Story: Rachel Gutish | Contributor - Enduro.Media
Buffalo, South Carolina | February 5th, 2024

The 2024 US Sprint Enduro Series Presented by Moose Racing took place this past weekend at Silver Hawk Plantation in Buffalo, South Carolina.

The Bottom Line Up Front

WHAT:
Johnny Girroir (FMF KTM Factory Racing) took another Pro1 and overall win, going 1-1 on the weekend. He was joined on the podium by Liam Draper (AmPro Yamaha) and Craig Delong (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing).

In Pro2 Jason Tino (Town and Country Cycle Center Husqvarna) won both days in the Pro2 class. He finished a respectable 5th overall. Last round’s winner Gus Riordan (FMF KTM Factory Racing) was second and Jack Edmondson (Fast Eddy Racing) earned his first podium of the season.

Brandy Richards (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) had another dominant ride, winning both days. Korie Steede (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) placed second for the weekend and Rachel Gutish (Sherco USA) once again rounded out the podium.

SO WHAT:
Both USSE rounds had very different terrain and layouts: Deep sand whoops versus choppy red clay, an open pit versus a moto track cross test, and relatively fast quad-width trail versus super tight single track in the enduro tests. We also saw a high amount of consistency in the results between Rounds 1 and 2, which demonstrated the abilities of the top riders in such varied environments. We are likely to see these same riders at the top across the series.

NOW WHAT:
There is a two-month long break before the next USSE, but there’s still a lot of racing between now and then – there will be one NEPG and four GNCCs before we’re back to the sprint format. Most east coast Pro and ProAm riders are on what I call the GNCC + program… they compete in GNCCs plus one additional series, either USSE or NEPG. However, there is still some overlap between NEPG and USSE: Girroir, Toth, Cleveland and Gutish are all competing in next weekend’s NEPG. Everyone else, we’ll see again at the GNCC opener in two weeks.

The FULL story

Round two of the USSE series took place in Buffalo, South Carolina at the Silver Hawk Plantation. Silver Hawk is no stranger to off-road racing, having hosted a Full Gas round several years ago, the annual SETRA Little Brown Jug Enduro and being one of AmPro Yamaha and off-road champion Randy Hawkins’ properties. The property is beautiful and tremendously fun to ride, with tight singletrack, access roads, a full motocross track and even a little bit of elevation change. Unlike the sandy soil last round, this was pure red clay – so it’s just as well that conditions were dry and sunny, because that kind of dirt gets insanely slippery when wet.

The cross test was around 3 miles (about 5k) and the majority of it took place on the motocross track, with a little bit of grasstrack and fast woods trail to get you back and forth from scoring. The moto track was legit, with some awesome sweeping corners, deep ruts, but relatively small and approachable jumps. The enduro test was longer than normal, nearly 4.5 miles (about 7k). It was also tighter and more technical than usual, looking more like something out of a NEPG than your typical USSE. The early part of the test was especially technical, with a ledge drop-off, a ton of exposed tree roots and an optional hillclimb with a bypass for the younger or more timid riders.Yet even in the tightest single-track sections, there were plenty of diverging line options – a good thing for passing (if needed) and dividing some of the wear-and-tear on the track. This did also mean that remembering your marks and target lines was key… the difference between the “fast line” and the “well I didn’t mean to take that line” could easily cost you seconds.

When taken altogether, the course was a great test of a rider’s all-around ability, requiring both the speed and aggression of a motocross racer and the fluid smoothness and line selections of a hardcore enduro rider to be successful.

PRO 1

The Pro1 class featured the same key players as round one. While Girroir once again came out top and kept his perfect season intact, he didn’t have a perfect streak of twelve test wins like he did at Mac Daddy’s. Second place finisher Liam Draper took three test wins, while Girroir took the remaining nine. Draper was able to get off to a stronger start in the early tests each day, winning the first two (tests alternate, so this means he won one cross and one enduro test) on day one, and the first enduro test on day two as well.

Though the top two were rarely separated by more than six or seven seconds per test, that still adds up. By the end of the weekend Girroir had a minute and seventeen seconds on Draper. On the other hand, the battle between third and fourth was incredibly close. Cody Barnes (Phoenix Honda) and Craig Delong were back-and forth all weekend, with neither rider having a clear advantage in either test. Barnes took the win on day one, Delong won the second day… and third place for the combined weekend results was decided by less than a second, making Barnes’ crash in the last cross test painful in more ways than one. A crash also ended up being the ultimate deciding factor in the battle for fifth. Josh Toth (Enduro Engineering) and Layne Michael (Morgantown Powersports KTM) were within seconds of each other on day one. Michael had started to pull away on day two but crashed in the final cross test of the day, injuring his elbow and withdrawing from the race, moving Toth up into fifth.

“It was good, I had a good weekend! Liam was riding really well and Craig started riding well towards the end there... It was just a good, fun weekend! Cross test was awesome and enduro test was gnarly! – Johnny Girroir

PRO 1 OVERALL RESULTS

1. Johnny Giroir (FMF KTM Factory Racing)

2. Liam Harper (AmPro Yamaha)

3. Craig Delong (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing)

4. Cody Barnes (Phoenix Honda)

5. Layne Michael (Morgantown Powersports KTM)

PRO 2

Jason Tino came out on top this weekend in Pro2. Although Riordan initially seemed to have an advantage in the cross test on day one, by day two Tino had picked it up enough to take cross test wins, and remained unmatched in the woods, winning every enduro test in Pro2, and twice breaking into the top three overall. Since points are awarded on a per-day rather than a per-weekend basis, Riordan still holds the points lead in Pro2, with his 1-1-2-2 beating Tino’s 4-2-1-1. Edmondson made some improvements from round one, taking a solid third place both days, putting several minutes on fourth place and posting some cross test times that were quite close to the leader of the class. Toby Cleveland (Bell’s Electric Husqvarna) and Dominick Morse (Precision Off-Road Husqvarna) finished fourth and fifth in the class, separated by about thirty seconds.

The enduro test was a bit more technical than usual, it reminded me of home. The cross test had a nice flow to it, with the red clay tacking up nicely as the day progressed. Too much fun! Hats off to the boys, everyone was riding well this weekend.

PRO2 OVERALL RESULTS

1. Jason Tino (Town and Country Cycle Center / Husqvarna Motorcycles USA)

2. Gus Riordan (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers)

3. Toby Cleveland (Bell’s Electric Husqvarna)

4. Jack Edmonson (Fast Eddy Racing)

5. Dominick Morse (Precision Offroad Racing)

PRO Women

In Women’s Pro, Brandy Richards took her second consecutive overall win, putting just shy of two minutes into Kori Steede, the second-place finisher. While Rachel Gutish eked out two enduro test wins, keeping Richards from going 12 for 12 this weekend, she was too far off pace in the cross test to compete with either Richards or Steede, taking home another third place finish this weekend. This was our first chance to see Jordan Jarvis (AmPro Yamaha) in action. She will be contesting the GNCC series this year, and while she is a talented motocross rider, she has very little off-road experience to date. Jarvis was beating Gutish by six to ten seconds in the cross tests, however she was losing too much time in the enduro test to be in contention for a podium this weekend. Prestin Raines (Bonecutter Sherco) finished fifth both days and in the combined weekend results.

“I’m very happy with how I rode, especially in the enduro test, with it being tight and technical. I’m starting to get a lot more comfortable with east coast terrain, learning the technique and flow of the trees hasn’t been easy but I’m glad to see all the hard work starting to show!” – Brandy Richards

PRO WOMEN OVERALL RESULTS

1. Brandy Richards (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers)

2. Kori Steede (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing)

3. Rachel Gutish (Sherco USA)

4. Prestin Raines (Bonecutter Sherco)

5. Kayla O’Neill (Cycle Motion Yamaha)

US SPRINT ENDURO SERIES OVERALL STANDINGS

PRO 1

1. JOHNNY GIROIR: 120

2. LIAM DRAPER: 96

3. CRAIG DELONG: 85

4. CODY BARNES: 72

5. LAYNE MICHAEL: 64

PRO 2

1. GUS RIORDAN: 110

2. JASON TINO: 103

3. DOMINICK MORSE: 77

4. TOBY CLEVELAND: 75

5. JACK EDMONSON: 74

PRO Women

1. BRANDY RICHARDS: 120

2. KORIE STEEDE: 96

3. RACHEL GUTISH: 88

4. PRESTIN RAINES: 68

5. KAYLA O’NEIL: 58