So , it ’ s outstanding that he should not only help his team to 15th overall in the club classification at the ISDE , but also that he should win an individual gold medal and wind up as New Zealand ’ s second-best individual overall at the event . Oparau ’ s James Scott was best Kiwi overall , the Junior World Trophy Team rider finishing seventh in his grade ( and seventh in his JE1 class ), while Jack finished 13th in his grade ( and sixth in his C1 class ). Scott ’ s overall elapsed time for the event was three hours 21 minutes and 46 seconds , while Jack was just two seconds behind ( after six days of brutal racing !), clocking a time of 3h 21m 48s ( see table below ). “ What an amazing week it was racing the ISDE ,” said Jack . “ I learnt so much and met some amazing people along the way . I ended up coming 13th overall ( individually ) in club class , out of 368 riders , and our team ended up 15th and I got the gold medal that I was aiming for . “ A huge thanks to the support we got as riders from everyone coming over from New Zealand , as it was a massive unknown , but we all nailed it and everything went as planned . Thanks to everyone that supported me getting there ... bring on another one .” Of the more than 360 riders entered in this club rider class , Jack finished with an individual ranking of 13th , Dando was placed 58th and
earned a silver medal , while Cottrill claimed 131st position overall and also earned silver . Dando has put in the hard yards over recent years , travelling up from the south to compete at North Island events on a regular basis , and the depth of domestic competition he faced has truly helped set him up for the rigors of an ISDE . “ The ISDE was so much fun and such a cool experience ,” Dando said . “ At the start it seemed like it was going to take forever , but it went so quickly . I managed 58th overall in my category and 24th in class . “ My team-mates were awesome – Josh Jack and Ben Cottrill (‘ rubberman ’) – and I had a blast with these guys . Thanks heaps ! “ Well done to all the New Zealand boys that went over . The boys did well . Days one-to-five were between 260-280km per day ... seven-anda-half hours of riding ... and the temperatures were 24-30 degrees , except for the afternoon of day two , when it rained and hailed and the track became a river . “ Day five was a really good day ... my best day on the bike , when I put in my fastest times in the last two tests . “ In the final moto on Saturday , I struggled to get a good flow , but I held my place .” Two other Kiwis , Dan Watson and Wil Drummond , joined up with an Australian rider , Scott Noble , to form another club team – Team ANZAC – and they finished 85th overall within the club team classification .
BEN COTTRILL
66 KIWI RIDER