Day 6: AMA Team USA makes up for Day 5 problems, finishes in fifth

AMA Press Release

The final day of the 84th ISDE in Portugal came to an end with AMA Team USA’s Trophy Team in fifth place, the Junior team in third and the Womens team in fourth.

The US Trophy Team’s final motocross test scores were good enough to move them past Portugal, which was in fifth place going into the final day. The other position was gained when Sweden dropped from sixth to 12th when one of their riders was 84 kilometers away during the final motocross test.

In the 23-and-under Junior Trophy Team division, AMA Team USA finished on the podium where they earned a third-place finish despite nearly losing two riders due to a freak problem and a near race-ending crash.

One of the U.S. juniors to have a problem was Cory Buttrick who suffered a near fatal mechanical problem when his four-stoke motorcycle engine started losing oil enroute to the final motorcross test.

Earlier in the day, Buttrick’s engine oil plug was run over by a car when the cap blew off the work area barricade where it was sitting and was crushed by a passing car. The Parc Ferme work crew borrowed a rubber plug from a fork assembly, and Buttrick used it to plug the oil fill hole. According to Buttrick, the “fix” was only temporary as the rubber plug started to melt and the engine started to blow out its engine oil.

“I was in near panic mode when I looked down and saw oil all over my boot and the side of the bike," Buttrick said. "I had a long way to go and I didn’t want to take any chances of blowing up my bike so I took it easy but not before I lost a route point for being a minute late at the final check.”

Buttrick’s 60-second penalty point for being one minute late wasn’t the only problem the U.S. Junior Team had as Russell Bobbitt nearly crashed out of the race when he hit a stump that was hidden by dust in a fast trail section. Bobbitt suffered a shoulder separation in the crash but was able to make it to the final moto without losing any route points.

“It was a fifth gear get off, and the when I came to a stop the bike hit me," Bobbitt said. "I knew something was terribly wrong, but I got back on the bike and made it into impound without losing any time. Let me tell you, that wasn’t any fun.

“Once I got to the final motocross the doc gave me a couple of shots to deaden the pain, and I just rode the final motocross to finish. Because of Cory’s penalty point and my injury, we weren’t so sure we were going to even stay on the podium, but Cory and Jamie (Lanza) had two good moto times, and that’s all it took."

Other U.S. rider highlights of the day were U.S. Women’s World cup rider Maria Forsburg finishing her Six Days with a second overall. The U.S. Women’s World Cup Team finished fourth for the event.