New Zealand made its debut appearance this season at the women’s section of the International Six Days Enduro, held in Spain, and impressed many at this huge gathering of the motorcycling world elite.

The three-rider New Zealand women’s contingent that battled in the Women’s World Trophy (WWT) teams’ class – Te Awamutu’s Rachael Archer (Kawasaki) joined by Tapanui’s Kylie Dorr (Beta) and Opunake’s Taylar Rampton (Husqvarna) – managed a few jaw-dropping results on their way to finishing 10th overall in their first-ever appearance at this massive annual dirt-biking marathon.

Individually, Archer was the stand-out for the New Zealanders, the young woman from the South Waikato region finishing overall runner-up among the women, just two minutes and 51.12 seconds behind United States team rider Brandy Richards after an incredible six days of brutal racing in the Galicia region, on the Atlantic coastline in the north-western of Spain.

Archer managed to tap into any left-over reserves of energy to significantly cut her deficit to Richards on the final day, which featured a motocross, an aspect of off-road motorcycle racing that is considered faster but arguably less technical.

The rider who finished the ISDE third overall in the women’s rankings was Australia’s Jessica Gardiner, ending the event just a little under five minutes behind the hard-charging Archer.

Archer was not only overall runner-up in the individual standings for the women, but she wound up an astonishing 54th overall (when ranked alongside the men, with more than 570 riders in total at the event).

“It felt good to win a special test (a tightly-timed sprint section) at this event,” said Archer. “I felt like I rode decent and didn’t crash, so put in a solid ride.

“It’s been a cool first ISDE for me. I didn’t really set any goals or expectations for myself coming into the week. I just wanted to learn and gain as much experience as I could. I feel like I’ve done that and also shown some speed.”

Dorr was meanwhile classified 28th individual in the WWT class (and also finished 129th overall alongside the men), while Rampton was forced to drop out after Day Five with an injury, but was still credited with finishing 30th overall among the women (and 137th overall when counted alongside the men, easily within the top third of competitors at the ISDE this year).

“New Zealand was so close to having a rider on top of the podium!” exclaimed team manager Justin Stevenson afterwards.

“Rachael Archer! Second overall and second in the final motocross race by just eight seconds. Have we ever done better?

“Rachael was 54th overall out of 570 starters and 18th in the E1 bike category, second woman by less than three minutes after six days of racing! Not the dream result for Team New Zealand, but close,” said Stevenson.

“Kylie Dorr is an absolute legend, battling through one of the toughest ISDE events ever, and Taylar Rampton being injured on Day Three put us back in 10th (as a team) but her speed in the tests shows that the NZ women have the potential to all be on the podium next year in Italy.

“The Kiwi girls were featured on the front page of newspapers everywhere over here. Enduro racing is bigger than rugby in Spain.”

Kiwi fans will also have been pleased to note that Thames rider Chris Birch (KTM), a former winner of the famous Red Bull Romaniacs hard enduro in Romania, who is riding as part of the KTM All Star Team in the “Club” grade, finished the event 35th among the Club riders.

Palmerston North rider Liam Ellis was the only other New Zealand rider listed among the entries and he was racing his KTM motorcycle in the C2 Club grade as part of a three-rider Oceania squad.

Ellis also moved up in the individual standings within the Club grade, settling at a remarkable 49th overall (up from 68th overall earlier in the event) when the six days finally wrapped up.

Meanwhile, Team France won the premier World Trophy (WT) class ahead of the United States and Spain. In the Junior World Trophy (JWT) class, Team Sweden won ahead of France and the United States.

There was no Kiwi men’s team entered this season.

The New Zealand ISDE campaign is supported by Ward Demolition, MJH Engineering Ltd, FIM Oceania, Macaulay Metals, Signbiz, Kiwi Rider Magazine, Silver-Bullet, New Plymouth Underwater, Hirepool and Motorcycling New Zealand.

-By Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com