NOTE TO READERS: This story first appeared on Direct Motocross

Story: Noel Flatters | Editor - Enduro.Media / Superfine Media
Images: Jack Jackson courtesy of Endurocross
October 9th 2023 | Everett, WA

The 2023 IRC Endurocross Series, presented by Progressive, opened tonight in Everett, WA, at the Angel of the Winds Arena. Coming into the series, Canadian eyes were on #84 Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing) after his second-place overall finish to Jonny Walker in the 2022 series, and with his strong first half of the 2023 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship.

The night turned into the Jonny Walker (Beta Racing) show, after Walker went 1-1-1 to sweep the night in dominating fashion. Walker and Hart battled hard in Moto 1 of the Pro race, with Hart holding a tight lead until the last corner before the white flag. Coming out of the log matrix to the final right-hand corner of the lap, Hart bobbled while taking the tight inside line, allowing Walker to push past. Walker had been right on Hart’s wheel for several laps, and it’s unclear if it was that pressure, the moisture in the track, or a combination of those, that lead to the mistake. Hart quickly regained contact with Walker through the final lap but couldn’t get close enough to make the pass.

Walker’s smoothness and patience ultimately paid off with the moto win. Colton Haaker (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Racing) took P3, well back of Walker and Hart, with Taddy Blazusiak (GasGas Factory Racing) and Ryder LeBlond (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Racing) rounded out the top 5.

Walker commented after Moto 1 that he had been pushing hard to try force Hart into a mistake, and that by coming from behind (6th on lap 1) he was able to learn a lot of different line options that he hoped would help him in the next 2 motos.

Canadian riders Branden Petrie (Sherco Endurance Racing) and Spenser Wilton (HTR GasGas) finished the moto in P11 and P19 respectively.

MOTO 2

This moto reversed the start order, putting the leaders onto the 2nd row for the start. Spenser Wilton made the most of this to take the holeshot and build a lead through the 1st lap before dropping to P3 on the lap 2. Hart came off the line strongly from the 2nd row and was already moving into P3 at the end of lap one when he laid it down again at the end of lap 1exiting the log matrix. After tripling the first 3 logs of the matrix he launched the last log as a single but couldn’t stick the landing, washing out his front tire on the slick surface. This bobble put Hart back down to 9th, from where he would battle back to P5 by the finish.

Walker took himself from 4th on lap 1, to 2nd on lap 2 where he would battle with Cooper Abbott (FactoryOne Sherco) before taking the lead by the start of lap 4. From that point Walker rode away into the sunset, finishing with a 13.65 second advantage over P2 Cody Webb (FactoryOne Sherco) and a 19 second lead over P3 LeBlond. Petrie and and Wilton were P11 and P14 this moto.

MOTO 3

With the start order back to normal operations in the final moto, it was also back to normal operations for Walker. Choosing an inner position on the inside side of the start line, Walker was 3rd at the holehsot, before quickly moving into 1st by the end of lap 1. He threw down a blistering fastest lap of the moto on lap 2 to extend his lead before putting it into what looked like cruise control as soloed away to an eventual 11 second win to finish the night with a perfect 1-1-1. Haaker and Webb were locked in on each other for a P2/P3 battle for the duration, with Webb holding Haaker off by just under 2 seconds at the finish. Ryder LeBlond had another strong showing for P4, with Abbott taking P5.

Hart had a rough start, coming from the far outside of the start line, and then getting pushed to the very outside edge of the track by Abbott, who had started just inside of him. Hart came out of lap 1 in P7 and seemed to struggle in traffic, dropping back to P10 before finishing up the moto in P8 behind Will Riordan (FMF RPM KTM Racing).

RACE NOTES:

Jonny Walker

Walker was simply dominant in Round 1. He commented that in Moto 1 he was tense. He’d been riding a lot coming into the race, and felt that he had done a little too much over the previous two weeks. After taking the win in Moto 1 he was able to calm down and really find a good rhythm in Moto 2 before having what he described as a perfect race in Moto 3. It’s hard to argue with the man! He also mentioned that the track in Everett played to his advantage as it was a lot rougher than he’s normally seen in North America, especially by Moto 3. The rough track, in combination with the slick dirt and the moisture transferring from the dirt to the logs in Moto 3, suited him very well. Riding a 2-stroke also played to his advantage on this track, as he didn’t give away power to the 4-strokes like he normally would on a drier/smoother track.

Track Conditions
In terms of track conditions, I spoke with Spenser Wilton, Branden Petrie, and Shelby Turner. Wilton talked about how hot and humid it was in the arena, and how that impacted the course by keeping the dirt wet, preventing it from compacting very much. This led to riders going down the wood layer below the dirt in some key areas like the log matrix exit turn that caused Trystan Hart so much grief in Motos 1 and 2. Petrie gave some great insight on the dirt, noting that it had soaked up a lot of rain before it was brought into the arena. It was so wet that the track crew never watered it once throughout training, qualifications, and racing. All this wet dirt was pulled onto the obstacles, making what they thought was not a particularly tough track into a beast from lack of traction. Wilton and Petrie also both talked about how pretty much nobody had a perfect race, and that people were crashing everywhere, multiple times out there.

 Wilton, Petrie, and Turner all agreed that the two-obstacle tire section was the key point on the track, especially the second (flat-tire) obstacle that Turner aptly named the ‘OTB Tires.’ Petrie talked about how despite the tires themselves being small, they were very flexible. This flexibility was increased by the track crew not building up much dirt in and around the tires. As a result, the obstacle seemed to grab any part of the bike it could, making it tough to clear. Turner compared it to bull-riding – the obstacle was working hard to buck riders off any way it could. 

The Canadians

Speaking with Shelby Turner about Trystan’s race, she believes that it was just “one of those days” for him. She pointed out that in Hard Enduro he has hours to recover from small mistakes, while in Endurocross the same small mistake can have a huge impact on moto results. The Angel of the Wings arena in Everett istight for floorspace, and the compact layout makes coming from behind tough as you end up having to race people instead of obstacles, and it’s far more difficult to stay on the main racing lines. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to speak with Trystan about his race as he’s headed over to Spain for Round 5 of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship next weekend.

 Spenser Wilton wasn’t happy with his result on the night but had some positive takeaways. He looked fast off the starts with, as he noted, holeshots in every qualifier and moto that he started on the front row. He mentioned that he was making a lot mistakes in the motos, but was riding a very good race pace. Spenser came out of Round 1 feeling stiff and sore but with no injuries. He was just about to head out for a ride in Reno as he and some of the other racers started making their way from Everett to Prescott, AZ, for Round 2 coming up two weekends from now.

Chatting with Branden Petrie, also heading to Reno on his way to Prescott, he talked about how good he felt coming into Round 1. He’d been spending some time riding on Vancouver Island prepping for the series, and that it was the best he had felt in quite a while both physically and mentally. On the mental side, he said that having a friend being able to work as his mechanic alleviated a lot of stress (check out his vlog from the Silver Kings hard enduro to see what he had to go through there!) for Round 1, and that his fitness was a pretty high level after his preparation. His biggest takeaways from the race included his starts. He said that he just didn’t have the best jumps off the line, and that he needed to work on the drive from the start to the first obstacle. Heading into Round 2 Brendan is planning to focus on motocross training, as he acknowledges that it’s the weakest part of his skillset. He felt good handling the obstacles, but that upping his motocross game will help in the starts and transitions between obstacles.

 PRO WOMEN

 The Pro Women’s race was dominated by Rachel Gutish (GasGas USA) of Terra Haute, Indiana. Rachel went wire-to-wire, eventually lapping the field on the 4th of 5 laps. From the Canadian side of things, it was excellent to see Melissa Harten (Beta Racing Canda) take 2nd place by 23 seconds over Kylee Sweeten (GasGas USA).

RACE NOTES

Harten commented after the race that while she was happy with 2nd place, she felt that she could ride better, and was looking forward to making improvements in the upcoming rounds of the series.

Gutish talked post-race about she was having nightmare about the ‘OTB’ tire feature that threw so many people off of their race here in Everett. She also mentioned that she worked hard to stay mentally calm in her head with the lead as she readily admitted to struggling with pressure sometimes.

 Canadian AMA Endurocross champion Shelby Turner is unable to race this season after having ACL surgery on both of her knees earlier in the year. For this season she’s in the commentary box for the series, and she did an excellent job at it. She has so much experience and knowledge in the sport, and she did a great job of sharing that to add value to the race broadcast.  

When I spoke with Turner, she reiterated her point from the broadcast that it was great to see a deeper Women’s field than in years past, and that it bodes well for the development of women in the sport. Having the bigger field meant, though, that for the first time the women were having to race people on the track, instead of just focusing on the race line over the obstacles, which adds a new dimension to race tactics in the class.