The following press release is from the AMA U.S. Hard Enduro Championship:
Another Victory for Hart at Moab Hard Enduro
Round 4 of the AMA National Hard Enduro Championship, Presented by IRC Tire, returned to the Moab Hard Enduro in Moab, Utah. This was the third year USHE Pro athletes, Mesa Lange and Joe Nemeth, hosted this event at Area BFE, a private 320 acre property above Downtown Moab, sitting at over 5000 feet of elevation. The desert terrain from Round 3 at the Grinding Stone is quite different from this high desert terrain at the Moab Hard Enduro, which consists of steep rocky canyons, technical trails, and endless boulder gardens. Rocky Mountain ATV Yamaha’s Cody Webb won this race the past two years, which made him the one to beat for year three. Following a trend with the previous US Hard Enduro races this year, the Moab Hard Enduro sold out and was at capacity with nearly 300 entries! This a positive trend for this growing discipline, as newer Amateur racers are trying the sport out as promoters are building more skill-specific courses for all levels.
On Saturday, all of the racers competed in a one-lap Prologue, which sorted the start position for Sunday’s race. Winning the Prologue in 21 minutes was Braxton Hintze, who is the newest member of the Champion Brick Racing team. He finished two seconds ahead of FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Trystan Hart, with Webb finishing 20 seconds behind for the third position. This was a great warm up for the Pro and top Amateur classes, but also a challenging first race for many of the Amateurs, who took up to an hour or two to finish.
In the afternoon, the Shootout took the top-20 overall finishers from the Prologue, and sent them into a short course race in front of a lot of spectators, where they battled for final start position and a cash purse. After a hot lap and some intense battles, Trystan Hart came out on top as the first finisher, with Webb and Hintze rounding out the podium. After the Shootout, the Moab Hard Enduro hosted a Stacyc race, where the next generation of 3-8 year olds raced around a fun off-road course!
Sunday’s Main Race kicked off with rows of five, based on the Shootout and Prologue results. Rockstar Husqvarna’s Ryder Leblond was in the lead early on for the first two checkpoints, but Hart and Webb passed him by the end of lap one. This battle between Hart and Webb would last the remainder of the race, with the gap shifting from 30 seconds to a few minutes between the two. A battle for the final podium position was heating up, as IRC Beta’s Branden Petrie went from the 5th position and began closing in on LeBlond. The most popular and difficult section of the course, “Black Flag”, is widely regarded as one of the most difficult 4x4 trails in the United States. The A Class racers went up halfway, and hit a split to go around the side wall of the canyon, while the Pro racers went up the middle split, which was a very technical section with 5 foot tall splatters and boulders the size of pickup trucks. “Black Flag” could make or break a race, and there were plenty of position swaps and action for the spectators to look down on.
For the third and final lap, Hart held his lead against Webb, who was again closing in. Hart rode a nearly flawless third lap, limiting mistakes and not giving Webb many opportunities to catch up to the 5x USHE Champion. Hart came into the finish line at 2 hours and 32 minutes aboard his KTM 300 XC, with Webb finishing in second four minutes behind on his Yamaha YZ250FX. On the third lap, Petrie ended up passing LeBlond for the third position, and was able to hold him off when they were only seconds apart, finishing in third place for his first time ever at an AMA National Hard Enduro event with a 2 hour 58 minute time. LeBlond was four minutes behind and finished in fourth. The 5th place position was a true battle, with four riders vying for that spot. Bullet Proof Designs KRD’s Kawelo Huddy was tailing the group in 8th place, when he passed three Pros in front of him on one of the final hills to jump up to 5th place.
In the Pro Women’s class, IRC Beta’s Louise Forsley won by completing two full laps on the A course. Get Dirty Dirt Bikes TM Racing’s Katie Hall-Leah finished in second, and Rachel Gutish finished in third. In the Pro E-Moto class, Max Beaupre won by completing two laps on his first race on the all-new Bonnell 805. Aidan Manger and Collin Huffer shared the second place spot, as they teamed up the entire race with their Stark Vargs. The top Amateur class, A Open, Champion Brick Racing’s Makana Barger won by completing three laps on the A course in 3 hours and 28 minutes. Ayden Marinchek and Boogie Rivera rounded out the A Class podium.
The AMA National Hard Enduro Championship, Presented by IRC Tire travels to the East Coast for the Battle of the Goats on May 2-3, at the Brushy Mountain Motorsports Park in North Carolina. The AMA West Hard Enduro Regional Championship, Presented by Bullet Proof Designs, continues on June 12-13 at the Donner Hard Enduro in Norden, CA.
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