Story: Noel Flatters - Editor, The Enduro Bureau
July 2nd, 2024

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!

Silver Kings Hard Enduro

It was Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing) and Sandra Gomez who came away with the Pro wins at the 2024 edition of the Silver Kings Hard Enduro in Kellogg, ID, this past weekend. Hart dominated the two race days on the mountain to come away with a 22.5 minute overall win ahead of Ryder LeBlond (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) and Will Riordan (GasGas Factory Racing). The one thing that The Robot didn’t manage to win over the weekend was the 509 Street Rhythm endurocross race, which was taken by Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Colton Haaker in front of a rabid hometown crowd.

Hart managed to overcome a disintegrated rear wheel bib in the final race to take the win, with his team managing to get him a replacement wheel on course after some great logistical work under severe pressure. LeBlond trailed Riordan for the majority of the race, but managed to pull the Australian back and beat him to the summit of Kellogg Mountain at Silver Mountain Resort after Riordan struggled with a ski operations cable stuck in his rear wheel for the second straight day.

Riley Bender (Sherco USA) showed why he’s arguably the top amateur in North American Hard Enduro by winning all three Silver class races on his way to a big overall win. This 17-year old is the real deal.  

One of the biggest stories of the weekend (after Hart, Gomez, and Bender’s wins) was the performance of the Kauai Racing Development team out of Hawaii, with Kana-Boy’s P4 in the final race, and his P5 overall, coupled with Ryder Guest’s P7 final race/P8 overall. For the Kauai Racing Development Team, they continue to punch well above their weight and continue to be a great story in North American Hard Enduro. The team and riders have, with amazing community support, built a high-performance program out in the middle of the Pacific. With limited industry support, their results keep improving and they’re becoming a real threat in the US Hard Enduro Series. Kana-Boy’s breakthrough ride in the final race was, to my eyes, the team really starting to show what they are capable of. To think that this young Hawaiian just beat Alfredo Gomez in a 4-to-5 hour race feels pretty mind-blowing!

The race organization made an interesting call to change the Day 2 race mid-race, moving from a three-lap/four-hour cut-off format to a five-hour cutoff. Presumably this decision was made to allow for at least one finisher on the day (Hart finished in 4:22:01.52, after the original four-hour cutoff, and LeBlond and Riordan also made it to the finish with the revised cut-off), however no official reason for the change was provided.

NEPG MSR Little RacCoon National

It was Enduro Engineering’s Josh Toth taking the win in Ohio at Round 5 of the AMA’s National Enduro Series. Toth overcame some extreme heat to win four tests and take his fourth overall win of the season.

Snatching the second step of the MSR Little Raccoon National podium was FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Johnny Girroir. He opened the day by notching his career-first enduro test win in Test 1, with three other riders hot on his tail -- finishing within five seconds of his time. Girroir backed up his test win by securing another in Test 3. Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Grant Baylor rounded out the podium for the 50th anniversary of the event, hosted by Appalachian Dirt Riders. It marked his third podium of the season.

Red Bear Racing’s Rachael Archer, aboard a Kawasaki, led the Women’s Elite class all day, capturing four of the five test wins to claim her fifth-straight win this season. A crash for Archer in Test 3 opened the door for Rachel Gutish to capture a test win aboard her Sherco USA-backed machine. Gutish was happy with her fourth runner-up finish this year, but said she was exhausted due to her return from Europe where she was competing in the EnduroGP series. Canadian ISDE World Trophy Team Rider Shelby Turner (Enduro Engineering / GasGas / FXR Moto) captured third in all five tests, which landed her on the final step of the podium and allowed her to achieve her fifth class-podium of the 2024 season.

Nathanial “Bubz” Tasha set the pace for the NE Pro2 class on his AmPro Yamaha. He secured two test wins, finishing no worse than second place on the other tests. He earned the NE Pro2 victory with Red Bear Racing’s Will Sievenpiper on his heels. It marked Tasha’s second class win of the year. Sievenpiper captured the Test 1 win mounted on his Kawasaki before adding a pair of runner-up test finishes, a set of third-place finishes and a strong Test 6 victory to achieve the second-place spot on the podium. FMF KTM Factory Racing Team Landers rider Grant Davis pushed to secure the Test 2 victory before a high-speed, over-the-bar dismount in the third test. He was still able to lay down strong results for the remainder of the day to take third in class and seize his fifth-straight class podium.

FMSQ Round 3 - Nord RoCK

It was another great battle between Alexandre Gougeon (Husqvarna Canada / MVM Motosport) and Phil Chainé (KTM Canada / Fly Racing Canada) in the Pro Men at FMSQ Round 3 in Mont-Laurier, Quebec, this past weekend. Gougeon took an incredibly close win over Chainé, finishing with a less than two-second gap after a little under three hours of racing. Jake Michaud (Husqvarna Canada / Duroy Motosport) took the final step of the podium, with Owen McKill (GasGas Canada / TLD Canada / Riders Edge) and Jean-Olivier Goulet rounding out the top five.

Veronique Pellerin-Chainé (Sherco Canada) took the win in Pro Women, followed by Emma Sharpless (KTM Canada) and Catherine Desrochers.

You can check out Laposetoph’s vlog from the race here (bike coverage starts around the 17:00 mark):