Story: Noel Flatters - Editor, The Enduro Bureau
June 24, 2024

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!

ENDUROGP – POLISPORT ITALIAN GP

The Italian GP is always a great one on the EnduroGP calendar with challenging tests and wild crowds. This year’s edition was no exception, especially with a huge weather change from Day 1 to Day 2!

Day 1 saw KTM Red Bull Racing’s Josep Garcia taking the win by 10.27 seconds over Beta Factory Team’s Brad Freeman. Sadly for the tifiosi, home favourite Andrea Verona (GasGas Factory Racing) was “only” able to pick up a third place finish 26.76 behind Garcia, and 16.49 behind Freeman. Verona was on pace, though, with just one major mistake costing him the vast majority of that time difference. Taking that mistake in context, the Italian fans had a lot to look forward to on Day 2. One thing to keep in mind with respect to Freeman’s P2 overall performance is that he races in the E3 category, giving up a lot of displacement to Garcia and Verona. Great ride from the Brit!

In the Enduro Women’s class it was Team KBS Sherco’s Rachel Gutish leading the way for most of the day until a mistake in the final Extreme test let Rieju Factory Team’s Mireia Badia past for the win. Still, a great ride from the American to follow-up her dominating Akropovic Super Test win the night before.

Day 2 saw a change in conditions with a major rainstorm hitting the race. Verona turned up his performance to take an incredibly tight 0.46 second win over a resurgent Steve Holcombe (Honda Racing RedMoto Enduro), with Josep Garcia rounding out the podium 22.47 seconds behind Verona. What a race, especially with the atmosphere provided by those Italian fans. Say what you want about their over the top passion, but I loved seeing all the flares out on the course!

It was Badia taking out the win again on the Women’s’ side of things, beating out teammate Rosie Rowett and Elodie Chaplot. Gutish had what turned out to be a brutal day in the transitions, eventually having to withdraw from the race. If you have a minute, go check out her Instagram post about the day. It’s a really poignant, raw, and honest recap of what happened to her and what it means for the overall Championship.

Leaving Italy it’s Garcia leading the EnduroGP standings with 144 points to Verona’s 134 and Holcombe’s 128. With Brad Freeman in 4th overall at 85 points, it’s really only the top 3 in contention now.

Badia has effectively wrapped up the Women’s championship (barring mishaps) with 112 points to Rowett’s 85 and Gutish’s 77. Elodie Chaplot sits in P4 with 63 points P2 and P3 are still up for grabs, although Gutish and Chaplot will realistically need some help to move up.   

GNCC SNOWSHOE

This weekend the GNCC series moved to the mountains of West Virginia for one of the most popular rounds on the circuit. Hosted at Snowshoe Resort, this race features big elevation changes, loose and rocky course conditions, and some of the craziest motosport crowds in the world! Traditionally a complete mudbath, this year’s edition ran in the dry allowing athletes to really showcase their skills.

Coming into Snowshoe, FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Jonny Girroir had the momentum and a substantial points lead in the overall ahead of Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki’s Steward Baylor Jr., and he continued to build on that by taking a very narrow win over Grant Baylor (Babbitts Online / Monster Energy / Kawasaki) and Steward Baylor.

FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers’ Grant Davis finished P5 overall to take the XC2 class win (his fifth of the season) over Josh Toth (Enduro Engineering) and Thad Duvall (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Racing Kawasaki).

Heading into GNCC’s lengthy summer break it looks like Girroir has pretty much wrapped up the overall series win (barring, as always, any mishaps or injuries) with 43 point lead over Baylor Jr.. Davis sits in P3 overall, 48 points behind Baylor Jr..

On the Women’s side, Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki’s Rachael Archer took her fourth win of the series ahead of Korie Steede (Rock Star Energy Husqvarna FactoRacing) and Canada’s own Shelby Turner (Enduro Engineering / GasGas / FXR Moto).

Archer holds an 18 point overall lead over Steede heading into the break (225 vs. 207), with FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Brandy Richards in P3 at 197, and Turner in P4 at 189. The back half of the Women’s series is going to be interesting!

Also, for the Canadian readers, young Calgarian Hayden Dupuis (BFD Moto / Husqvarna Canada / Fox Racing Canada) has returned to normal GNCC operations with a very strong P2 in Youth XC2 at Snowshoe. Hayden is a very complete young rider, with speed and results to prove it on both the off-road and moto sides of the table. Keep an eye on him, he’s an emerging Canadian talent!

FIM HARD ENDURO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP XROSS RALLY

The third round of the HEWC went off this past weekend with the classic XROSS Rally. This three-day (plus Prologue) event suddenly became interesting in terms of the overall the week before, with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Manuel Lettenbichler announcing that a training session had resulted in a re-injury of his meniscus that would require surgery.

We all had wondered what it would take to derail the 2x defending series champion’s winning streak, and it turns out this was it. With Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Billy Bolt still out of competition following his knee surgery (and with no return date announced), Lettenbichler’s injury has thrown the overall series into disarray.

After the dust settled in Serbia, it was Red Bull Leader Tread Factory Racing’s Wade Young coming away with the win ahead of Teodor Kabakchiev (Sherco Racing Factory) and Michael Walkner (GasGas Factory Racing). With three days of racing, there’s a little too much to cover here in the Weekly, especially with the big story being the overall standings shakeup. Be sure to read about each stage under ‘Racing News’ on the Enduro Bureau website.

Coming out of Serbia the overall championship looks very different than it did after Red Bull Erzbergrodeo a few weeks ago. Young suddenly has the series lead with 49 points to Sherco Racing Factory’s Mario Roman’s 47 points and Lettenbichler’s 45 points. Kabakchiev sits in P4 overall at 40 points ahead of Mitch Brightmore’s 38 points.

The obvious question is if Lettenbichler’s knee will be good to go for Red Bull Romaniacs starting on July 23rd. He seems to have indicated that he might be able to line up, but Romaniacs is the toughest race on the schedule as a huge multi-day affair. Is he willing to risk the knee in that race, and if he is will he have the fitness to stay in front as per his normal operating procedure? If he doesn’t, who is going to step up in his place? Romaniacs is one of the three FIM championship races that Canada’s Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing) will be attending this year, and he finished P2 behind Lettenbichler there last year, and P4 in 2022. Kabakchiev and Roman have also had great results there in the past two years, so this race is shaping up to be REALLY interesting!

CANADA, EH?

Hey, we’re Canadian-based, so indulge us in some quick Canadian off-road stuff, eh? Ya hosers!

The Ontario Off-Road Championship Series headed up to Northern Ontario for the Cochrance XC round, hosted by the Northumberland Trail Riders. It was Jake Michaud (Husqvarna Canada / Duroy Motosport) taking the Pro win over Aaron Wilkins and Aaron Henry. Véronique Pellerin-Chainé (Sherco Canada / Fox Racing Canada / FCS Suspension) took the Pro Women win ahead of Emma Sharpless (KTM Canada / WheelSport / MotoVan) and Mya Cochrane (St. Onge Bike Shop / SC Racewear).

Out in the West, the Alberta Provincial Off-Road Championship’s third round went off in the Rocky Mountains at Yaha Tinda. It was Luke Sydor (1st Track Motosports) taking the win over series leader Jason Schrage (Honda Canada / Riders Edge / Fox Racing Canada) and Whyat Bruder. Kristen Broderick (Cycle Works Calgary / KTM Canada / Fox Racing Canada) took the Pro Women win out over Corey Ireton (BFD Moto) and Suzanne Pelletier.