With a strong four-man team of Danny McCanney (Gas Gas), Alex Rockwell (Husaberg), Jack Rowland (Husqvarna) and Steve Holcombe (KTM), Great Britain immediately placed towards the front of the standings on day one. Capitalising on an early mistake by defending champions France, they ended day one in a close second behind Italy. With further consistent results, they soon grabbed the lead at the end of day two.

However, with France beginning to recover, they found themselves locked in a fierce battle for the race lead. By the end of day four they had slipped back to second overall but still continued to pressure the French throughout the remainder of the week. Ending the sixth and final day of the ISDE in an incredible second overall in the Junior World Trophy team competition, and with all four team members securing gold medal results, Great Britain delivered a result they could be truly proud of.

“This year’s ISDE has been a tough event but to finish second overall in the Junior World Trophy team competition has been a fantastic result for everyone involved in the team,” confirmed team leader Danny McCanney at the end of the race.

“We knew coming into it that we could improve on the third place result we got in Finland but the ISDE is unpredictable so we took things one day at a time. It was nice to capitalise on France’s problems and lead the race after the first two days but we always knew they’d come back strong. However, even when they overtook us we still kept the pressure on them. All of us have delivered strong results this week and everyone gave 100 per cent commitment. Finishing third last year and now second proves that we’re becoming one of the strongest Junior nations in the world, so who knows, maybe in 2013 victory could be a realistic goal.”