Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team riders Lachlan Stanford and Scott Keegan have spent much of this year sharing space under the Husqvarna team awning together, but last week they shared something much more precious.
As 50% of the Australian junior team in this year's International Six-Day Enduro in Argentina, Stanford and Keegan shared the experience of leading the world, as the Aussie junior team topped the score sheets for almost half the event.
What was shaping up as the most incredible week of their lives took a sudden turn for the worse when teammate Tom McCormack's became one of the 111 bikes to expire in hot and heavy conditions on day three, and the Aussies slipped down to seventh place.
With the help of KTM rider Daniel Sanders however, they staged an exciting fight back, and by week's end, they had clawed their way back to an incredible podium finish.
‰ÛÏThe junior team had a fair bit of a lead there for the first two days, and it was pretty cool." Stanford said. "We had a lot of interviews and we were pretty confident we could stay there if we all stayed in.
"It was such a shame when Tommy dropped out because he was posting some really good lap times all day, but it meant his whole day didn't count.
"It was disappointing, but we didn't give up, a couple of people messaged us reminding us that anything can happen to the other teams. We were thinking the podium was gone, like we dropped back to seventh or something, but then we got back up to the third which was awesome.
"I've always wanted to spray champagne from the podium in front of a massive crowd like that. I‰Ûªm a big fan of the GPs and that‰Ûªs what they do every round, and it‰Ûªs a pretty cool feeling. It's even better to do it as a team, and to share that feeling with the other guys.
"As I walked off the podium I said to myself, ‰Û÷imagine winning this as a member of the senior team‰Ûª, I think that would be the ultimate, doing that!
"That was my last year on the junior team, so if I'm fast enough to go next year in the senior team I will, but I just want to do what's best for the Australian team, and get the fastest riders we can, and try and win it.Thanks to all the Aussie supporters for helping all week and the junior team for hanging in there.‰Û
