It was a great week for Enduro, especially here in North America with Silver Kings Hard Enduro, FMSQ, NEPG, and more, all going down. Let’s get into it!

Canada’s Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing) came to the 2024 edition of the Silver Kings Hard Enduro with only one mission: win. By the time the dust settled he had put on an exhibit of hard enduro riding that put an exclamation point on his reputation as one of the top three riders globally in the discipline. Likewise, Sandra Gomez returned to Silver Kings and showed the Pro Women field that she is currently the gold standard in hard enduro.

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!

This week was one of the highlights on the Enduro world’s calendar - Red Bull Erzbergrodeo. This is the classic Hard Enduro race, and for North American (and global) fans there were really only two big questions. First, like in any Hard Enduro round, could anyone find a way to beat German superstar Manuel Lettenbichler and, second, how would Trystan Hart and Cody Webb (FactoryOne Sherco) fare in one of their only European appearances this season?

Over in North America the focus was on Round 8 of the GNCC series in Pennsylvania where Steward Baylor Jr. (Rock Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) needed a win to keep in reach of FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Johnny Girroir for the series overall.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Manuel Lettenbichler put on a masterclass at round two of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship to take victory at Red Bull Erzbergrodeo. The German was sensational at Austria’s Iron Giant, claiming a comfortable win over FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Trystan Hart and Sherco Factory Racing’s Mario Roman. TTR Squadra Corse’s Mitch Brightmore won the FIM Hard Enduro Junior World Championship supported by KLIM category.

• Manuel Lettenbichler takes the win at FIM HEWC round two

• Canadian Trystan Hart claims P2 after recovering from a first corner crash that dropped him to 50th place

• Mitch Brightmore is best of the Junior class riders

t was a huge week for enduro and off-road racing in North America, and we got to see some fantastic racing in the US Hard Enduro Series, FMSQ, USSE, NGPC, and more. Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing) and Cody Webb (FactoryOne Sherco) battled hard at the Keystone Challenge in what will likely be one of the toughest hard enduro weekends you’ll ever see.

Alex Gougeon (Husqvarna Canada / MVM Motosport) opened up his FMSQ title defence with a dominant win in La Touque, Quebec, with Véronique Pellerin-Chainé (Sherco Canada / Fox Racing Canada / FC Suspension) taking the Pro Women win. Over in the US Sprint Enduro Series it was Johnny Girroir (FMF KTM Factory Racing), Gus Riordan (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers), and Brandy Richards (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) winning the Pro1, Pro2, and Pro Women.

Out in the west Dante Oliviera (FMF KTM Factory Racing) and Mikayla Nielsen (SLR Honda / Monster Energy / Fly Racing) were your overall winners at NGPC Round 5. Jason Schrage (Honda Canada / Fox Racing Canada / Riders Edge) and Shelby Turner (Enduro Engineering / GasGas / FXR Moto) took the wins at Round 1 of the Western Canadian Off-road Championship. Let’s get into it a little bit!

Round 2 of the 2024 SOR Enduro Series went off this weekend at the foot of the Canadian Rockies, and it was Hard Enduro superstar Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing) and Canadian Off-Road queen Shelby Turner (Enduro Engineering / GasGas / FXR Moto) who took the wins on a day that featured wild weather extremes at what is arguably one of the most beautiful sprint enduro venues in the world.

Hart took the win out over a tough Pro Men field that included P2 finisher and current Canadian ISDE World Trophy Team member Owen McKill (GasGas Canada / Riders Edge / TLD Canada), along with previous ISDE World Trophy members Phillipe Chainé (KTM Canada / Fly Racing Canada) in P3 and Jared Stock (KTM Canada / Leatt / SOR Enduro) in P4. Kale Cuthbertson (BFD Moto / Husqvarna Canada / Rad2.0) rounded out the top 5. Chainé retains the overall series lead ahead of Stock and Cuthbertson.

Canadian World Trophy Team rider Shelby Turner made the trip back to Alberta during a break in her GNCC campaign to take her second win in two starts over her ISDE teammate Lexi Pechout (BFD Moto / Husqvarna Canada / Fox Racing Canada) and Destiny Slingerland (HC Forest Products / EnduroTek / Team Mountains Edge). Former ISDE team member Kristen Broderick (Cycle Works Calgary / KTM Canada / Fox Racing Canada) and Harley Lawson (BFRMotoCrew / Fox Racing Canada) rounded out the top 5 in P4 and P5, respectively.

With the kick-off of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship this past weekend in Wales we’re fully into the swing of the 2024 season! It was a big weekend of racing with the start of the FIM HEWC, EnduroGP Round 3 in Romania, and GNCC Round 7 in Ohio all going off. Let’s dive in and take a look at what went down!

After an exciting first round just under a month ago the SOR series returns with another stacked pro field racing at what has to be one of the most beautiful race venues in the world at the foot of the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

This weekend we’ll be seeing Phil Chainé (KTM Canada / Fly Racing Canada) back out west to defend his series leader plate against 2nd overall Jared Stock (KTM Canada / Leatt / SOR Enduro), and we’lll also see the addition of Canadian ISDE World Trophy Team member Owen McKill (GasGas Canada / Riders Edge / TLD) to the mix before he heads East for Round 1 of the iconic FMSQ Cross-Country series. We’re also going to be seeing Kevin Dupuis (BFD Moto / Husqvarna Canada / Fox Racing Canada) taking the start following his strong win at the first round of the Alberta Provincial Off-Road Championship last weekend, and a P66 overall at Hoosier GNCC two weeks before that. To top it all off, Canadian Hard Enduro legend Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing) has confirmed that he plans to be racing this weekend, too, as prepares for the next round of the US Hard Enduro Series and his primary season goal at Erzberg Rodeo coming up at the end of the month.

The final round of the 2023 IRC Tires Endurocross Series in Reno, NV. Canadian #84 Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing) took the win for the Pro Men,with #417 Rachel Gutish (Over and Out Racing / GasGas) taking it home for the Pro Women.

With their wins, both Hart and Gutish are the 2023 series champions. This is the first time either of them have won this series. Hart erased a seven-point deficit to defending champion #22 Jonny Walker (Beta USA), while Gutish overcame a separated shoulder and broken ribs from her Team USA ISDE duties in Argentina the previous week. Hart finishes the year as the US Hard Enduro champion, US Endurocross champion, and third overall in the FIM Hard Enduro Championship Series. Gutish was also third overall in the 2023 GNCC WXC series.

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.”

We’re here in Redmond OR for Round 5 of the 2023 IRC Tires Endurocross Series, and it’s shaping up to be an exciting one. 2022 Series champion Jonny Walker dominated the first two rounds of the series with perfect 1–1-1 motos in each, and leaving the field questioning what they could do to reel him in. The double-header round in Idaho Falls, however, was a different story. In Idaho we saw a return to normal operations for The Robot with Hart going 1-2-1 in Round 3 and 1-2-2 in Round 4 to win both. Walker, on the other hand, struggled through both rounds, getting caught up in multiple incidents that prevented him from challenging for wins (2-4-3/P2, and 6-3-4/P4). There was no doubt that his speed was there, it just looked from trackside like he was struggling to get himself back on track all weekend.

Round 4 of the IRC Tires Endurocross Series went off Saturday night at the Mountain America Arena in Idaho Falls, ID. Round 3, the night before, saw the return to normal operations for Canada’s own ‘The Robot’ Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing) as he went 1-2-1/P1 and moved from 5th overall in the series to 3rd. The big questions coming in were if Hart could keep building on that momentum, and how series leader Jonny Walker (Beta USA) would react to his first adversity of the series.

The second round of the 2023 IRC Endurocross Series, presented by Progressive, went off on Saturday night in Prescott, Arizona. Coming into this round the obvious question was if Jonny Walker (Beta USA/Leatt) could have another dominating night to extend his series lead. From the Canadian perspective, the story was about if 2022 Endurocross series champ Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing) could bounce back from a tough first round, where he placed P5. Other Canadian stories were if Spenser Wilton (HTR GasGas) and Branden Petrie (Sherco Enduro Racing) could push their way into the top 10 overall in the series, and if Melissa Harten (Beta Canada/Leatt) could beat Rachel Gutish to move into a tie for first overall in Pro Women.

After it was all done and dusted, Walker had another perfect night, laying down a blistering hot lap time trial time, sweeping the three motos, and extending his series lead. Hart looked significantly better on the bike this round, although some mishaps left him in P5 for the night after going 5-4-5.

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.