We’re in the dog days of summer and although it was quiet in Europe this week, the Enduro scene was hopping over here in North America with Canada’s Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing) taking a dominant (and important!) win at Donner in the US Hard Enduro Series, and Josh Toth (Enduro Engineering) and Rachael Archer (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) coming home with the victories in the NEPG series. Over in Indonesia we saw Michael Walkner (GasGas Factory Racing) beating out Mario Gomez and Graham Jarvis in the Uncle Hard Enduro. Let’s get into it!

The sixth round of the 2024 Redline Oil AMA National Enduro Series, presented by MSR and Beta Motorcycles, gifted riders ideal trail conditions. The dirt was moist due to rain earlier in the week, perfect for ripping through the fern-covered forests.

Even with ideal trail conditions for the Yamaha Rattlesnake National, nobody downplayed the technicality of the course. Most riders know when it comes to Pennsylvania terrain, they need to be cautious of hidden rocks. Even so, those rocks claimed some big hitters -- including Test 1 winner Ricky Russell on his Am-Pro Yamaha. Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Grant Baylor also went down in Section 2, ending his race day.

No joking around this time out of the gates, the past week was a great one in the Enduro/Off-Road world! From a wild Italian round in Enduro GP to one of the biggest GNCC races of the year in West Virginia, to a very interesting Hard Enduro World Championship in Serbia, there was a ton of great action going down. Also, we recently had Aussie GNCC and USSE rider Gus Riordan (FMF KTM FACTORY Racing Landers) on the podcast, be sure to check it out. Let’s get to it!

The Progressive Grand National Cross Country (GNCC Racing) Series presented by Specialized, an AMA National Championship concluded its eighth round of racing, Parts Unlimited Mason-Dixon GNCC, on Sunday, June 2, 2024, in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania. Brief rain showers in the morning created some slick conditions for the first half of the day, but partly cloudy conditions made for some great afternoon battles throughout XC1 Open Pro and 250 Pro Sport classes.

The big story coming into this round was in the XC1 class, where second-place overall Steward Baylor Jr. really needed to finish ahead of overall leader Johnny Girroir, preferably with a win in order to secure the maximum five point differential. Baylor did everything he could, managing to stay ahead of Girroir before taking the race lead on the white flag lap. Girroir managed to ramp up the pressure, though, catching Baylor in the final mile before beating him to the win by under a second. Girroir now holds a 34 point lead over Baylor with five rounds left in the series. Barring a major mishap, Girroir has taken a stranglehold on the overall that will be nearly impossible to break.

Heavy fog, torrential rain and rocky terrain greeted riders at The Red Line Oil Black Buffalo, round three of the National Enduro Promotions Group (NEPG) series. The event took place near Kingston, Arkansas at the Wilderness Rider Buffalo Ranch.

The AMSOIL Hoosier, Round six of the 2024 Progressive Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series presented by Specialized, an AMA National Championship went off on Sunday at the famed Ironman Raceway in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

The approximately 10 mile course was in great shape by the midway point of the morning Womens’ Pro (WXC) race, following heavy rain showers Friday night, through the day on Saturday, and again on Saturday night. Strong winds and large fields throughout the day turned the vast majority of the track into a grippy and physically demanding beast.

Steward Baylor Jr. (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) took home his second consecutive win, coming from behind to beat series leader Johnny Girroir (FMF KTM Factory Racing) and Craig DeLong (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) to the line. Girroir would be relegated to P3 behind DeLong after pitting outside of the designated Pro pits, however.

Rachael Archer (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) also took her second consecutive win of the series, ahead of Shelby Turner (Enduro Engineering GasGas) and Rachel Gutish (Sherco USA) in what was a very eventful WXC race that saw both Korie Steede (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) and Brandy Richards (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) finishing off the podium.

Gus Riordan (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) was on the top step of the podium in XC2 for his third win of the season, finishing in front of teammate Grant Davis and Liam Draper (AmPro Yamaha).

The 2024 Progressive Grand National Cross Country (GNCC Racing) Series presented by Specialized, an AMA National Championship, continued yesterday, April 14, with the inaugural Dunlop Motorcycle Tires Old Gray GNCC event. Racers and fans from across the world converged in Monterey, Tennessee to witness Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki’s Steward Baylor claim his first win of the 2024 season. Baylor’s teammate Rachael Archer took home the WXC win to solidify her overall lead in the series.

Josh Toth is adding to his impressive resume by riding a schedule of multiple disciplines and proving that he can win at whatever event he is racing on any bike. Riding different brands and size bikes throughout his busy schedule, National Enduros being his only full time series grabbing a win on his 350 GasGas sponsored by Enduro Engineering will help him enter the points battle for the 2024 season. Having a bit of a rough start with a bent front brake rotor in the first test, Josh came on strong by test 3 and winning the 4 final tests of the day en route to a 38 second win.