Can someone please enlighten me on the correlation between the medals versus your class finish? How do you have to finish to get gold? Silver? Bronze? I've never had this explained to me.
All are relative to the top rider in each class ( i.e. E1, E2, E3, C1, C2, etc.) Gold medals to participants who finished within 10% of their classes' top racer's total time. Silver medals were given to those that fell within 25% of this benchmark, and all remaining finishers were given bronze medals. If you hour out for any reason you can re impound if it was a mechanical failure and keep riding but ineligible for a medal. It is getting tougher over the many years of the isde. about 15 years ago the percentages were like 15% for gold and 50% for silver. These have gotten tougher as bikes are more reliable now.
That is interesting. For many years, to earn a silver you only had to be within 40% of the fastest time in the class. I don't know quite when that changed. But it was always a little skewed, because just about anyone who could stay upright for 6 days could get a silver. At the same time you had very talented riders who would just miss a gold, so they would come away with the same medal as some pretty slow riders. I have 3 silvers. Lets just say I wasn't on the "just missed gold" end of the scale. But frankly, my one bronze is the one I am proudest of. It is from 2002 Czech, only half of all the riders entered made it to the finish of the event.
Ah, now it makes sense. I always saw that folks were getting different medals, but it always seemed there were a lot of medals being handed out!
Ok, very uncool with that;Sad. Maybe a TM or Beta is my future ride. Why not let's have our team Cafe Husky next yr.? All Husky mounted, there are enough readers of this site to pitch in some Skoots$. Why not? Might even get one of the proud dealers to spot the riders some bikes for the occasion. I'll ask again Chilly, Norm, what is missing from our program that the riders from the WEC series just smoke us,the USA has got terrific racers. Look at the time difference in the Juniors, it's a very humbling event for all the riders. One final thought, i noticed how well the riders have done on the TM's and of course my man Fast Eddy once again on the Gold with a 125cc he and Fred and Mike Brown are an inspiration to anyone over 40yrs.
One last thing, check out day 6 video on Digitaloffroad.com. those enduro rider guys can haul -ss in the Motard setting, I would be terrified. Move over Dungey and let a 6-days man come by. Lord have mercy.....
A question: Do the 'Clubmen" riders have to get within the percentages set for each medal, when compared to the Senior and Junior Team riders? I would like to think so, as if it were not the case, there would be a few golds and silvers that wouldn't have quite the same lustre to them. Or, indeed, the opposite case, if a Clubman rider was on top of the scoreboards. Not a criticism, just a question. You can bet your arse that there's a fair few clubmen riders that are capable of being on their countries National Teams - either a country has a Lot of high end riders, or it's political / personal, or perhaps team / manufacturer support related. I'd not be surprised to see club team riders, have finished well above National Team riders, on many occasions, with many countries. And, not always, is it an advantage to be the earlier riders, as National Team riders are (I 'think'). Any one that finishes a Six Day, deserves a lot of respect as a rider.
It would seem like the medals would be easier to get now that the "C" class divisions have been created. But typically when you look at the top rider in each of those classes, it is someone who is so fast that it sort of ruins the curve anyway. There is often some ex world champion or EWC regular who ends up riding in a club class, so getting a gold is still a big deal. As for what it would take for the US to win. It really isn't a question. We just don't race the same way the Euros do, so we will never be on par with them for ISDE or EWC. Look at our riders, they were all fast at the end of the week, but lost lots of time early in the race. It is always that way. In an event that is measured in seconds, spending a couple of days getting up to speed will never work. A perfect example for reference is motocross. How come KTM's two world champions can't come over here and win? It seems like the same racing, but it is just different enough that their European success won't directly lead to winning in the US.
If it's true that C class medals are referenced to the C class winners, It could / would be bloody difficult to medal high, most of the time. So many countries, have many more high end riders than there are spots in the main teams. Bloody hell.......... it seems a bit cruel to me. It is what it is, I guess. As to KR amd MM not 'sweeping' the US competition away - here's something to give thought to: The only US riders that did better than them, BB, Barcia and Tomac, this year, sure as hell didn't do particularly well / dominate overall in their first, or even the second season they did the 250s. To educate yourselves on this, just check Racer Xs Vault. Injuries going in / before the season, massive differences in life style, travel etc, are not easy things to deal with. And, I do feel, KR may have let the 'having fun with life' factor just take a bit of a hold this year. Fair enough too - He's lead the life of an MX Phenom, most of his life, which leaves little time to just be a young bloke. It happens to All these young blokes - be they Euro / Overseas , or US riders. Just have a look at the 'track shock' your team had at the Nations over the past weekend. Even with DeCosters very forward thinking approach of getting there early. Well, that sort of culture shock goes both ways - but it's far more severe with doing the World Championships - the tracks, Cultures, Geography differences are very severe. If you ever get a chance, just ask Zach Osborne about it. The fact that he could do so well in SX - just like KR and Musquin, in both 250 and 450 SX - might have just woken up a few people. The true, hard test, is how you go over some time - going in, and getting one good result, is far easier than staying the course. Just give thought to the amount of riders that are behind KR and Musquin in 4th and fifth this year. Using the 'logic' I nearly always see from people slagging overseas riders, the rest of the riders, shouldn't be allowed to race, as 'they must be squirrels!'. That's Not the way I think - anyone that can qualify for a US National, or the European EMX classes , or, if they are lucky enough to get past Luongo, the GPs, are someone that I respect as a Motorcycle Racer. I've travelled extensively - it's just before 10pm here in France, as I make my way back to Zurich, on my way home to OZ - in both Europe and the US. The US - I can go anywhere, and it's no problem at all. Europe - I barely understand the most basic Italian, and without a GPS, or a guiding friend, it can get 'interesting', really quickly. For me, that has ben a big part of the fun of travelling there. Over many years, my big goofy grin, and 'just let it flow all over me' attitude, has served me well. With a bit of agression thrown in, only a couple of times......... But, trying to win a World Championship, or just compete in it, would be a true test of far more than your riding abilities.
Good answers. I might add that the talent pool reaches from top to bottom, tough going. American's only value the winner, in Europe and England their view is to recognize the whole as competitors giving their best.
Most interesting Man In The World: I may not always ride SIx Days ISDE, But when I do, I prefer to win.
When did they change the scoring of club riders to a seperate pool ? I know for many years club riders were scored against the trophy riders.
club wellard kicked butt this year in germany fred hoess another gold medal that makes 17 gold and 21 consecutive six days! this year on a 250 husky!
