Story & Images: Noel Flatters | Editor - The Enduro Bureau
November 11th 2023 | Redmond, Oregon

The Bottom Line Up-Front:

What? Round 5 of the IRC Tires Endurocross Series went off on Saturday night in Redmond, Oregon. Colton Haaker (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Racing) took the top step of the podium going 1-3-1. Canadian Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing) went 2-1-3/P2, followed by Jonny Walker’s (Beta USA) 3-2-2/P3. Hallie Marks (Sherco USA) took the win for Pro Women, followed by Kylie Sweeten (GasGas USA) and Canadian Melissa Harten (Beta Racing Canada).

So What? With only one round left to go in the series Trystan Hart moved into sole possession of 2nd overall, just 7 points behind Walker. Colton Haaker moved past Cody Webb (FactoryOne Sherco) to take 3rd in the overall, 5 points behind Hart. Webb, tied for 2nd with Hart coming into Oregon, slipped to 4th. On the women’s side, Series leader Rachel Gutish (Over and Out Racing / GasGas USA) missed this round for Team USA ISDE duties. This allowed Melissa Harten to narrow Gutish’s series lead to 3 points, with Hallie Marks in P3 4 points behind Harten.

Now what? For the Pro men, the final round battle next weekend in Reno is still up for grabs. With top-3 points awarded 30-25-21, Jonny Walker wins it by finishing ahead of Hart and Haaker. Hart can win it by winning the round and having Jonny Walker finish 2 positions behind him. Haaker is going to need a win and some serious help from the rest of the field to pull off an overall win. For the women it’s also a little bit interesting, as they get to drop 1 result in order to allow ISDE participation (we’ll call it ‘The Gutish Rule’), so missing Round 5 doesn’t hurt Gutish. She did, though, separate her shoulder and break some ribs at ISDE. When I asked her if she’d be able to race in Reno she told me “100%, I’ve got a title to win, I will be lined up on the gate.” It looks like she just has to finish in Reno to win the championship. If Harten beats Marks in Reno, she’ll beat her in the overall for second place (assuming Gutish races and finishes). It looks like Marks would take 2nd overall if she beats Harten, but I’m going to be honest here: math is hard!

Round 5 of the 2023 IRC Tires Endurocross Series went off in Redmond, Oregon, last night and it more than lived up to expectation. Coming out of the Rounds 3 and 4 double-header two weeks ago in Idaho, Canadian Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing) had put a stop to what had been series leader Jonny Walker’s (Beta USA) perfect season. Hart had struggled in the first two rounds and went into Idaho in fifth-place overall, an unacceptable situation for The Robot. In Idaho, though, he won both rounds and also benefitted from Walker finding incident after incident on track and losing many valuable points. After the dust had settled Walker remained in P1 overall, with Hart and Cody Webb (FactoryOne Sherco) in a two-way second place tie just 13 points back. With only two rounds left coming into Oregon Hart summed things up for me like this - “Pretty simple from here on out. I need to be in-front of Cody (Webb) and Jonny (Walker). Not a small task, but I’m up for the challenge.”

Hart succeeded on that count for the most part last night. He went 2-1-3 for P2 overall on the night, against Walker’s 3-2-2/P3 and Webb’s 5-4-4/P4. This leaves Hart in sole possession of second overall, just 7 points behind Walker, with Webb falling back to fourth 7 points behind Hart. Colton Haaker (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) had a monster night to come out with the win on the strength of his 1-3-1 moto finishes. Haaker was actually leading Moto 2 until a mishap on the rock pile step-up allowed Hart and Walker to go through and finish 1st/2nd. Apart from that slip-up he led almost every lap of the night, and has moved into third overall only five points behind Hart.

One of the big questions I had coming into Oregon was if the two week break been enough for Walker to regain his equilibrium after his tough Rounds 3 & 4 and return to the front of the field. He had his normal great pace in Idaho, but from trackside it appeared that he had lost his mental edge as he found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time over and over again. Hart wasted zero time testing that on Saturday by initiating contact with Walker right off the start of Practice 1. It was a strong message, but it backfired later in the first practice lap when Hart went over the bars in the ‘Talladega Matrix’ (a bermed corner with angled logs). It was quite the moment, but he got up appearing none the worst for wear. Apart from that the afternoon’s practices progressed normally with Hart, Walker, and Webb all looking fast before retiring to their respective corners ahead of the big show. Through the three motos last night, Walker continued to look fast and composed. I think he rebounded very well after a last second pass by Hart in the final corner to beat him to the line in Moto 1. Walker appeared to be in disbelief about that pass, visibly grimacing inside his helmet as he rolled off the track, but he came right back in Moto 2 to finish on Hart’s tail for P2.

It was telling, though, that Walker didn’t appear to have the extra kick to get by Hart whenever they were racing each other for position. It was, in fact, Hart’s poor start in Moto 3 that saw him finish behind Walker. In Moto 1, a first lap mistake by Hart put him back in P7 before he charged back to make that incredible last lap pass on Walker. That last lap by Hart was the fastest of the night and the only lap to go sub-42 seconds. This is a good indicator for The Robot heading into Reno for the final round next Saturday, especially when you factor in that he had been sick in-between Idaho and Oregon and that hard practice crash he had here in Oregon.

Colton Haaker is now squarely the wildcard in the series overall. Building on a strong Idaho double-header he put down laps that Walker and Hart couldn’t answer in head-to-head racing (with the exception of a Moto 2 final lap self-induced error). If Haaker has another night like yesterday in the finale he could displace Hart, and be in contention for the overall win if Walker falters.

PRO WOMEN

On the women’s side of the Pros, series leader Rachel Gutish (Over & Out Racing / GasGas) wasn’t in Redmond as she was otherwise engaged with Team USA down in San Juan Argentina for the 2023 ISDE. Gutish had a gnarly crash on Day 3 at ISDE, but managed to ride with a separated shoulder and broken ribs, even picking up a test win. When I first heard about the crash and injuries I thought there was no way that she would be able to line up for the Series finale in Reno next weekend, but in asking her about that she quickly set me straight: “100%, I’ve got a title to win, I will be lined up on the gate.” Gutish should only need a P6 in Reno to take the series. The women pros get to drop one result from the series in order to accommodate riders racing ISDE, which will eliminate Gutish’s DNS this round.

I touched base with Hallie Marks (Sherco USA) , the 2023 US Hard Enduro champion and currently in third overall 13 points behind second-place Melissa Harten (Beta Racing Canada) ahead of this round. She told me that she’s loving Endurocross and the improvement she’s been seeing each round. “I loved the technicality of Round 4! It was a crazy close race with both Rachel and I getting stuck in the tires and battling 30 feet before the finish line. Staying smooth and consistent are my goals this weekend, along with picking my lines faster and not hesitating before obstacles. Hopefully I can come away with a podium position!” Marks made good on this Saturday night, coming through with the win over P2 Kylie Sweeten (GasGas USA) and P3 Melissa Harten (Beta Racing Canada). Beating Harten by two spots moved Marks to just 4 points behind Harten in the overall.

I spoke with Harten the day after the race and she told that “I was pretty disappointed in myself last night. The track wasn’t that hard and during the night show I made weird mistakes that I hadn’t done all day. With the 4 minute race there just isn’t enough time to recover from that.” As with the men, the final round in Reno should be pretty exciting for the Pro Women!