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2024 Team Canada ISDE Day 5 Photo Gallery
Day 5 of the 2024 FIM International Six Days of Enduro was one that Team Canada was eager to get to. With Cross Tests 1/4, and Enduro Tests 1/2 all taking place at the summit of a mountain and featuring steep rocky terrain it was one that most of the riders felt would be best suited to their styles of racing. The one caveat to this was based on weather conditions. The team had initially walked the test on Tuesday the week before the race, and conditions were… somewhat epic…
The summit was socked in with rain, some fog, and very high winds. Incredibly high winds. The grass and rock tracks were quite ‘low traction’ in the rain, but the team was hoping for better conditions on race day. This hope was amplified when we went back to re-walk a portion of those tests on the Sunday before racing started, as we saw sun and warm temperatures that had dried the course in combination with the excellent drainage of the soil up on the mountain.
Come race day, though, that sunny warm day was immediately forgotten as we arrived at the tests in some epically terrible weather. As we drove up the gravel track to the summit we couldn’t even make out the enormous wind turbines directly next to the starts and finishes of the tests due to thick fog. Temperatures were down below 5c, and were made worse by rain and high winds. Traction had disappeared and we watched team support vehicles sliding and getting stuck on the steep grassy hillside at the Tech control.
As the first racers got to Cross test 1 we could hardly make them out as they came around the corner I was initially shooting up towards. From there, the thick fog remained in place for most riders resulting in very limited visibility. Things eventually got so bad that the Race Director was forced to cancel the second Enduro test for rider safety. Unfortunately that didn’t help Canada’s Tyler Medaglia (GDR Honda Racing) who crashed in the early moments of Enduro test 1, shattered his elbow, and was forced to abandon the race.
2024 Team Canada ISDE Day 6 Photo Gallery
The final day of the 2024 FIM International Six Days of Enduro will be remembered for two things: Josep Garcia winning the overall on home soil/mud and the ATROCIOUS weather conditions…
This was one of the toughest days of shooting I’ve ever experienced, and it was a battle all day long to just keep my equipment working. For the riders, it was a win to be able to even finish this final MX test. Bikes were literally stuck upright in the mud throughout the day resulting in heartbreaking abandonments in the final minute of what had been a very difficult week of racing. Fortunately, all the remaining Team Canada riders were able to make it to the finish. Enjoy these shots of the carnage!
Behind the Race: Mani Lettenbichler’s Domination of Red Bull Romaniacs
Manuel Lettenbichler (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) returned to the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship in Romania just five weeks after knee surgery and put on an absolute masterclass in how to dominate a multi-day event through a combination of speed and race management. After putting 34 minutes into the field on off-road Day 1, there was really no question that the German Hard Enduro surgeon was going to bring home his 5th win in the past six years, barring major physical or mechanical issues. In this article we’re going to take an analytical look at how Lettenbichler won again this year, and how he’s been able to dominate the race over the past several years.
SOR Enduro Championship Round 4 Raw Video
Raw video from Round 4 of the SOR Enduro Championship Series where we saw Jared Stock (KTM Canada / Leatt / SOR Enduro) take out the win ahead of Travis Reed (BFD Moto / GasGas Canada) and Shane Cuthbertson (Rad 2.0 / GasGas Canada / BFD Moto).
Rachel Gutish’s European (Non) Vacation #1: Enduro GP for Dummies!
Enduro Bureau contributor Rachel Gutish (Sherco USA) recently decided to take life, and her pro Enduro racing career, by the reigns to go race EnduroGP for the first time this season in attempt to be the first American woman to win a round of the series, and to take a hard swing at winning the overall. It was an exciting and gutsy decision, and we were able to convince this off-road champ to document her European (Non) Vacation for us here! Here’s entry #1 from Rachel’s adventures…
The Enduro Bureau EP.01 | Rachel Gutish
In this first episode of the Enduro Bureau podcast, the hosts introduce themselves and their guest, Rachel Gutish, the defending AMA Endurocross Pro Women's Champion. Rachel shares her experience transitioning to a new team and the challenges of adjusting to a different bike. The conversation then shifts to a comparison of sprint enduro formats in Canada and the US. Rachel talks about her first races on the Sherco and her goals for the season. The episode concludes with Rachel recounting her crash and injury at the ISDE.
Ryder Leblond Interview | King of the Motos
Ryder LeBlond is a rising star in the Hard Enduro world. Coming into his second year with the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team he’s been building a reputation as a fast, sendy pro who’s fully committed to making his way to the top of the sport. Enduro.Media sat down with Ryder in Hammer Town USA at the 2024 King of the Motos / Round 1 of the US Hard Enduro Series to get his thoughts coming into the first race of the year, and talk a bit about his upcoming season, how he views himself as a professional hard enduro rider, dealing with adversity, and more.
Colton Haaker King of the Motos Pre-Race Interview
Enduro.Media caught up with US Enduro legend Colton Haaker (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) the day before racing action got started the 2024 Liqui Moly King of the Motos / Round 1 of the US Hard Enduro Series.
Danny Lewis King of the Motos Pre-Race Interview
We sat down with young American Hard Enduro and Endurocross pro Danny Lewis (Beta Racing) ahead of Round 1 of the 2024 US Hard Enduro Series at King of Motos, in Hammer Town USA out in the Johnson Valley Desert.
Danny was coming into the season having recently suffered from a bout of pneumonia, but was feeling very positive about the coming season.ld Championship), and the mental resiliency he needed to keep racing hard at the US Endurocross series after two tough opening rounds.
Trystan Hart King of the Motos Pre-Race Interview
We sat down with Canadian pro Hard Enduro rider Trystan Hart (Red Bull FMF KTM Factory Racing) out at Hammer Town USA in the Johnson Valley Desert the day before his 2024 season kicked off at King of the Motos (Round 1 of the US Hard Enduro Series).
We spoke with The Robot about his off-season and how it was the longest he’d been off the bike ever as a pro, his plans for the 2024 season (he’s only planning to race the Erzberg, Romaniacs, and Tennessee Knockout rounds of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship), and the mental resiliency he needed to keep racing hard at the US Endurocross series after two tough opening rounds.
2024 Dakar Rally Preview
The 2024 Dakar Rally, the fifth consecutive edition of the race in Saudi Arabia and Round 1 of the W2RC Series, kicks off this coming Friday and we couldn’t be more excited to bring you our daily coverage of the race here at Enduro.Media! Teams and riders are on site in the town of Alula completing scrutineering ahead of opening ceremonies and the prologue. This year’s route looks exceptionally demanding, and the addition of a new self-supported 48-hour chrono stage in the Empty Quarter should add an interesting challenge for riders to overcome if they want to succeed here.
Today we’re going to look at the overall race and some of the big storylines coming in, and provide a little bit of analysis to answer what are always our three biggest questions here at Enduro.Media - What? So What? Now What?
Behind the Shot | Spenser Wilton - 2023 AMA EnDUROCROSS RD 4
Welcome to the first of our ‘Behind the Shot’ features here at Enduro.Media. In this series we’re going to look back and photographs and videos that we’ve shot and tell a bit of the story behind it from a contextual and technical point of view. For this first time out of the gates we’re going back to Round 4 of the AMA IRC Tires Endurocross series in Idaho Falls, ID, and a shot of Canadian pro Spenser Wilton (HTR GasGas / Troy Lee Designs) taken by Noel Flatters, editor of Enduro.Media and Superfine Media. Here’s his take:
The Context
Dominik Olszowy Interview
We had the opportunity to have a chat with Rieju Factory Team rider Dominik Olszowy on the final day of the AMA 2023 IRC Tires Endurocross Series in Reno, Nevada. The 2022 SuperEnduro World Junor Champion had been racing the entire Endurocross series, and would be racing Round 1 of SuperEnduro the following weekend in France. Olszowy had raced well throughout the Endurocross series, especially given the last minute nature of the trip.
Tyler Medaglia Interview - New Team for the Canadian ISDE World Trophy Rider
News broke this morning that Canadian ISDE World Trophy Team member Tyler Medaglia had signed a contract with Canadian MX team Honda Canada/Gopher Dunes Racing (GDR)/Fox Racing. This move came after his previous team (Thor GasGas Racing Canada) folded operations several days ago. We had been hearing rumours over the past month or so that things were ending for the team, so I was definitely interested to see where Medaglia, currently one of Canada’s best ISDE riders, would end up. Tyler was kind enough to give some time to Enduro.Media earlier today to chat about the change, his new team, and how the team was looking at his Enduro/Off-Road racing program.
Shelby TurneR Check-In from 2023 Endurocross RD 3
We checked in with 6x Endurocross champion, and current Endurcross TV commentator, Shelby Turner (KTM) after an exciting night of racing, chaos, and carnage at the AMA’s 2023 IRC Tires Endurocross Series in Idaho Falls, ID. Canadian Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing / Red Bull) came back from a disappointing first two rounds and got back into full Robot mode to hand Jonny Walker (Beta Racing / Red Bull / Leatt) his first moto losses and series loss of the year.
Shooting Pro Hard Enduro: Red Bull Outliers - The Track Walk
In mid-August I got back from shooting for a week in Ontario at the Canadian Grand National Championships and the final round of the Triple Crown Series. Next up for me was to shoot Red Bull Outliers - Round 5 of the FIM World Hard Enduro Championship Series here in, and around, my hometown of Calgary AB.
For Outliers the prologue would take place at Olympic Plaza in downtown Calgary, with the single Hard Enduro stage being run in the Badlands just north of Brooks in Steveville, Alberta (about 2.5 hours east of Calgary). I’ll cover the prologue and the hard enduro stage in later posts, but for this one I’m going to share my experience going to shoot the pro riders’ reconnaissance track walk out in Steveville on the Thursday afternoon before the weekend of racing.
The Outliers course is held on private ranch land, just on the edge of Dinosaur Provincial Park. The Badlands are a beautiful combination of desert and prairie, characterised by relatively short but very steep hills made of clay and sandstone/shale. In the summer, this area can get atrociously hot and dry, with temperatures in 30c+ range most days. There’s basically no shade out there, except for what you can find in the coulees (valleys) below the hills. To top it all off, this is rattlesnake country, too, which just adds to the fun from a sports photographer’s perspective, lol!