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Updates from Jeffrey and Jeremy Ketchum during the '10 ISDE in Mexico:
Final Race Report:
Jeremy Ketchum Rides Back to Silver
First day troubles would not keep him from fighting back.
By: Jeffrey Ketchum
Morelia, Mexico was the home of the 85th Annual International Six Days Enduro where over 300 riders from 30 different countries came in hopes of taking back top honors to their respective country. This year’s ISDE marked Jeremy’s fourth appearance representing the United States. This year he would take on other members of the C3 class aboard a KTM 300 XC. Not only was Jeremy a member of Team USA, he was also a member of the Scott Weber Memorial club team along with Cory Pincock and Jarkko Vainio.
The week leading up to the race went very smoothly. We arrived in Morelia on time with all of our baggage. We made our way to the Parc-ferme, which was located on the property the brand new mall, Altozano. The mall was not completely finished, but looked very nice. It sat on a hill that overlooked the entire city of Morelia. After getting settled in and opening our crate, we picked up Jeremy’s KTM 300 XC from the guys from KTM North America. The bike was practically ready to race. All we had to do was jet it for the 6,000 plus feet of elevation, as well as install a Rekluse EXP clutch. After changing the jetting and testing the bike, Jeremy signed up for the race and put his numbers and license plate on the bike. On Friday it was the United States’ turn to impound their bikes. Jeremy’s bike passed with no problem and we were all set.
With a few days to go before the start of the event, a group of American riders headed out and walked tests. There were two tests close to parc-ferme, which would be run everyday. There were also four others in the countryside, two that would be run on days 1 and 2 and two on days 3 and 4. For the most part the special tests were either a fast sweeping grass track, or a technical grass track with some step-up and step-downs. On days one and two riders rode the same loop twice each day. On days three and four riders rode a new loop twice each day. Day five was a combination of loops from days 1 through 4. The final day was a 30-mile ride out to the final moto track, which was held at a road racetrack right outside of town.
Saturday night downtown Morelia was the host of
the opening ceremonies. This year it was a parade of nations. After
lining up, the countries marched through the city ending in front of
La Catedral. There, they had a stage set up and introduced
each country. The streets were lined with people. Everyone was very
friendly and cheered for us. The team chose Jeff Ferdette to lead us
in carrying the flag. This year marked Jeff’s 30th ISDE.
Along the way, Rekluse’s own “Idaho Joe” lead us in a USA chant.
After making it to La Catedral and introducing the countries, the
FIM and Mexican government welcomed everyone to Morelia. After, a
local trials stunt rider and a Harley Davidson stunt team performed.
At the end of the ceremony, they put on a lights and firework show
with La Catedral as the backdrop. It was an amazing opening
ceremony. Many said it was the best one they had ever seen.
With Day 1 finally upon us, it was time
to get serious. Jeremy was drawn to start near the end of the club
riders. Jeremy, who was very calm and focused, got his bike out of
impound to mount the days time card and add last minute stickers to
it. He made it off the start with no problems. After the first test,
he was coming down some transfer trail when he came to a series of
mud holes. He made it through the first two before getting stuck in
the third. When he got stuck the rear wheel started spinning
throwing water right into his airbox. After getting the bike out, he
had to take the tank off, take the spark plug out, and flip the bike
to pump the water out of the motor. After doing all this, he made it
to the next check losing 30:00 minutes. Throughout the day Jeremy
worked hard turning in good test times and making it through the day
with no other major problems and losing no more trail points. At the
end of the day, we changed a front and a rear tire as well as an air
filter, sending him off to impound with a few minutes to spare.
After the thirty minute penalty Jeremy sat in 54th place
in C3. Without the penalty his test scores would have had him
sitting in a very respectable 18th place. Even with the
troubles Jeremy kept very high spirits looking forward to the next
day.
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Day 2 was an exact copy of the previous
day’s course but on A schedule. This gave a little less time between
checks. Jeremy made it off the start and through the first loop
without a problem. On the second loop in the farm test he had some
trouble and found himself stuck in the lower muddy section, the same
section that had Kurt Caselli stuck the previous day. The mistake
cost around two minutes, but he was able to charge out of it, still
making it to the next time check on time not losing any trail
points. The rest of the day went smoothly. At the end of the day he
changed both tires and an air filter with 5 minutes left to go out
of his 15-minute work time. Jeremy finished day 2 in 28th
place and 50th after both days moving up four places.
Day 3 was a completely new course that
promised two new tests and lots of rock. The trail report from
pre-riders was that the new trail was very tough and you would have
little time between checks. The organizers moved it back to B
schedule for the day to give a little extra time. In the morning
work time Jeremy decided to change his oil. After getting that done
he was set and was ready to go for the third day of riding. The
trail was a lot more technical. Fatigue was starting to show on
riders. Jeremy made it through with practically no problems all day.
Jeremy ended the day by changing two tires and a filter still with
time remaining. The day had tired him out but he still finished
strong losing no more trail points. He finished day 3 in 22nd
place in C3. Day 3’s strong ride moved him up five more places in
the class putting him up to 45th.
Day 4 was
another trip around the previous day’s loop just on a faster A
schedule. The day started off well with no work needing to be done
in the morning work time. The first two tests went good turning in
consistent times. When he came into the second time check, he had
smashed his pipe. Luckily I had one in the rental car, so while he
took off the smashed one I ran and grabbed a new one. He got it all
swapped out and replaced with a few minutes to spare. He got back
going and had no problems replacing only an air filter over the next
2 checks. After leaving the fifth check, while going through a rocky
section he went down stiff-arming the ground. As a result he came
away with a lot of bruising in the palm and wrist making it tough to
hold on. But even after the injury he put his head down pushing
through the pain and made it into the final check with changing two
tires. His times slipped a little at the end of the day after going
down, but still he came through with a very strong 27th
for the day and moved up to 43rd for the event after 4
days of racing.
Day 5 was
predicted to be a very rough mixture of the previous two loops. With
the injury to his wrist and hand the day before, Jeremy had a team
doctor wrap his wrist. Starting the day with no work to be done on
the bike, Jeremy took off heading out and riding very smart and
consistent to preserve his place and make it to the finish. As the
day went on he started feeling better turning in faster times. He
pushed through pain and technical trails to finish out the fifth day
in a very strong 21st place in C3. He also found himself
in a very strong 34th overall in C3 for the event.
Day 6 started out normal changing only
the starting order so that the top E1, 2, and 3 motos as well as the
women’s would be in prime time television slots. With this change
Jeremy was now one of the first to take off. As we were waiting for
his minute to enter impound, FIM officials entered the morning work
area and pulled everyone together letting them know that there had
been a conflict between the police and local gangs. They assured us
there was no immediate threat or danger to us, but as a precaution,
they decided to cancel the final day of racing. Because of this, the
standings of day five would become the final results.
With the cancellation of the final day
Jeremy would finish a very respectable 34th overall in
C3. After overcoming obstacles, he found himself back on to a Silver
medal. We could not have been happier with the outcome after
thinking that he would be receiving a bronze medal at the beginning
of the week.
This
year’s Six Days effort wouldn’t have been possible without the great
support from the following people: KTM, KTM Powerparts, KTM
Powerwear, Ride PG.com, Rekluse, Motorex, FMF, Factory Connections,
Bulletproof Designs, Carter Engineering, NATRA, AcadianaRacing.com,
CMRA, Perry Mountain Motorcycle Club, ADR, and SERA.
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11/2 Update (day 1)
Its been a super long day and just don't have the time to write something right now. have to get a little sleep. Ill try to get something tomorrow, but here are pictures!
Taylor Roberts | Corey Buttrick
Andrew Delong | Nathan Woods
Destry Abbott | American Women's Trophy rider Kerrie
Swartz
Day 1/2 Arrows
Eero Remes on his way to the top spot in E1
Finland's Juha Salminen before a test
Jeremy Ketchum getting ready
Jeremy Ketchum leaving the start
Jordan Brandt | Junior Trophy rider Ian Blythe
Kurt Caselli | Mexico's top rider Homero Diaz
11/1 Update:
Pre-Race Day 4 & 5
The race keeps getting closer and closer. The fourth day here in
Mexico has been a good one. This morning started off really well.
First thing this morning three pick up trucks pulled in, loaded up
with crates. The bikes of Destry Abbott, Cody Schafers, and Timmy
Weigand had finally arrived along with a parts crate for Ian Blythe
who had yet to impound his motorcycle. The entire World Trophy Team
and support crew quickly began unloading and unpacking crates. The
four riders had been granted an extension on impounding, but only
had until 3 p.m. to uncrate, put together, test, clean, and get
inspected. It was already 11:30, but it could not have gone any
smoother. There were only two real problems and the team pulled
together and got them fixed and sent out just in time!
After everyone was impounded we headed out to walk the Wal-Mart/auto
zone test. It is located next to parc ferme and impound. It is a
fast and winding test that will be run everyday. It has some awesome
sweeping corners and some fast straight aways. There will definitely
be some good riding on this test! After walking that, it was time to
get back and clean up for the opening ceremonies. The opening
ceremonies took place in the center of downtown Morelia. For the
opening ceremony this year all participating teams walked in a
parade. We all lined up and walked around a mile to an old
cathedral. There, a stage was set up with tons of people watching as
they introduced each country. So many cheering people lined the
streets! Both sides were packed! Everyone was very supportive of the
United States. We were led through the parade by someone dressed up
for day of the dead holding a USA sign, as well as Jeff Fredette
carrying the flag. Jeff was voted unanimously by the team to lead
us. Jeff is celebrating his 30th ISDE appearance this year! Another
highlight during the parade was Rekluse’s “Idaho Joe” leading us in
a USA cheer! After all the countries were introduced, a Gas Gas
trials stunt rider performed, as well as a Harley stunt group.
Finally, the ceremonies were finished up with a light and fireworks
display. It was an awesome opening ceremonies, possibly the best one
ever.
Pre-race day 5 here has been a very relaxed and easy day. Everyone
has been resting up and getting all last minute things done. This
afternoon, we went as a group and walked the only test we had left,
the “water hole” test. It is the shortest, but could get gnarly. It
has a lot of short drop offs, tight corners, and a mud hole that is
pretty deep. It will be run on days 1, 2, and 5. It is definitely
one we will have to keep an eye on. After walking it, we went back
to the hotel and were relaxing, when it started pouring down rain.
The rain lasted a good 30 minutes. From the excitement of riders and
support crew, you would of thought we had never seen rain before!
Everyone was outside looking at it and getting very excited!
Hopefully we will get more of it!
The night ended with a very positive team meeting. Everything is
looking really good for day one tomorrow and we are hoping for a
great finish from everyone! Stay tuned to
www.isde-live.info
for live results! Our first rider out will be at 8:01 a.m. CST.
However, Mexico has already fallen back an hour so it is just like
Mountain time (2 hours behind eastern.)
Unloading Destry and Timmy's bikes
Destry Abbott's 450 before being uncrated
Ian Blythe riding off to impound
Destry's special event Akrapovic silencer
Timmy Weigand on his way to impound
Unpacking Timmy Weigand's crate
Timmy tightening down his rear axle
Destry getting his mousse ready
Nick Fahringer and Cory Buttrick showing off their new hats
Fahringer, Andrew Delong, Cory Buttrick, and Jeremy Ketchum
discussing line selection
Jeff Fredette with our escort
US World Trophy and Junior riders
Bob waiving his American flag proudly!
Mike Brown signing an autograph
Cathedral was the back drop of team introductions
Gas Gas Trials stunt rider
US Womens World Trophy Team
Billy Burns with the fastest women's rider in the world
Making our way through the parade
Idaho Joe leading us in a USA chant
Ketchum, Burns, Monroe, Delong, and Barenbak
Harley Stunt Team
10/31 Update:
Day 3 here in Morelia went very smooth as hoped. Today was the United States turn to impound their bike. Everyone seemed to be ready to go except for a few people whose bikes hadn’t arrived yet. Destry Abbott, Timmy Weigand, and Cody Schafer all had their bikes held up in customs The bikes are suppose to arrive Saturday morning; they were granted an extension for impounding their bikes. As far as the rest of the team their were very few problems getting their bikes to pass, and were all fixed in time to get the bikes impounded. Jeremy got his bike through with no problem at all.
After impounding, the pits were busy for a while with people organizing their creates, as well as oiling air filters, and lubing mousses. Everyone wanted to get everything ready to go knowing that in just two short days they would be way to tired and rushed to get anything done. Around lunchtime the pits thinned out with a lot of people heading to walk tests. We made it out to the “Union” test, which was around a 30 to 40 minute drive out of Morelia. You winded around some small villages and found the test up on top of a hill over looking a small village and a Federal Mexican Prison. The test is going to be off-camber and hard, will turn to slick hard packed corners. Overall it looked good but only time will tell. After making it out of there we headed back into town and found our way to the enduro test. This test is looking to be the best test of the whole event. It will going to be run everyday, but reminds everyone of a mix between the Tennessee and Georgia National Enduro. It’s tucked in the woods with a lot of elevation change that drops you down in some nice ditches and gulleys. I expect some of the best overall times from the Americans in this test.
At the end of the day here it’s looking good! We got through impound and have no major issues. Tests are looking good and from reports from the pre riders the time schedule isn’t going to be a problem. So we just have to hope for the best and hopefully some rain!
Jeremy with bike
Jimmy Jarrett finishing up his inspection
Track Tape
Kurt Caselli and Mike Brown getting their bikes inspected
Trophy team arriving for impound
Union Test
10/28 Update:
Hey, So we have been in Mexico for 2 days now, and its been pretty awesome so far. The Parc-ferme is up on the hill overlooking the town of Morelia. Everything ha gone very smoothly for us so far. We walked a couple tests today that will be on day 3/4 and they are pretty good looking, very fast. We have to impound in the morning at 9am and then we are going to walk some more tests. But its going to be a hot and dusty event! We are looking good with our trophy team though! Should be a great six days. Ill get you some more tomorrow and some stuff from Jeremy. Thanks as always for all of your support!
Jeremy and Dennis Buttrick installing a clutch
Mike Brown's helmet
Mike Brown and Tony working on his bike
Jeremy's bike
Special Test
