Story: Noel Flatters - Editor, The Enduro Bureau
June 03, 2024

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 ErzbergRodeo

As mentioned above, the biggest question anyone has in the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship is when someone is going to find a way to beat Mani Lettenbichler. Coming into the biggest race of the year the German rider was on a nine race winning streak that extended back through his unbeaten 2023 season. He was also on a 2x winning streak at Red Bull Erzbergrodeo, and (especially with Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Billy Bolt out for his knee injury) realistically he was the only one who could be called the favourite.

The wild card coming into the race was the appearance of the two US Hard Enduro series heavy hitters, Trystan Hart and Cody Webb. These two riders have been battling hard in North America this year, and forcing each other to up their games. From my perspective, Hart had the best chance of de-throning Lettenbichler going into the week and was a solid choice for the second step of the podium. Unfortunately for North American fans, Webb high-sided in the second day of the Iron Road prologue and was unable to race Sunday due to knee pain from the crash.

The race started terribly for Hart. The Robot had a good jump off the line and, despite several riders launching seconds early, was one of the first to reach the hairpin first turn. Hart got taken out at this point by another rider, but managed to stay on his feet. He was unable to get back to his bike, though, until the other 49 riders from the front row had passed leaving him to chase back to the front from P50 in a repeat of what Billy Bolt went through on the first climb out of the start last year. Lettenbichler, on the other hand, had a good start and was able to pass the hard-charging prologue specialists to make it into P1 by the first major checkpoint of the race. Hart kept grinding and was able to move into P2 by the end of Checkpoint 14 (Machine), approximately mid-way through the race.

The battle for the final podium spot was between Mario Roman (Sherco Racing Factory) and Graham Jarvis (Jarvis Racing). After being shoulder-to-shoulder in the infamous Motorex Highway (Checkpoint 23), Roman was able to pull away from Jarvis to secure the final podium position.

Manuel Lettenbichler: “That was such a crazy race and I’m so stoked to have been able to ride those incredibly gnarly sections. It’s amazing to have got my tenth win in a row and my third Erzberg win in a row. It feels amazing, it was definitely my day today and I’m super happy with this result. I’m honestly surprised at how confident I felt in the new sections, even when they were quite slippery and tough, but I just tried to use my head and choose the best lines to keep my speed up. Of course, I’m super excited for the rest of the season and I want to continue my winning streak.”

Trystan Hart: “I’m so happy to have finished second and on the podium again! The first corner threw me off initially and, because of that, it felt like I was in a warzone for the first 30 minutes of the race. It was a lot of fun though and when I got to Carl’s Dinner, I felt really good and managed to get up into second place. There were some really tough sections, but I put my all in and held on to that position. This is my third podium in a row at Erzberg and this place really does feel like home to me now. I’ll definitely be fighting for the win next year!”

GNCC ROUND 8 - Mason Dixon

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.

Coming through to earn third overall from the XC2 250 Pro class was FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers’ Grant Davis. After grabbing the $250 Steel City Medical Center Holeshot Award, Davis would battle throughout the race with his teammate FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers Angus Riordan. Davis and Riordan would swap the lead position and hold the overall lead with adjusted times for the first half of the race. Davis would be able to make his way back around Riordan and push towards the front as he crossed the finish line first in his class, earning him third overall on the day. Riordan would be behind Davis as he came through to earn second in the XC2 class and fourth overall on the day. 

As the WXC class took off in the morning race it was Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Korie Steede grabbing the $100 Kanati WXC Holeshot Award and the early lead. Steede would continue to push herself at the front of the pack, and lead from start to finish as she crossed the finish line 4.1 seconds ahead of her competition. Battling her way up to second in the class was FMF KTM Factory Racing Lander’s Brandy Richards. Richards started her day in third, but she would make a last lap push to take over the second place position as the checkered flag came out. Moose Racing/Husqvarna’s Tayla Jones made her way back to the GNCC starting line this weekend. Jones would get off to a great start as she sat second for the first half of the race, but with a hard-charging Richards behind her she would be unable to hold her off for the last lap. Jones would come through to round out the top three WXC finishers.

Canadian Shelby Turner (Enduro Engineering / GasGas / FXR Moto) came home in P4, just ahead of WXC overall leader Rachael Archer (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki).

Shelby Turner: “It was a battle from start to finish. I had the worst start and was one of the last ones going into the trees, but made some quick passes to get into 5th behind Archer and we pretty much battled it out the rest of the day. Fortunately I got it [passing Archer] done. Stoked on the day, hopefully next time I can be a little closer to the podium girls, but happy with the result.”