The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the face of motorcycle racing worldwide in the past two years. From MotoGP to the Dakar Rally, health guidelines and regional restrictions forced organizers to downsize or outright cancel events. The International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) is one such example, with the FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) postponing the 2020 edition until the following year.
Piedmont, Italy, still hosted the rescheduled ISDE in 2021, but the event will remain in Europe in 2022, when the competitors take to Le Puy en Velay, France, from August 29 through September 3. With Portugal holding the 2019 installment, the Six Days event has remained on the Old Continent for the past three years. That will all change in 2023, though, when ISDE returns to Argentina.
The South American country originally hosted the ISDE in San Juan, Argentina, in 2014. Many fans expect FIM to release more 2023 ISDE details in the coming months, but +Eventos director and the organizer Davi Eli will run the show next year. With MXGP rounds and the Desafío Ruta 40 Rally already under his belt, Eli seems like an ideal fit for the job.
However, ISDE will head right back to Europe in 2024. Spain will welcome enduro riders once again, as the Iberian nation has hosted the event four times (1970 El Escorial, 1985 Alp, 2000 Granada and 2016 Navarra) throughout ISDE’s 109-year history. Speculation points to Galicia as the 2024 site, but we will have to wait for FIM to officially confirm the 2024 location.
“Interest to stage the 6DAYS post the pandemic is both strong and healthy and will allow us to return to our plan of taking this long-standing competition to new and established countries throughout the world so it can play its part in growing new enduro markets,” explained FIM president Jorge Viegas. “The next three editions of the ISDE in France, Argentina, and Spain respectively will really cement the huge importance of this event in the international off-road calendar as one of the biggest and most import occasions each year.”
