On The Pegs October 2019 -Volume 4 - Issue 10 | Page 67

On The Pegs
Vol. 4 Issue 10 - October 2019
67
with this woods test. It was technical, but not
very tight, so that played to my strengths.”
Russell stayed within a second or two of
Sipes for most of the weekend and held the
lead on two occasions, but threw it away
with a crash in the final test.
“I made a lot of mistakes,” said Russell. “It
was tough – super dry and slick and I just
couldn’t keep it off the ground. I’ve only
fallen like two or three times all year at
these races and I probably had four falls this
weekend. It’s hard to compete for the win
when you’re on the ground. Ryan was in a
league of his own on the Cross test, but I had
some fast times in the Enduro test. I got in
the lead on Monday after the Enduro test,
but then I fell in the Cross test and threw it
away. Then I was close going into the final
test so I went for it and fell again.”
FMF/KTM’s Taylor Robert, the 2016 ISDE
Individual champion, kept the two front-
runners honest with a solid third place finish,
even though the event marked his first taste
of woods racing in over a year. Robert got off
to a slow start but was able to work his way
into a podium position.
“I started off pretty slow but I picked it up
in the afternoon – I went from 10th place
to third by the end of the day,” said Robert.
“Even though this woods section wasn’t very
tight, it’s still tighter than anything I ride, and
it’s mainly the tree roots I don’t get to ride,
but it’s good prep for Six Days and it’s always
good to practice something different.”
Since he will be the designated E3 rider on
the US Trophy Team, Tely Energy Racing’s