New Zealanders are well-known for punching above their weight on the world stage and three young enduro motorcycle riders - from three small North Island towns - heading to the FIM International Six Days of Enduro certainly embody this phenomenon.

Despite their youth, Yamaha PWR Team members Tommy Watts, 19, of Wairoa, and Taupo 17-year-old Wil Yeoman, along with Oparau's James Scott, 20, have amassed an impressive collection of national cross country and enduro riding titles between them.

They have been selected to represent New Zealand in the Junior Trophy Team - under 23 years - and have been earmarked as the riders to watch.

Motorcycling New Zealand Enduro Commissioner Justin Stevenson says this trio has what it takes to succeed against the world's best.

'The junior riders have some international experience already and although it's early days in their riding careers, they are as well prepared as any rider can be for the ISDE. They are fast, fit, tough and strong, which gives them an exceptional chance of placing high up the rankings on their first attempt.”

Scott, Watts and Yeoman will need to utilise their full trail riding and mechanical skill set from August 29 to September 3, when they join up to 700 elite enduro riders from over 30 countries competing in Le Puy En Velay in southern France for the World Teams Enduro Championship.

The ISDE is considered to be the Olympics of off-road motorcycling and is the pinnacle of international off-road racing.

The competitive form of trail riding, enduro is followed by more people than rugby is in Europe.

This year's event will take place in locations with an average altitude of 1000m and peaks of 1400m.

It will be the 96th ISDE, with the championship running since 1913 at venues across the globe - making it the oldest and longest running elite motorcycle event in the world.

In 2006, the ISDE was held in Taupo and 16 years later, Stevenson says New Zealand has entered the most competitive teams the country has ever presented at a World Team Enduro Championship.

'In late 2021, it became evident that because a group of our top enduro riders had secured overseas rides, New Zealand had the opportunity to enter a competitive ISDE World Trophy team with minimal travel risk. From there the stars just aligned, support grew, and the initial enthusiasm was unbelievable. Then good old Kiwi determination made it happen.

'As a result, we have not only put together two incredibly competitive New Zealand rep teams - World Trophy and Junior Trophy - but also two extremely strong Club Teams, plus a dedicated contingent of supporters travelling to France to assist with our campaign.

'Due to the calibre of our riders and the opportunity we have created working as a team, we have now got the greatest chance that a New Zealand team has ever had for a top result in the ISDE.”

The Junior Team selection was endorsed when Scott, Watts and Yeoman clean-swept the NZ Cross Country Championships' podium taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd overall respectively and each rider also won their motorcycle capacity class.

'This trio proved themselves as New Zealand's top three cross country riders and then they moved on to the 2022 Yamaha NZ Enduro Championship but unfortunately Covid knocked Tommy and James out of contention. Wil was 3rd overall and 1st in class and James managed to get to the final round, where he won that event outright,” Stevenson says.

The three youngsters recognise that six days of riding at world class level will be intense, especially as they will accumulate over 1000km on their motorbikes.

They are all working with personal trainers to increase their training load at the gym during the week and aim to reach a peak level, before tapering off prior to the event.

Each weekend they focus on gaining distance in their training and are interspersing this with terrain test time trials to mimic the ISDE event programme.

Along with training intensely, the New Zealand teams have been focusing on their pit techniques. Riders only have 15 minutes at the end of each day to perform maintenance, repairs and change tyres before their bikes are impounded before the next day.

'Generally, the riders will change front and rear tyres, air filters, brake pads and still have time to spare. Only the riders are allowed to work on the bikes - no mechanics. So, it's not just riding practice and fitness, each rider must be able to complete the work required in each work period, or risk letting the whole team down,” Stevenson says.

The original selection for the four-man senior World Trophy Team was Hamish MacDonald, Tom Buxton, Liam Draper and Dylan Yearbury, with Whanganui-based PWR Yamaha Team rider Seth Reardon in reserve.

Three of them were already racing overseas in professional race teams with MacDonald and Buxton competing in Europe and Draper in the United States.

They were the natural picks for the World Trophy Team, alongside multi-time and current NZ Enduro Champion Dylan Yearbury. When MacDonald was injured earlier in the year, six-time New Zealand champion Reardon was promoted to the World Trophy Team.

Stevenson says this senior team is of world calibre level riding ability but is unproven against many experienced world championship enduro riders and it is inexperienced in the ISDE.

'This year will be a measure to calibrate our top riders against the international teams and build for success in future years. The age and dedication of our current junior riders and the continued success of our senior riders will ensure this happens. We're already looking forward to the ISDE in Argentina in 2023 and Spain in 2024.

'With the high calibre of riders in the New Zealand team, we can expect that many of them will be picked up by professional enduro teams. This gives them a great opportunity to build careers in international motorsport and to represent New Zealand in the off-road motorcycle scene.”

2022 ISDE New Zealand Teams

World Trophy Team: Tom Buxton (Helensville) Liam Draper (Auckland) Dylan Yearbury (Cambridge) and Seth Reardon (Whanganui).

Junior Trophy Team (under 23 years): James Scott (Oparau), Tommy Watts (Wairoa) and Wil Yeoman (Taupo).

Reserve Teams: NZ1 - Ben Dando, Dan Watson and Callan May.
NZ2 - Josh Jack, Ben Cottrill and William Drummond.

There are 13 self-funded riders representing NZ at a cost of $20,000 each and a fundraising campaign has been set up to assist them.