Story: Noel Flatters - Editor, The Enduro Bureau
August 13, 2024

We’re in the dog days of summer and although it was quiet in Europe this week, the Enduro scene was hopping over here in North America with Canada’s Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing) taking a dominant (and important!) win at Donner in the US Hard Enduro Series, and Josh Toth (Enduro Engineering) and Rachael Archer (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) coming home with the victories in the NEPG series. Over in Indonesia we saw Michael Walkner (GasGas Factory Racing) beating out Mario Gomez and Graham Jarvis in the Uncle Hard Enduro. Let’s get into it!

US Hard Enduro Series Round 6 | Donner Hard Enduro

It had been 11 long weeks since the last round of the US Hard Enduro Premiere Series went down, and a few interesting things had happened since the gang was all in the start together. Trystan Hart and Cody Webb went over to Austria for Red Bull Erzebergrodeo where Hart came home with a P2 behind Mani Lettenbichler (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Webb came home with a knee injury suffered in the Prologue.

Most of the top riders (minus Webb) in the series also showed up in Idaho for the Silver Kings Hard Enduro (a stand-alone event this year after leaving USHE) where Hart took home a big win ahead of Ryder LeBlond (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) and Will Riordan (GasGas Factory Racing).

But coming into Donner, California, Webb was back in the saddle and Hart was feeling fresh after opting to skip the brutal Red Bull Romaniacs round of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship that he had been scheduled to race. In terms of USHE standings, Webb had a slim five-point lead over Hart (the difference between a P1 and P2 race finish) with just one round left to go after the dust settled in California. Hart (effectively) needed a win at Donner to make the final round (TKO) a winner-take-all affair.

Well, Hart got what he needed… and more.

Webb and Hart were battling through the first six out of seven checkpoints on the first lap of the race, with Webb holding a 1m45s lead over Hart through CP6. But Webb ran into a regulator issue with his bike that killed his battery and required him dropped to P4 in between CP6 and the end of the lap at CP7. This put him 14 minutes back of Hart heading out onto the second lap (of two) until his regulator died again, pushing him back into P9. Webb was able to make a repair with a part from another bike and managed to claw his way back to P6 by the finish to gain some valuable points back.

This leaves Webb in a tough position heading into TKO in a couple of weeks. Instead of putting a stranglehold on the USHE championship by beating Hart or making it a winner-take-all scenario with a P2 finish, Webb’s 15-point day leaves The Robot in the driver’s seat. He now only needs to finish ahead of Webb to win it all. Hart hasn’t finished worse than P2 going back to the 2022 season, though, but anything can happen in hard enduro so it ain’t over until it’s over!

One ride that I wanted to highlight from Donner was the one put in by another Canadian – Sherco Endurance Racing’s Branden Petrie. Petrie has been knocking on the door of the top ranks of the USHE series for a little while now and has had a P5 and a P6 finish (2022). Petrie came through with a very strong P4 ride at Donner, 18 minutes behind Riordan in P3 and just ahead of Colton Haaker (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing). Branden has had a rough go since last October when he fractured his back at Round 4 of the Endurocross series, and then suffering a fractured ankle in the spring after Grinding Stone Hard Enduro. Super stoked for this young Albertan’s ride at Donner and am looking forward to seeing what he can do at TKO against the international field!

On the Pro Women’s side of things, it was Sherco USA’s Louise Forsely taking a dominating win as the only woman to go the full race distance. This ride also won Forsely the Western championship for the USHE and puts her into a tie for P2 in the overall championship with teammate Rachel Gutish, seven points behind Addy Albrecht (Elevated Powersports / Klim). Gutish wasn’t at Donner due to her NEPG commitments but IS planning to be at TKO. I reached out to Louise and she let me know that “Chances are 100%” that she’ll be heading to TKO, so we’re looking at what should be a pretty epic race for the overall!

NEPG ROUND 7 | GRASSMAN ENDURO

Coming into the NEPG Grassman Enduro, the series had been the Josh Toth (Enduro Engineering / GasGas) show with the 2024 US World Trophy Team rider having won five rounds in a row. After a quick jaunt to the UK for EnduroGP Wales, Toth was back to keep kicking ass and taking names in the series. And kick ass he did!

Toth had a great day, winning 5/6 Tests after a P4 finish in Test 1 to finish 53 seconds ahead of ISDE teammate Johnny Girroir (FMF KTM Factory Racing) and over  2 minutes ahead of Trevor Bollinger (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing).

In Pro Women it was Series leader Rachael Archer (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) returning to her winning ways after a P3 in Round 6. Similarly to Toth, Archer won all but the first Test of the day to take a 4m51s win over Canadian ISDE Trophy Team member Shelby Turner (Enduro Engineering / GasGas / FXR Moto). 2023 NEPG Amateur champ Emma Hasbell came home in P3 for her first professional podium.

Turner had suffered what she described as a “slight shoulder separation” ahead of the round and wasn’t sure if she’d be able to race. Turner had a slow start to the day while she worked through some shoulder pain, but was back within 30 seconds of Archer’s Test times by the final Test of the day.

Fresh back from EnduroGP Wales, Rachel Gutish (Sherco Racing USA) won the first Test of the day but had to retire after electrical issues with her bike in Test 2.

Finishing off with Pro2, it was Nathaniel ‘Bubz’ Tasha (Yamaha AmPro Racing) on the top step of the podium with a consistent P1/P2/P1/P3/P1/P2 day. Hunter Smith took P2 in class just 3.440 seconds behind Tasha, and Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki’s Will Sievenpiper finished P3, 32 seconds back.

NE Pro2 series leader Grant Davis (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) was forced to abandon after Test 4 due to a crash and resulting shoulder injury. A post from the team indicated that it wasn’t too serious, and that he should be back for the next round.

UNCLE HARD ENDURO | Indonesia

This is a classic race in the Hard Enduro world, despite not being a part of a major series. GasGas Factory Racing’s Michael Walkner took the win in Borneo ahead of Mario Roman (Sherco Factory Racing) and Graham Jarvis. This should give the young Austrian another confidence boost after a very strong outing at Red Bull Romaniacs. We’ll see what he brings to the table at TKO in a couple of weeks!

COMING UP

This weekend we’re going to be seeing the FMSQ Cross-Country Championship series rolling back into action in Eastern Canada, the final round of the SOR Enduro Championship in Western Canada, the British Sprint Enduro Championship’s 5th and 6th rounds, and Round 3 of the European Enduro Championship.