld meaning three of the French World Trophy team were disqualified resulting in team being reclassified to 23rd with Australia officially awarded as winner of the 2015 World Trophy title.
Trivia
Hollywood actor
Steve McQueen
Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1 ...
and his friends
Bud Ekins
James Sherwin "Bud" Ekins (May 11, 1930 – October 6, 2007) was an American professional stuntman in the U.S. film industry. He is considered to be one of the film industry's most accomplished stuntmen with a body of work that includes classi ...
,
Dave Ekins
David Lawrence Ekins (born May 20, 1932) is an American off-road motorcycle racer who pioneered the sport of desert racing in the 1950s. He was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2001.
Motorcycle racing career
Born in Los Angeles, C ...
, Cliff Coleman and John Steen represented United States at the 1964 ISDT held in East Germany.
This would be the first
United States team ever, organized by
John Penton
John Abner Penton (February 10, 1870 – October 17, 1919) was an American football player and coach. Penton attended the University of Virginia, Auburn University, and Johns Hopkins Medical School. He played starting guard on the 1893, 1894, a ...
.
Winners ISDT 1913–1980
Winners ISDE since 1981
References
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
Motorcycle races
Off-road racing
Recurring sporting events established in 1913
Annual sporting events