On The Pegs July 2019 - Volume 4 - Issue 7 | Page 149

On The Pegs
Vol. 4 Issue 7 - July 2019
149
US ISDE TEAM MANAGER ANTTI KALLONEN
PREVIEWS PORTUGAL
A the recent Cherokee Enduro, US ISDE team manager Antti Kallonen talk-
ed to On The Pegs about the Portugal event and about what to expect.
“We’ve seen some videos and talked to some Portuguese friends that we have
and I think it’s going to be similar to Chile,” said Kallonen. “A little bit different
kind of vegetation slightly, and also some rocks. We’ve seen some videos that
it’s very similar to Chile, and then we have some videos that looks like you’re
riding on the Moon with big rocks and stuff. We’re going to be practicing and
training a similar way that we did for Chile. A little bit dry, hard pack with rocks,
loose rocks and some imbedded rocks. That’s really what we’re expecting from
Portugal as far as the track goes.”
“We changed up a little bit our class strategy as far as what class we put our
riders just to try something different a little bit. The problem here in the U.S. -
it’s not a problem, but it’s a problem when we go to Six Days. We don’t have a
full-time 250F rider, meaning that usually someone needs to step down. All the
pro races are open classes, so we either race 450’s or 350’s, are usually the two
bikes that everyone races in the pro class. So when we go to the Six Days some
of the fast guys need to step down to 250F, and they’re not so used to it. Also
some riders need to step up to 500 class which usually we’ve been trying to
utilize the 300 two-stroke which no one races that on a top level. We have good
riders on the 300’s, but if we’re looking at the fastest riders in the States, they
don’t really race that full-time. So I’ve changed that strategy a little bit. Trying
something different just to get a little edge that we can kind of close up that
missing piece. We’ll see how it all plans out.
“Instead of a 300 two-stroke, now we’re looking at a four-stroke rider in the
500 class just to have a bigger bike. We don’t have any 500 permanent riders
here that race, but I feel like a 450 rider could make an easier transition to a 500.
Steward Baylor is testing the 500. So the Trophy Team is Ryan Sipes on the 250F
in the E1 class; Kailub Russell and Taylor Robert in E2. Kailub will race a 350 and
Taylor will race a 450 and Stew will race a 500. The Junior Trophy team will be
Ben Kelly and Josh Toth in E2 on a 350. Then Grant Baylor on a 500. The Wom-
en’s Team is Brandi Richards, Becca Sheets and Jordan Jarvis on the 250F’s.
Jordan is the top motocross girl in the States and definitely has the speed. n