Story: Noel Flatters - Editor, The Enduro Bureau
May 28, 2024

It 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!

US Hard Enduro Keystone Challenge - Pennsylvania, USA

Without getting too deeply into hyperbole, the three-day Keystone Challenge was epic. The two main races (Tough Like RORR on Saturday, Locked-N-Loaded on Sunday) were both sufferfests that took riders to the limit.

At Tough Like RORR Cody Webb was the only rider to finish, and the only rider to get to Checkpoints 11 and 12, with a time of 5:54:25. Canadian Trystan Hart ran into mechanical issues with his starter between Checkpoints 7 and 8 just after passing Webb for the lead, losing approximately 30 minutes after completing the repair. Australian transplant Will Riordan (GasGas Factory Racing) landed his first USHE podium, putting the big red bike on the final step of the box. Taking the win allowed Webb to stretch his overall championship points lead to 10 (from 5) over Hart, and regain momentum after losing his first race of the series to Hart in Round 3. Just as a note, Webb was physically destroyed after the race requiring a trip to ER for rehydration, and a common theme post-race was that this was easily the hardest version of Tough Like RORR to date.

Sunday’s Locked-N-Loaded looked to be another demanding five-hour race in the Pennsylvania heat and humidity. Webb was able to line up after his field trip to the hospital the previous evening, and it was another big pro field in the gate. Race officials were debating as to if it would be a two or three lap race up until riders were on the start when they confirmed it as a three lapper. Hart described laps 1 and 2 as exceptionally difficult with rain from the previous days leading to wet dirt being dragged onto the rocks, making them very slick. The race got hit with a major downpour, and Hart noted that it was enough to clean off the rocks and make them very grippy.

In the it was Hart taking the win with a 4m’45 gap over Webb, with Riordan picking up a second straight podium just 20 seconds behind Webb. Hart also took the Keystone Challenge overall win based on the event’s moto-style scoring with the Day 2 result prioritised over the Day 1 result.

Rachel Gutish (Sherco USA) was the Pro Women Keystone Challenge champ, taking the top step of the box on both days. Gutish might be one of the most talented multi-discipline pro woman riders in the world. Besides her P1 at the USHE Keystone Challenge this weekend, she has won an EnduroGP round already this season, is the defending Endurocross champion, a member of the ISDE Womens World Trophy champion Team USA, and is a consistent GNCC/NEGP/USSE threat.

Hart and Webb are now off to Austria for Red Bull Erzbergrodeo. This should be a great race, and it’s going to be very interesting to see how the North American riders stack up against FIM Round 1 podium finishers Manuel Lettenbichler (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Sherco Factory Racing teammates Teodor Kabakchiev / Mario Roman. Hart has been very open that Erzbergrodeo is his biggest goal of the year, so we’re looking forward to seeing it all play out this Sunday!

FMSQ Round 1 - Sand Trap

Moving up into Canada, Round 1 of the FMSQ championship went off in La Tuque, Quebec. For those not familiar with FMSQ, it’s the Canadian Cross-Country championship series and it’s the Great White North’s GNCC equivalent.

The track for Round 1 was deep sand in and out of the woods. With the ATV’s chewing it up on Saturday, the track was very rough for the bikes on Sunday. In the end it was 2023 series champion and Canadian ISDE World Trophy Team rider Alex Gougeon coming out on top with a dominant win over Jean-Olivier Goulet (Husqvarna Canada) and ISDE teammate Owen McKill (GasGas Canada / TLD Canada / Riders Edge Suspension).

In Pro Women, Veronique Pellerin Chainé beating out 2023 series champion Felicia Robichaud (Yamaha Canada / Motosport Saint-Césaire) and Emma Sharpless (KTM Canada / Wheelsport / Motovan).

US Sprint Enduro Series Round 5

The US Sprint series was in Pennsylvania, too, this weekend. Johnny Girroir took the overall on Days 1 and 2. On Day 1 he took 5/8 tests over Liam Draper (AmPro Yamaha Racing) for a 15 second winning margin. On Day 2 Girroir made it a clean sweep over Draper and Cody Barnes (Phoenix Racing Honda).

In Pro2 it was Gus Riordan (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) taking a hard-fought 1/2 second win over P2 Dominick Morse (Precision Offroad Racing / Husqvarna), with Jason Tino (Husqvarna) coming home in P3. Day 2 was a repeat of Day 1 for results, this time with Riordan taking the win by approximately 1 second over Morse.

In Pro Women it was another incredibly tight battle at the front, with Brandy Richards taking the win both days of World Trophy Team teammate Korie Steede (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) by a combined 2.5 seconds. This was also an ISDE shot across the bow to Team USA’s rivals with Steede taking 6/16 test wins over Richards. Combine that with the speed Rachel Gutish is showing in EnduroGP and the big US series, the US crew is looking very, very strong again this year.

Western Canadian Off-Road Championship Round 1

In Southern Alberta we had the Western Canadian Off-Road Championship kicking off in the Porcupine Hills. Jason Schragge took a close win over defending Series champion Kevin Dupuis (BFD Moto / Husqvarna Canada / Fox Racing Canada), with Luke Sydor (1st Track Motorsports) coming home in P3 .

Shelby Turner was back in Canada for a second straight weekend and took a big win in Pro Women over defending Series champion Melissa Harten (Beta Racing Canada / Kimpex / Leatt) and Kristen Broderick (Cycle Works Calgary / KTM Canada / Fox Racing Canada).

This was another physically demanding course over here in North America this weekend, taking place in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Big rains leading into the race made the early hours of the race tougher, but a sunny race day turned most of the course into tacky goodness by the time it was all over.

Coming Up

Red Bull Erzbergrodeo is, obviously, the one everyone is going to be watching this weekend. On top of that, we’ll be keeping an eye on the Mason-Dixon GNCC round.