PLUS •
NATC New Mexico
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Ohio Hard Enduro Yellowbush
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HDMR Locked-N-Loaded Hard Enduro
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JDay at Budd's Creek
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Next Gen Mototrials Oklahoma
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5 STRAIGHT ON THE IRON GIANT
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Own Gorsuch // O.GoIllustrated
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MAGAZINE
Issue 06 • June 2026 Seat Time: Why Enduro Racing Had to Change
9
10x12 Challenge - June: Hopping
10
On the Pegs Podcast - Built By a Dirt Biker: Chris Davis on Ohio Hard Enduro
12
5 Straight on the Iron Giant
16
Bou Sweeps the TrialGP Opener in Japan
22
Hintze Wins as Ohio Hard Enduro Hits the Mine
28
Precision Under Pressure in New Mexico
34
Hart Locks Down Locked-N-Loaded
42
Ricky Russell Delivers a Dominant JDay Sweep
50
Beta Team Sweeps Stag
52
Davis Seals Sprint Enduro Crown
56
Baylor Delivers as Kawasaki Sweeps Cherokee
60
By Brian Pierce
By Abigail Buzzelli
By Steph Vetterly
By Steph Vetterly
By Steph Vetterly
By Steph Vetterly
By Steph Vetterly
By Steph Vetterly, Owen Gorsuch, Ryan McCasland
By Eighteen Photos // Kylie Kulpa
By Olivia Cunningham
By Shan Moore, Jade Barnes
By Tyler Shepardson, Art Pepin
ON THE COVER Manuel Lettenbichler conquers the Iron Giant for a fifth consecutive Erzbergrodeo victory, matching the event’s all-time win record. JOREG MITTER June 2026
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WHY ENDURO RACING HAD TO CHANGE WORDS PHOTOS
M
ike Lafferty is an 8-Time National Enduro Champion and the May guest for the Seat Time Podcast. He won most of his enduro titles during the end of the timekeeping era of enduro racing. As racers like Russell Bobbitt started to race their way to the top, the National Enduros began switching to the Restart format. Lafferty and I dive into what a timekeeping enduro is, and why he believes the Restart Format brought about by Alan Randt of Enduro Engineering, saved the National Enduros. As well as intimate knowledge of the timekeeping enduro format, four of Lafferty’s enduro titles were on KTM 250 two-strokes and four were on KTM 400 four strokes. He made the switch from two-strokes to fourstrokes in the middle of his dominating enduro career, which showcases even more how dominant of a force he
BRIAN PIERCE COURTESY MIKE LAFFERTY
was when it came to racing dirt bikes. Another fun transition that Lafferty was a part of was the evolution of bark busters, or full wrap handguards, into robust open guards, or flags. This topic is certainly niche within the singletrack group of riders and racers, but there are plenty of reasons to still ask the question “should I run full wrap handguards or open guards?”. Hearing him discuss how he would size up a tree and decide he was just going to mow it down was a wicked part of this discussion.
Lastly, Mike Lafferty is now working for Sherco US. Having spent all of his racing career on a KTM, or a KTM owned Husaberg, it’s an interesting evolution for Mike’s motorcycle legacy. If you’ve been following the Seat Time journey for more than a few years, you know I was on a Sherco 300 two-stroke for seven years, and I loved
that bike! I’m excited to see where the Sherco brand heads as they’re trying to reestablish themselves, again, in the United States.
Click or scan to watch Brian's YouTube video
Mike Lafferty Timekeeping Setup: ICO Computers, Route Sheet, Scorecard and Full Wrap Handguards. Picture provided by Mike Lafferty. June 2026
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JUNE FOCUS: HOPPING WORDS
I
ABIGAIL BUZZELLI
f wheelies are how you start a conversation with the bike, hopping is how you learn to stand still and listen. This month is all about controlled hops, front or rear, the moves that let you reset your line, square up to an obstacle, and place the bike exactly where you want it.
controlled hop in your driveway will pay off the next time you need to square up to something tricky out on the trail.
Hopping is balance under pressure. Whether you are a brand new rider working on your very first little rear hop in place or a seasoned competitor stringing hops together to set up a big move, the skill is the same: load the suspension, time the pop, and stay centered over the bike. Pick one, front or rear, and give it real attention this month.
THANK YOU TO OUR MAY SPONSORS
Things to work on in June: •
Finding and holding your balance point with the bike stopped, feet on the pegs
•
Small rear hops in place, using the clutch and suspension rather than brute force
•
Front-wheel hops to pivot and adjust your line in tight sections
•
Using the rear brake to settle the bike between hops and stay planted
•
Hopping to reposition before a turn, a step, or an awkward log
•
Linking two or three controlled hops together once a single hop feels solid
Hops can feel awkward at first, and that is completely normal. Start with the bike stopped, keep them small, and build from there. Even a few inches of clean, 10
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As always, ride within your skill level, wear your gear, and treat June as a chance to add one more tool to your toolbox. May was made possible by the companies and the community who keep this challenge rolling: Giveaway sponsor: Boyesen, who put up ten sets of Pro Series Reeds for our May finishers. Boyesen reeds are a favorite for a reason, and getting proven performance parts into the hands of riders doing the work is exactly what this challenge is about. Postage sponsor: Six Mile Industries, who covered the cost of shipping sticker packs and prizes to challengers across the country and around the world. Their support is a big part of what makes this feel like a community rather than a contest. Huge congratulations to the ten riders who took home a set of Pro Series Reeds from Boyesen: Heidi Brenner
Max Dracha
Karl Faruzel
Norman Foley
Zack Guelde
Carter Hubner
Shaun Hunt
Tyler Jenkins
Tommy Justice
Robb Reeves
JUNE PRIZES
June brings two great companies on board: Giveaway sponsor: Trial Solutions — two winners will each take home a magnetic kill switch with two premium lanyards. It is low profile, machined from billet aluminum, and snaps off and resets in an instant, a clean and reliable upgrade over a bulky stock switch. Take a look at trialsolutions.ca/products/magnetic-killswitch-with-lanyard. Postage sponsor: 6 Mile Industries, back again to help us keep sticker packs and prizes shipping to challengers everywhere. Thank you for keeping the packages moving. Complete your June 10×12 to be eligible. Turn in a photo of your calendar inside the TrialsProgression community app and you are entered. THE 10X12 COMMUNITY
It still blows me away how much this challenge has grown. We now have more than 150 riders from around the world taking part, with stickers and packages headed everywhere from Estonia to Australia, Canada to Colombia, the UK to right down the road from you. Watching riders cheer each other on inside the TrialsProgression community has become my favorite part of the entire project. Every photo of a calendar full of X marks, every clip of a hard-won hop, every rider who has a rough day and gets back on the bike anyway, that is the real prize. The reeds and the kill switches are just bonus.
MAY FINISHERS Carter Hubner
Judy Li
Shaun Hunt
Chris King
Karl Faruzel
Tom Trantow
Don Conrad
Max Dracha
Tommy Justice
Emerson Fitch
Noel Feeney
Toni Roach
Heidi Brenner
Norman Foley
Tyler Jenkins Zack Guelde
Jim Baird
Rachel Campbell
Juan Felipe
Robb Reeves
Juan Garcia
Scott Brenner
JOIN THE CHALLENGE ON TRIALS PROGRESSION
If you are not already in the community, jump in. The 10×12 community on the TrialsProgression app is free for challengers and is where everything happens: •
See how other riders are approaching June’s hopping focus
•
Share your own drills, practice ideas, and progress clips
•
Stay motivated through long weeks and weather setbacks
•
Earn extra entries into the monthly drawing by participating and supporting your peers
Show up. Put in the reps. Get the bike up and over. Let’s make June a great one.
Top to bottom: Jim Baird, Juan Garcia
June 2026
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Built By a Dirt Biker Chris Davis on Launching Ohio Hard Enduro WORDS PHOTOS
O
STEPH VETTERLY STEPH VETTERLY AND CHRIS TITUS
hio has never lacked dirt bike racers. On nearly any weekend, riders can find an off-road race somewhere in the state. The terrain is varied, the competition is strong, and the riding community runs deep.
formed Ohio Hard Enduro Championship Series, to discuss how the championship began, what it takes to build a race from the ground up, and why Ohio suits regional hard enduro competition.
What Ohio did not have was its own dedicated hard enduro championship.
Davis’ connection to motorcycles began in childhood. Inspired by an older brother who raced, he started in motocross and stayed with the discipline until a serious ankle injury in 2011 forced him to step away.
Chris Davis decided to change that. In Episode 5 of the On the Pegs Podcast, host Steph Vetterly sits down with Davis, owner of the newly 12
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June 2026
After two years away, Davis returned through hare
scrambles. He quickly adapted to off-road competition. After moving to Ohio, he began riding more technical singletrack, searching for difficult climbs, rocks, creek beds, and obstacles that pushed his limits. That progression led to hard enduro. His first event was Battle of the Goats, where he discovered that the aggression and commitment developed through motocross translated well to technical terrain. The idea of running his own series developed gradually.
Davis had helped build courses for other events and often considered how he might handle certain details differently. Conversations with US Hard Enduro founder Matt Musgrove about creating a state championship pushed the idea closer to reality. He needed AMA sanctioning, insurance, suitable properties, sponsors, workers, emergency services, scoring, and logistical pieces racers rarely see. Once those elements began falling into place, Davis and his wife committed to
launching the Ohio Hard Enduro Championship Series.
harder splits and additional technical features.
Davis owns C Davis MX Mechanics and Hocking Hills Bike Rentals, and his business experience taught him that growth would require patience and consistent work.
His own riding background helps him judge that balance. Davis can still attempt many advanced obstacles while fresh, giving him a practical reference point when deciding which classes should face a particular section.
He and his crew often arrive weeks before an event to scout terrain, clear trail, and prepare sections. Race day requires constant decisions, followed by course sweeping, cleanup, and paperwork. Davis said running a race can leave him more exhausted than competing in a five-hour hard enduro. One of his biggest lessons has been learning to trust his crew. Davis prefers to handle tasks himself, but he cannot manage an event while working deep in the woods. He has had to step back and allow his course officials and volunteers to carry out their responsibilities. Course design has quickly become one of the championship’s defining strengths. When Davis evaluates a property, he looks beyond individual hills or rock formations. Soil, clay, exposed rock, vegetation, drainage, elevation, and erosion all affect whether a venue can support the race he wants to build. Before visiting a property, Davis studies topographical mapping software. He identifies ridges, valleys, and possible routes, then creates a rough digital course. Once on the ground, he follows that line and adjusts it around obstacles, unsuitable soil, dense vegetation, and terrain that cannot be connected safely. The goal is not simply to stop riders. Davis wants competitors to struggle, solve problems, and feel challenged, but he also wants them to have a realistic opportunity to complete a lap. Amateur routes test developing riders, while Pro and A-class racers face
Ohio weather makes those decisions even harder. A manageable side hill can become nearly impassable after rain, while repeated traffic can turn dry soil into deep mud. When wet conditions are possible, the crew cuts benches into hillsides, reinforces vulnerable areas, and considers how each line will change. The opening round provided an immediate lesson. Underground water caused parts of the course to deteriorate unexpectedly, creating mud where the crew had not anticipated it. Davis’ officials quickly adjusted the route, and the experience became part of a checklist used to improve later events.
from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and surrounding states a closer, more approachable opportunity.
race Saturday, travel a short distance, and compete again Sunday, reducing the cost of attending separate weekends.
Davis believes a capable hare scramble racer with strong technical skills can enter an Ohio Hard Enduro round and have a successful experience. Flowing single-track rewards woods speed, while technical sections test control, line choice, and determination.
At its core, Ohio Hard Enduro reflects Davis’ connection to the riding community. He is a racer, course builder, motorcycle business owner, and lifelong dirt biker creating events for other dirt bikers.
That combination gives newcomers a place to develop without removing the difficulty that defines hard enduro. Davis already considers the championship a success. Rider turnout and positive feedback have confirmed demand for regional hard enduro racing. His next goals focus on stronger payouts, better podium presentations, more prizes, and full-weekend events that bring riders and families together. Future plans may include two championship rounds held at nearby venues during the same weekend. Competitors could
Davis understands the exhaustion of a difficult lap, the energy of motorcycles firing on the starting line, and the satisfaction of reaching the top of an obstacle that nearly won. He is putting that experience into every course, event, and decision as Ohio Hard Enduro begins building its own place in the sport. Listen to Episode 5 of the On the Pegs Podcast to hear the full conversation with Chris Davis and learn more about the Ohio Hard Enduro Championship Series, available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all other major podcast platforms.
The series also fills an important place within the wider sport. National hard enduros can be intimidating and expensive for first-time competitors. Long drives, lodging, and travel costs can prevent riders from trying the discipline. A regional championship gives riders
Click or scan to listen now
June 2026
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2026 SCHEDULE Mar 6-8: Downhill Southeast Mtn Bike Race
Ryan Young Trials Schools at TTC:
Mar 28-29: Trials Training Days
February 7-8
May 16-17: Spring Splash Trial (STRA)
May 23-24
Jun 15-18: Family Camp
October 3-4
Jun 19-21: AMA/NextGen Mototrials Youth & Women's Eastern Regional Championship Jun 22-25: Invitiational Teen Camp
November 14-15 www.ryanyoungtrialsschools.com
Aug 28-30: 16th Annual Red Bull Tennessee Knock Out Extreme Enduro Oct 24-25: 34th Annual 58K Fall Trial (STRA) Dec 5: 20th Annual Xmas Toy Trial Fun Gate Trial 14
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* All dates are subject to change
June 2026
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5 STRAIGHT ON THE IRON GIANT WORDS PHOTOS
16
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June 2026
STEPH VETTERLY JOREG MITTER, PHILIP PLATZER, PHILIP CARL RIEDL // RED BULL CONTENT POOL
June 2026
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JUNE 4-7, 2026 LOCATION: Eisenerz, Austria
T
hirty editions into its history, the Red Bull Erzbergrodeo has lost none of its ability to humble the best riders in the world. The Iron Giant remains less a racecourse than a moving target—a maze of dust, loose stone, vertical climbs, broken machinery, and decisions that can unravel hours of work in seconds. For 2026, the mountain was sharpened further. New sections raised the difficulty, the pace at the front stayed relentless, and only 15 of the 500 riders who started Sunday’s race reached the finish before the four-hour cutoff. At the center of it all was Manuel Lettenbichler. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider arrived in Eisenerz as the four-time defending winner and overwhelming favorite. Everyone expected him to win. Every rival built their race around stopping him. Yet after more than three hours across one of the harshest Erzberg courses in recent memory, Lettenbichler crossed the finish in 3:05:39 to earn his fifth victory on the Iron Giant. The result placed the 28-yearold German alongside Graham Jarvis and Taddy Blazusiak as the most successful riders in the event’s history. It also made Lettenbichler only the second rider, after Blazusiak from 2007 through 2011, to win Erzberg five consecutive times. The milestone came during a fittingly significant weekend. The 2026 running marked the 30th edi-tion of an event that began in 1995 with 120 riders and an audacious idea from organizer Karl Katoch. Three decades later, more than 1,500 amateur and professional competitors from over 40 nations descended on the massive Austrian iron ore mine. More than 57,000 spectators attended across the 18
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week to watch the world’s strongest hard enduro riders take their shot at the mountain. As always, the Iron Road Prologue determined who would get that opportunity. Two high-speed runs across the quarry narrowed the field to the fastest 500 riders. Sunday’s opening charge was part motocross start, part controlled chaos, and part survival exercise. Dust hung over the quarry, rocks fired from rear tires, and riders fought for clean lines before the course funneled toward its first major obstacles. Lettenbichler escaped near the front, but the opening minutes were not as controlled as the final re-sult suggested. He came off the bike roughly
ABOVE: Trystan Hart (7) RIGHT: Graham Jarvis (56), Cody Webb (27), Teodor Kabakchiev (5)
five minutes into the race and briefly surrendered the lead to Mitch Brightmore. After catching a rock with his front wheel, Lettenbichler backed the pace down just enough to settle into the race rather than throw it away before the mountain had truly be-gun. The caution did not last long. He regrouped, closed back onto Brightmore, and reclaimed control within minutes. From there, the race developed into a flat-out contest between the defending cham-pion and the riders chasing behind. Lettenbichler pushed hard approaching Carl’s Dinner, knowing the
endless boulder field could turn a small advantage into something more decisive. Trystan Hart emerged as the primary threat. With Billy Bolt sidelined by injury, Hart carried much of the expectation for a genuine challenge to Lettenbichler’s reign. The Canadian kept the KTM leader within reach and closed directly onto his rear wheel at checkpoint 13, Speedweek Machine. For a moment, the race tightened, and Hart had the kind of opportunity that rarely presents itself against a rider who has become so efficient at Erzberg.
Lettenbichler’s response was immediate. He raised the pace, rebuilt the gap, and carried that mo-mentum through the final sections. By the finish, his advantage had stretched to more than eight minutes.
the Bulgarian came away encouraged by the cleanliness of his riding and the progress he felt he had made.
Hart arrived second in 3:14:10, securing another major Erzberg result and emphasizing how pun-ishing the anniversary course had been. The front group had raced at full intensity for more than three hours, yet raw speed alone was not enough. Riders still had to lift, drag, pivot, and fight their motorcycles through sections designed to stop forward progress entirely.
Three-time Erzberg winner Jonny Walker looked capable of adding another major result to Tri-umph’s growing hard enduro program. Walker qualified 11th in the Iron Road Prologue, placing him comfortably on the front row. Once the Hare Scramble began, he moved quickly into the lead group and climbed to fourth by checkpoint four.
Mario Roman completed the podium four minutes behind Hart. The Spaniard’s third-place finish gave him a fourth Erzberg podium and reinforced his reputation as one of the mountain’s most consistent performers. Behind him, Sherco Factory Racing’s Teodor Kabakchiev finished fourth in 3:22:01 after spending much of the day in the podium fight. Kabakchiev began inside the top 10 and steadily advanced as the checkpoints passed. His race in-cluded repeated position changes and close battles with the riders around him. Although fourth left him just outside the traditional Erzberg “rock” awarded to the podium finishers,
Not every podium contender reached the flag.
Walker’s speed and experience kept him within contact of the leading trio, even as the course tight-ened. Carl’s Dinner Light cost him time, but he continued pushing until a stick pierced the radiator of his Triumph TF 250-E shortly before checkpoint 14. The damage was too severe to continue, ending a ride that had shown genuine podium potential. Walker had also taken a rock to the mouth off the start and chipped a tooth, making an already difficult day even more painful. Further down the order, survival became its own victory. Abandoned motorcycles littered the mountain as the course and clock eliminated riders by the hundreds. For most of the
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field, Erzberg is not truly about reaching the finish. It is about making one more checkpoint, clearing one more climb, and pushing farther into the mountain than the year before. Lorenzo Gandola arrived with exactly that mindset. The Sherco rider was making his Erzberg de-but and entered the weekend with limited experience in the prologue’s high-speed format. He qualified 49th, enough to secure a place on the front row, but fell to approximately 46th at the first checkpoint on Sunday. From there, Gandola built his race carefully. Rather than burn energy trying to recover every posi-tion immediately, he found a sustainable rhythm and worked forward as the terrain became more technical. The approach carried him to 11th place and made him one of only 15 official finishers. For a first attempt at Erzberg, reaching the line was a major achievement and a foundation for fu-ture appearances. American Ryder LeBlond’s race delivered one of the day’s most dramatic finishes. The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider qualified 35th in the 20
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prologue and reached the first Hare Scramble checkpoint in 19th. As the race developed, LeBlond steadily climbed through the field. He reached 11th by checkpoint 10 and moved into eighth by checkpoint 15, carrying a two-minute advantage over the rider behind him. A top-10 result appeared within reach, but Erzberg rarely allows a clean final hour. LeBlond began to struggle physically while also battling sickness. The deeper the race moved into its most de-manding terrain, including Carl’s Dinner, the more his pace faded. Positions slipped away, and the goal changed from defending eighth to simply beating the clock. LeBlond kept moving. Completely drained, he entered the closing stages with no margin left and crossed the finish with only seconds remaining before the four-hour cutoff. Fifteenth place made him the final official finisher and gave the American his first completed Erzberg Hare Scramble. The number beside his name did not fully capture the ride. LeBlond had shown top-10
ABOVE: Johannes Wibmer
speed through much of the race, then found enough resolve to survive when his body stopped cooperat-ing. He left Austria proud to have reached the finish, but frustrated by what might have been. That combination— achievement mixed with unfinished business—is often what brings riders back to the Iron Giant.
develop, finished 10th with 14 minutes remaining.
The anniversary edition also opened a new chapter, with electric motorcycles permitted to compete directly against combustion-powered machines for the first time. Eddie Karlsson finished ninth despite losing his rear brake in the opening corner and racing the entire course without it. Graham Jarvis, returning to the start line at 52 aboard the electric JARV-E he helped
Only 15 riders beat the clock, one of the smallest finishing groups in recent years. That number told the story of the 30th Erzbergrodeo. The event has grown from a wild Austrian experiment into an international spectacle, but its central challenge remains unchanged. Five hundred riders start. The mountain decides the rest.
Their results were more than a novelty. On a mountain where traction, weight, power delivery, range, and durability are tested at the highest level, both electric machines reached the finish ahead of many factory-backed combustion bikes.
For the fifth straight year, Lettenbichler read that mountain better than anyone. His victory did not come from one spectacular attack. It came from knowing when to settle, when to push, and how to respond when Hart reached his rear wheel. Experience, racecraft, and outright speed combined into another controlled performance on a course that allowed almost no control at all.
Now tied with Jarvis and Blazusiak at five wins, Lettenbichler enters the next chapter of Erzberg history with a chance to stand alone. A sixth victory would move him beyond every rider who has conquered the Iron Giant before him. The mountain will not make it easy. It never has.
EVENT RESULTS IRON ROAD PROLOG 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Andrea Verona (KTM - 10:26,143) Daniel Sanders (KTM - 10:32,957) Carson Brown (KTM - 10:35,086) Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM - 10:37,318) Michael Kratzer (HON - 10:42,121)
MAIN EVENT 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM - 3:05:39) Trystan Hart (KTM - 3:14:10) Mario Roman Serrano (MR74 - 3:18:10) Teodor Kabakchiev (SHR - 3:22:01) Mitch Brightmore (GG - 3:24:56) James Moore (BET - 3:32:34) Michael Walkner (GG - 3:33:52) Ashton Brightmore (GG - 3:36:00) Eddie Karlsson (STK - 3:42:48) Graham Jarvis (JRV - 3:45:56)
June 2026
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BOU Sweeps
the TrialGP Opener in Japan WORDS PHOTOS
STEPH VETTERLY PEP SEGALES
ROUND 1 - Japan LOCATION: Motegi, Japan
began the first defense of her TrialGP Women crown.
A
Through all of it, Toni Bou remained the constant.
new season, a new format, and the same relentless standard at the top. The 2026 Hertz FIM Trial World Championship opened at Mobility Resort Motegi. A revised structure brought timed sections, elimination rounds, reset scores, and four opportunities to earn championship points. Jaime Busto arrived for his outdoor debut with Beta. Harry Hemingway stepped into TrialGP as the reigning Trial2 champion. Miquel Gelabert made history aboard an electric Honda. The Trial2 field had been blown wide open, while Berta Abellan
The 39-time world champion left Japan with four victories,
a perfect 80 points, and the early lead in his pursuit of a twentieth consecutive TrialGP title. Yet the clean sweep did not come from simply cruising at the front. Motegi put Bou under pressure, and the championship’s new format
LEFT : Toni Bou RIGHT: George Hemingway June 2026
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LEFT: Alex Canales Martos BELOW: Jaime Busto RIGHT TOP: Miquel Gelabert RIGHT BOTTOM: Ryon Land
gave his rivals chances to attack. Japan has been part of the world championship since 2000, with Motegi hosting every edition apart from the pandemic-enforced break from 2020 through 2022. The Honda-owned facility offers steep wooded banks, rockstudded climbs, slabs, steps, and technical exits packed into a spectator area. After the rain that defined the 2025 event, sunshine transformed the sections. Grip was available, but the increased traction encouraged the organizers to ask more of the riders. The weekend began Friday with the new Super Test, a timed section used to determine the starting order for Saturday’s first race. Bou set the fastest time in TrialGP ahead of Busto and Repsol Honda HRC teammate Gabriel Marcelli. In TrialGP Women, Britain’s Alice Minta led defending champion Abellan and Italy’s Andrea Sofia Rabino. That test was only the first part of the championship’s overhauled structure. TrialGP riders contested a traditional race on Saturday and Sunday. Race two began with a timed Super Pole, followed by a Final over grouped sections. The top five then advanced to the Super Final, where the scores were wiped clean and the fight started again. TrialGP Women and Trial2 each raced twice per day, while Trial2 shared half of the premierclass sections. It created more opportunities for momentum to swing—and far less room to settle into a comfortable rhythm. Bou struck first on Saturday, although section three made it clear that the opener would not be a procession. The imposing rocks and slabs handed maximums to Bou, 24
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Busto, Marcelli, and Matteo Grattarola. Harry Hemingway, making his TrialGP debut after winning the 2025 Trial2 title, emerged as the early challenger and stayed close through the middle of the race. Bou gradually pulled clear, and even two late maximums could not erase the advantage he had built. He took the opening victory by four marks over Busto, who improved during the second half of the race in his first outdoor appearance for Beta. Grattarola finished another mark back in third, while Hemingway delivered an impressive fourth-place result. Marcelli recovered from three consecutive maximums in the first three sections but could climb no higher than fifth. The new race-two format immediately tightened the pressure. Busto topped the Final ahead of Grattarola and Bou, while Hemingway and British rider Jack Peace were eliminated before the Super Final. With the scores reset, Bou, Busto, and Marcelli opened with matching clean-
five totals through the first two sections. Marcelli’s maximum in section three left Bou and Busto locked together, and they completed the Super Final tied on ten marks. The decision went to Bou on the tie-break. “To be honest, I have been under pressure all the first race and in the Final and Super Final so it has been very difficult for me, but I was fighting to the end and a start like this is amazing,” Bou said. Marcelli finished third, five marks behind the leading pair, with Grattarola fourth. Gelabert completed the top five on a landmark day, becoming the first rider to compete in TrialGP on an electric motorcycle. Sunday brought another dry day and a closer fight in the opening race. Marcelli began with five consecutive cleans and held the early advantage, remaining feet-up until section seven. Busto drew level when Marcelli took two, while Bou and Grattarola hovered only one mark behind. June 2026
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Section ten shifted the order. Busto collected a maximum on the imposing steps, while Bou escaped with one mark and Marcelli needed two. Bou and Marcelli were tied on four, but the boulders in section eleven ended Marcelli’s podium challenge when he took a five. Bou closed with a clean and a single mark to win on five. Grattarola finished second on seven, Busto took third on eight, and Marcelli was pushed to fourth on nine.
Grattarola and Gelabert immediately took maximums on the first section’s huge opening double step and technical exit. Bou, Busto, and Marcelli stayed clean. Everyone stopped in the second section, keeping the three Spaniards together, but Busto lost contact when he drifted off-line on the steep, rocky climb out of section three and took a maximum. Bou and Marcelli remained feet-up.
Behind them, Gelabert produced a strong ride on the electric Honda, finishing fifth on thirteen before a larger gap back to Hemingway and Peace.
With two sections remaining, the teammates were level. Marcelli needed two marks in section four; Bou cleaned it. Another clean in the final section secured Bou’s fourth victory of the weekend with five marks. Marcelli finished second on eight, including one time penalty, and Busto completed the podium three marks farther back.
Bou again topped Super Pole, but Busto took command in the Final with just one mark across the five sections. Bou and Marcelli advanced with five apiece, and the Super Final reset again stripped away every advantage.
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“The Super Final was very difficult because there was so much pressure,” Bou said,
“but the weekend has been amazing for the team and it is amazing to be here.” While Bou was perfect in TrialGP, Abellan came within one race of matching him in TrialGP Women. The defending champion won Saturday’s opener on fourteen, two marks ahead of Alessia Bacchetta. Rabino finished third on twenty-one. Abellan was more settled in the second race, where her total of nine gave her a seven-mark victory over Denisa Pechackova, with Rabino returning to the podium in third. Abellan carried that speed into Sunday and delivered the weekend’s only faultless race, finishing thirteen marks clear of Rabino. Bacchetta took third on a tie-break, setting up a final race that changed the tone of the women’s weekend. Bacchetta, now in her third TrialGP Women season, produced the best performance of her career. She won on
six marks after Abellan took a maximum in section four and added four single marks. Abellan and Minta tied on nine, with the champion taking second on the tie-break. Rabino finished one mark behind them in fourth. “My first lap today was amazing,” Abellan said. “I made a mistake on the second lap and scored a five that was too difficult to recover from, but I’m so happy to start the season like this.” Trial2 delivered the instability expected from a class missing its top two riders from 2025. Arnau Farré won Saturday’s first race, while George Hemingway rebounded from thirteenth to win the second. Alex Canales, who stepped down from TrialGP for 2026, took control of the early championship lead through consistency, finishing second in both races. American teenager Ryon Land also began his rookie Trial2
campaign after winning Trial3 last season, entering 2026 focused on gaining experience at the higher level. Sunday was just as unpredictable. Hemingway won the opener, then fell to thirteenth in race two. Billy Green went the opposite direction, improving from sixth to victory and earning the best overall result of the day. Francesco Titli finished only two points behind Green through fifth- and second-place rides, while Norway’s Jarand Gunvaldsen broke through with second and sixth for third overall. Canales posted fourth and fifth to retain the championship lead without yet winning a race. The revised format gave the round a different pulse, but Motegi still rewarded precision, adaptability, and immediate recovery when a section bit back. Busto showed that his transition to Beta has not dulled his
pace. Marcelli proved he can challenge for victories when he links his best riding together. Grattarola remained in the fight, Hemingway made an encouraging premier-class debut, and Gelabert’s electric Honda completed a historic weekend inside the top five. Still, every path through Japan led back to Bou. Four races produced different pressures, different section sequences, and repeated score resets. None changed the final result. Bou leaves Motegi with 80 points and the championship lead. Marcelli sits fourth with 56, only two behind Grattarola in third. The series now moves to Andorra on June 13-14, where the elevation, terrain, and home-round pressure will present a new test. The format may have changed, and the field may be evolving, but the opening message of 2026 was unmistakable: anyone chasing the TrialGP crown is still chasing Toni Bou.
OPPOSITE: Francesco Titli
ABOVE RIGHT: Berta Abellan
ABOVE LEFT: Gabriel Marcelli
EVENT RESULTS SATURDAY - TRIALGP
SUNDAY - TRIALGP
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Toni Bou - 33 Jaime Busto - 33 Matteo Grattarola - 36 Gabriel Marcelli - 43 Harry Hemingway - 45 Miquel Gelabert - 48 Jack Peace - 62
Toni Bou - 10 Jaime Busto - 9 Gabriel Marcelli - 14 Matteo Grattarola - 19 Miquel Gelabert - 25 Harry Hemingway - 40 Jack Peace - 51
SATURDAY - TRIALGP WOMEN
SUNDAY - TRIALGP WOMEN
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Berta Abellan - 23 Alessia Bacchetta - 35 Andrea Sofia Rabino - 38 Denisa Pechakova - 44 Alice Minta - 50 Alycia Soyer - 54 Kaytlyn Adshead - 66 Alicia Robinson - 84 Nikita Smith - 88 Martina Gallieni - 104
Berta Abellan - 9 Alessia Bacchetta - 19 Andrea Sofia Rabino - 23 Alice Minta - 34 Kaytlyn Adshead - 35 Denisa Pechakova - 41 Alycia Soyer - 42 Nikita Smith - 66 Martina Gallieni - 66 Alicia Robinson - 73
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Hintze Wins as Ohio Hard Enduro Hits the Mine WORDS & PHOTOS ROUND 3 - Yellowbush LOCATION: Racine, OH
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ound 3 of the Ohio Hard Enduro Championship Series, presented by Lancaster Sportcycles, arrived with a different kind of threat.
STEPH VETTERLY
Across the property, exposed rock carried a strange, icy slickness. Obstacles that appeared simple forced racers off their bikes, while creeks and rocky gullies became energy-sapping bottlenecks. Round 3 was not the same
punishment the series had delivered earlier in the season, but it still found a way to wear riders down. This was the event’s third running and its first year on the Ohio Hard Enduro
There was no overnight downpour and no steady rain turning every climb into a war of attrition. The forecast had hinted at wet weather, but the 500-acre former mine property stayed dry from start to finish. Instead, riders were met with 86-degree heat, heavy humidity, fast single-track, and rock that made no sense. It looked dry. It looked clean. It looked manageable. Then the tires touched it. LEFT : Braxton Hintze (53) RIGHT: Tobin Miller (17) June 2026
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LEFT: Bentlee Bredekamp (1615) BELOW: Nick Fahringer (901)
followed in a way that many hard enduros do not. Riders could disappear into the woods at full speed, then reappear moments later in a section where momentum vanished and every mistake unfolded in full view. Late in the race, hearing Covington’s bike behind him in the final mile, Bredekamp attacked the closing section and finally created enough space to take the win.
calendar. The amateur race covered 12.7 miles, while the afternoon Pro/A race stretched to approximately 15 miles with several added splits. Between the difficult sections were long stretches of flowing trail, where mistakes happened with more speed and every recovery cost more in the heat. For the amateur field, the morning quickly developed into a fight between Bentlee Bredekamp and Ohio local Emmett Covington.
Bredekamp came east from Iowa and found himself locked into a race that never settled. He and Covington traded positions repeatedly, with neither able to break the other. “I battled with Emmett like the whole race,” Bredekamp said. “We were back and forth at least like four or five times.” Bredekamp battled arm pump through the opening lap, but his pace improved as the race continued. Covington was never far away. The two riders
could hear each other through the woods and often reached the same technical sections together. One muddy creek briefly stopped both riders, costing them roughly two minutes. Elsewhere, the slippery rock remained difficult to explain. The property also gave spectators several clear windows into the action. The wall, scattered log features, creek crossings, and exposed rock allowed the race to be
“I heard him in the woods at like the last mile, and then I just went fast so he couldn’t catch up,” Bredekamp said. Covington crossed the line second after making passes, capitalizing on mistakes, and leading through portions of the technical terrain. On lap two, he moved ahead in the rocks, but the effort required to maintain that pace began to take its toll. “It was a fast day,” Covington said. “Battling with Bentlee took it out of me.” As the morning grew hotter, Bredekamp’s ability to limit mistakes made him difficult to beat. “I wanted to win real bad,” Covington said. “I was just pushing it super, super hard. But he’s so fast and he doesn’t really make very many mistakes.” One mistake of Covington’s own proved costly. He nearly dropped the bike on a hill featuring slippery roots and a small ledge. He saved it, but had to dismount and push, giving Bredekamp enough room to regain control of the race. Covington’s advice for future competitors was simple: learn to read single-track quickly and carry speed without letting the course get ahead of you.
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Cory King completed the amateur podium in third after facing a race almost opposite from what he had trained for. King had focused on difficult Pro and A-level terrain. Round 3 demanded more speed, more seated riding, and constant precision through the woods. “It was too fast,” King said. “All the training that I’ve been doing is super nasty, like Pro and A stuff, like super hard enduro stuff. This is just single track.” The pace forced riders to avoid washouts, roots, and front-end mistakes. At one point, King stopped to lower his rear-tire pressure in search of more grip. By the time the amateur field cleared the course, the heat had fully settled over the property. The afternoon Pro/A race would be longer, hotter, and fitted with several added splits designed to send the faster riders into more serious trouble. From the start, Braxton Hintze put himself in the best possible position. Riding for Champion Brick Racing, Hintze reached the hardest obstacles first. He had no stalled riders blocking the
preferred line, but he also had to solve every problem alone. What he found was a course far more difficult than it appeared. “This course was awesome,” Hintze said. “I was happily surprised by some of the obstacles out there. They were actually really hard.” The dry conditions created a false sense of security. Rock faces that looked clean and grippy felt greasy under the tires. Several of the Pro addins required Hintze to get off the motorcycle and push. “This place will really get you for how slippery,” he said. “It was dry as a bone. But somehow those rocks were greasy.” Hintze’s position at the front became decisive. Behind him, riders arrived together, lines disappeared beneath spinning tires, and competitors occasionally worked together simply to keep moving. The clearest example was Archer’s Ravine.
TOP TO BOTTOM : Emmett Covington (1607), Brody Vance (1708), Noah Lowe (1941) June 2026
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Randy Rager (1740), Cory King (1621), Alan Hamiilton (1491)
From the outside, the rocky gully looked rideable. Once inside, its angle, loose footing, and slick rock turned it into one of the day’s defining obstacles. Riders pushed and lifted as minutes disappeared. Hintze avoided the worst of the traffic and continued toward the Pro/A win, putting Champion Brick Racing on top of the podium. Behind him, teammate Tobin Miller was fighting a different battle. Miller entered Round 3 carrying momentum from the previous race, but the heat changed his day almost immediately. He began overheating early and struggled to recover. Each slick creek and failed attempt pulled more energy away. “I’m really tired,” Miller said at the finish. “That was really hot.” Miller lost time in several slick sections, and the race became less about chasing Hintze and more about maintaining enough energy to finish. His speed was still enough to carry him to second. For Nick Fahringer, third place came through restraint. Fahringer had crashed hard at the previous race, leaving him sore and unsettled for more than a week. Round 3 suited his traditional enduro background, allowing him to rebuild his rhythm in the flowing woods. “Today’s race is fun,” Fahringer said. “There’s a lot of just like traditional enduro riding, some flowy, fun tech woods, trail, and then a couple of, like, really gnarly obstacles.” Rather than force the issue, Fahringer kept progressing without wasting energy. He also planned to race the Appalachian Championship 32
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Enduro Series the following day, where he was defending the previous season’s title. “Just try to keep progressing,” Fahringer said. “Don’t waste time, but don’t get in a hurry because it’s hot and I overheat, just like an old truck going up a hill.” That measured approach delivered third. The A-class win went to Makana Barger, although his day nearly ended before the start. Five minutes before the race, Barger discovered that his bike’s clutch was dragging and the power did not feel right. With no time for a proper repair, he borrowed another motorcycle and lined up anyway. Barger adjusted quickly and decided to stop worrying about the circumstances. “I just go out there, have fun,” he said. “I drove nine hours for it.”
That approach carried him into the A-class lead. At the first hard creek, he and Maverik Thaxton helped one another through a developing bottleneck.
while the rock offered almost none. Heat turned small mistakes into major energy losses, and bottlenecks transformed short obstacles into race-defining delays.
Thaxton’s day showed how quickly Round 3 could unravel. He took the holeshot, then dropped to the back of the field after getting hung up. He recovered and began closing on riders ahead, but later crashed on an off-camber section and struck his head hard enough to leave himself dizzy. After stopping to recover, he continued and reached the finish with only two minutes remaining.
Round 3 did not need rain or deep mud to create a true hard enduro. It used speed, heat, slick rock, and just enough deception to make every rider question what looked possible. On a day when the terrain appeared dry and inviting, the Ohio Hard Enduro Championship Series proved once again that the hardest obstacles are often the ones that hide their teeth until the race is already underway.
“I loved it,” Thaxton said of the course. “It was fast and flowy and stuff. And then when it slowed down and everything, it got really, really hard.”
The Ohio Hard Enduro Championship Series returns for Round 4 on July 11 at Down Home Farm in Cutler, Ohio, where another demanding test awaits the championship contenders.
That contrast defined Round 3. The fast trail encouraged aggression. The technical sections punished it. Dry ground suggested traction,
OVERALL - PRO/A 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Braxton Hintze (KTM) Tobin Miller (KTM) Nick Fahringer (SHR) Mark Fortner (BET) Makana Barger (KTM) Maverik Thaxton (KTM) Drew Fortner (BET) Leiber Ponce (KTM) Tim Burwick (HSQ) Robert Cornwell (KTM)
OVERALL - AMATEUR 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Bentlee Bredekamp (HSQ) Emmett Covington (KTM) Cory King (SHR) Graham Kobak (SHR) Cory Jones (KTM) Thad Bredekamp (BET) Alex Badilla Arias (KTM) Justin Farley (HSQ) Joel Rockwell (SHR) Patrick Rexing (BET)
Click or scan to watch the latest recap video
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Precision Under Pressure in New Mexico CASALES AND HOOVER CONTROL SAN YSIDRO WORDS & PHOTOS
STEPH VETTERLY
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ROUND 3/4 - San Ysidro
Trials Area
LOCATION: San Ysidro, NM
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ounds three and four of the 2026 NATC National Trials Championship Series carried the paddock west to one of the most distinctive venues on the calendar. Set at roughly 5,500 feet above sea level, the San Ysidro Trials Area in New Mexico offers a landscape of stone badlands, grippy slickrock, thick silty soil, sandy approaches and winding trails.
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After the slick eastern rocks of the season opener in West Virginia, San Ysidro presented an entirely different test. Riders could trust the grip, attack larger steps and move farther forward on the motorcycle. Yet the added traction did not necessarily make the weekend easier. Instead, it created a trial where mistakes were rare among the leading riders and therefore far more costly.
The weather added another layer. Saturday reached 81 degrees beneath a mostly cloudless sky, while Sunday climbed to 85. The loop stretched nearly seven miles through the exposed desert terrain, forcing riders to manage hydration, fatigue and the effects of altitude across three laps. By the end of each day, the heat and thin air had become as much a part of the trial as the sections themselves.
At the front of the Pro class, the weekend belonged to Jorge Casales. His success was not built around dramatic saves or late recoveries. It came from the composure required to ride almost perfectly when the sections offered little room for separation. Casales quickly recognized the nature of Saturday’s trial. The early sections were producing few dabs among the leading riders, turning the day into a
mental contest. Rather than wondering whether he could clear an obstacle, Casales had to remain focused enough to avoid the smallest unnecessary mistake. “Today’s sections are really easy. One mistake, you are out,” he said after Round 3. The amount of grip played a major role. Obstacles that may have looked intimidating to spectators became far
more manageable for riders at Casales’ level. The rock allowed the Pro riders to commit aggressively, trust the rear tire and use techniques that would have been far riskier in West Virginia’s lower-traction conditions. Casales felt the sections could have been shorter and more technical. Several included lengthy turns and additional splits that pushed riders toward the 90-second limit without
necessarily increasing the technical challenge. “In trial we don’t fight with the time,” he said. “We fight with the technicality, with big steps, with things in the section.” That criticism became a recurring theme throughout the Pro paddock. Most riders enjoyed the terrain and considered the obstacles safe, but several felt too much of the challenge came from
maintaining speed through long sections. They wanted the decisive moments to come from balance, technique and obstacle execution rather than a race toward the end cards.
PREVIOUS: TRS Hammer Nutrition's Jorge Casales THIS PAGE: Trial Store USA's Alex Niederer (main), Trials Superstore's Sondre Haga (inset, top), Beta USA's Jay Gregorowicz (inset, bottom) June 2026
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Casales nevertheless adapted better than anyone. His only mark on Saturday came late in the day in one of the hardest sections. On Sunday, the pressure increased as Sondre Haga matched his pace through the opening lap. When Casales made a small error in the final section, the two were effectively locked together. From that point forward, Casales understood that another mistake could decide the day. Haga eventually surrendered two points, leaving Casales to complete the remaining sections clean. He did exactly that.
throughout the weekend, but the low-scoring format made every error difficult to overcome. On Saturday, a momentary lapse in section 10 resulted in a five that changed the character of his entire day. “That five was just too expensive,” Haga said. “Casales, fair play to him, he rode pretty perfect all day.”
“The pressure is incredible,” Casales said. “The sections are easy, but it is also easy to make a mistake. Taking a five is really hard to recover from.”
Rather than allowing the mistake to unravel his trial, Haga regrouped and finished strong. He returned Sunday with a more aggressive mindset, knowing that another low-scoring day would place an even greater premium on clean rides. His performance was nearly faultless, but a small mistake late in the day again provided Casales with the opening he needed.
Haga was the rider most capable of challenging him. The Norwegian had the pace
Haga also acknowledged the difficulty facing the section designers. New Mexico’s
abundant traction makes it challenging to create sections that are difficult for elite riders without becoming dangerous. He felt the final three sections provided the best balance and wanted more of that technical character throughout the trial. Sections 10, 11 and 12 became the weekend’s central stage. Positioned near the pits, they attracted spectators and offered a visible contrast to many of the earlier sections. They were bigger, more technical and carried greater consequences. Murphy Aaron described the final group as both difficult and intimidating. Some obstacles felt near his limit, particularly as fatigue accumulated late in the loop. 38
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Section 11 stood out for its technical demands, while the combination of larger steps and precise positioning made the closing stretch a genuine test. Aaron’s weekend reflected the growing confidence he brought home from time spent riding in Spain. His results were interrupted by unnecessary errors, but his best rides showed improved consistency. Both days followed a similar pattern: mistakes in the opening laps followed by a much cleaner final loop.
Left to right: Trials Superstore's Murphy Aaron, Trials Superstore's Maddie Hoover, Beta USA's Abigail Buzzelli
“Growing up in Arizona, that’s all I rode was grippy rock,” Roper said. “It just came second nature to me.” The technique returned quickly, but the heat and altitude were less familiar. After years in Tennessee, Roper admitted that his body was no longer as comfortable in hot, dry western conditions. He had to manage his energy carefully while reacquainting himself with a riding style built around confidence and forward body position.
The challenge now is to sustain that level throughout an entire day. Aaron felt more confident and composed inside the sections, even when his score did not fully show it. New Mexico demonstrated that the pace is there; eliminating the lapses will determine how often he can turn that pace into stronger finishes. Trial Store USA’s Josh Roper’s weekend was also shaped by progression. Now living in Tennessee, Roper spends much of his time riding mud, leaves and lower-traction eastern terrain. San Ysidro brought him back toward the dry, grippy conditions of his Arizona upbringing.
Roper improved as each day developed. Small errors marked his early loops, but he finished Saturday with one of his strongest laps and carried that momentum into Sunday. His Beta performed well at elevation, allowing him to focus on cleaning up his execution. Like Casales, Roper enjoyed the obstacles but questioned some of the section length. He wanted the competition to remain between rider and obstacle, not rider and stopwatch. Still, he left New Mexico encouraged by his riding and the performance of the team. Trial Store USA teammate Alex Niederer expressed the strongest frustration with the time demands. Saturday
became a difficult combination of altitude, physical fatigue and extended sections. He began the day well, but the effort of fighting the motorcycle in the thin air steadily wore him down. Niederer accepts that fitness should play a role in trials and believes one or two sections can reasonably require riders to move quickly. His concern came when racing the clock became a repeated feature. “I prefer trials where the section tests the rider on ability, not on speed,” he said. Sections 11 and 12 accounted for much of his Saturday trouble. Cramping and fatigue contributed, though Niederer refused to use either as a complete excuse. The larger issue was that he could not convert strong approaches into completed rides. Sunday began with another complication when dirt entered his carburetor, limiting his warm-up. Once the problem was repaired, however, Niederer gradually found a better rhythm. The sections felt tighter, more technical and more enjoyable. A heavy crash in section 10 could have ended badly, but Josh and David Roper helped catch the motorcycle while
Niederer landed safely. By the final loop, he was riding at his best. He cleared section 10, cleaned section 11 and attacked the final section knowing the weekend had already turned in a more positive direction. While Casales controlled Pro, Trials Superstore’s Maddie Hoover defined the Women’s Pro weekend. Her performance was built on experience— not only the ability to clear obstacles, but the knowledge required to manage an entire national trial. Hoover understood what New Mexico demanded. The terrain was hot, sandy and grippy, and many sections relied more on fundamentals than spectacle. “There was a lot of basics,” Hoover said. “Just left turn, right turn. Don’t screw it up.” That apparent simplicity created its own pressure. In a low-scoring trial, basic mistakes become decisive. Hoover monitored the competition throughout the day and knew when she needed to tighten her riding. Her experience also showed in how she handled the elevation. Rather than treating heavy breathing as a sign of poor fitness, she accepted that altitude would reduce her June 2026
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normal capacity. She drank more, ate consistently and allowed herself enough time to recover. Sunday’s sections featured larger steps and slightly greater difficulty, yet Hoover improved as the day went on. The opening loop allowed her to understand the changes, while the next two were increasingly precise. As the weekend’s accumulated fatigue began to affect the field, Hoover became sharper. Trials Superstore teammate Kylee Sweeten also progressed throughout the event. Coming from Oregon and without the benefit of competing at every NATC round, she needed time to return to nationallevel rhythm. Saturday began unevenly, but she became more comfortable as she trusted the traction and adjusted to the sand. Sweeten described the central difficulty of the weekend well. The sections were neither overwhelmingly difficult nor excessively easy. Instead, they required total concentration every time. One five could undo a strong performance, while even isolated dabs carried unusual weight.
That made mental endurance almost as important as physical endurance. Sweeten once preferred not to see the scores during competition, but she now uses them as information while keeping her primary focus on the sections. She remained close to Hoover
early Sunday before fatigue and a late mistake widened the gap, but her overall riding remained solid. For Beta USA’s Abigail Buzzelli, New Mexico represented another important step in her move to Women’s Pro. Competing on the line for only the second national weekend, she immediately found the terrain more encouraging than West Virginia. The larger obstacles were not her primary challenge. Buzzelli enjoyed the grippy rock and sandy sections. Her focus was the ground game— the turns, approaches and precise positioning required before reaching the main obstacle. Saturday began positively, but an unexpected physical problem disrupted her progress. A tight jersey cuff restricted her wrists until both hands became numb, making the clutch difficult to operate. Once the cause was identified, the situation became easier to understand and solve.
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Sunday provided a fresh opportunity. Buzzelli chose not to settle for safe scores and instead attacked lines that offered the possibility of stronger rides. Some attempts resulted in fives, but the willingness to push represented progress. She finished with more cleans than she had previously recorded at a national on the Women’s Pro line. The weekend also carried meaning beyond the championship. On Saturday evening, the 2026 Trial des Nations teams were announced. Josh Roper, Alex Myers and Ryon Land were selected for the men’s team, while Hoover, Sweeten and Buzzelli were named to the women’s team. Kylie and Max Glueck were selected for the Challenge Team, becoming the first brother-sister duo to fill those roles together. For Hoover, the announcement carried particular emotion. This will be her 12th TdN appearance, and she admitted it may be her final one. Buzzelli viewed her second selection as an opportunity to
return with greater experience, while Roper spoke about the confidence that comes from knowing what to expect in Europe. By the time the paddock left San Ysidro, the weekend had become less about the final numbers than what those numbers required. New Mexico did not produce chaos. It produced pressure. Riders had to trust unfamiliar traction, conserve energy in thin air, manage the heat and remain mentally engaged through sections where perfection was expected. Casales and Hoover emerged as the defining riders, but the story extended beyond the winners. San Ysidro proved that a trial does not need mud, enormous scores or impossible obstacles to reveal character. Sometimes the hardest events are those where the margins remain narrow and every rider knows that one small mistake may be the only one the day allows. The NATC championship continues July 11 and 12 with rounds five and six, as the series returns to the rugged
Clockwise from top left: Trial Store USA's Josh Roper, Trials Superstore's Kylee Sweeten, 2026 Trial des Nations teams, Beta USA's Cole Cullins
granite terrain of Turkey Rock Trials Area in Howard, Colorado. NEXT UP :
Round 5/6: July 11/12 Location: Howard, CO
EVENT RESULTS SATURDAY - PRO
SUNDAY - PRO
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Jorge Casales - 1 pt Sondre Haga - 12 pts Josh Roper - 26 pts Murphy Aaron - 34 pts Alex Niederer - 45 pts
Jorge Casales - 1 pt Sondre Haga - 3 pts Josh Roper - 18 pts Murphy Aaron - 22 pts Alex Niederer - 30 pts
SATURDAY - WOMEN'S PRO
SUNDAY - WOMEN'S PRO
1. 2. 3.
1. 2. 3.
Maddie Hoover - 12 pts Kylee Sweeten - 14 pts Abigail Buzzelli - 93 pts
Maddie Hoover - 10 pts Kylee Sweeten - 22 pts Abigail Buzzelli - 101 pts
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HART LOCKS DOWN LOCKED-NLOADED WORDS PHOTOS
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STEPH VETTERLY OWEN GORSUCH // O.GOILLUSTRATED, RYAN MCCASLAND // CALAFIA CONCEPTS
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ROUND 6 - HDMR Locked-n-
Loaded Hard Scramble LOCATION: Sugarloaf, PA
T
he HDMR Locked-NLoaded Hard Scramble has never lacked difficulty, but its fifth running at Red Rock Lodge in Sugarloaf, Pennsylvania, delivered more than simple brutality. Round 6 of the 2026 AMA National Hard Enduro Championship, Presented by IRC Tire, produced two distinctly different days of racing, a reworked Sunday format and one of the season’s closest fights behind the familiar figure at the front. For the fifth consecutive year, that figure was FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Trystan Hart. Hart arrived as the rider everyone expected to beat and left with a LockedN-Loaded victory, but the route was far from routine. A storm drenched the property Saturday, pushing temperatures into the 40s and turning the opening race into a five-hour test of pace, body temperature and concentration. On Sunday, the event shifted into Dark Hollow for a threemile short course that placed the leaders within sight and gave spectators a front-row view. Over five years, the High Mountain Dirt Riders have developed Locked-N-Loaded into a US Hard Enduro stop. Red Rock Lodge offers rock gardens, technical single-track, fern-covered ravines, steep hills and creek beds. This year’s rain filled the course with water and mud, yet the local rocks often gained traction when wet. Saturday’s Race 1 began with a traditional hard scramble start across a cornfield. 44
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had compromised his muscles, breathing and focus.
Rockstar Husqvarna’s Ryder LeBlond took the holeshot, leading 25 Pros into the soaked woods. The Pro and A riders faced two laps on a shortened course, while the B and C classes were assigned three laps during the five-hour window. LeBlond’s early advantage did not last. Hart, Kamakana Waiwaiole-Kahelpuna, Ryder Guest and Kawelo Huddy worked past him on the opening lap. LeBlond recovered time on lap two and fought back to second, with Guest finishing third. Hart controlled the race at the front and secured the first half of his weekend
sweep. His performance was built on avoiding the costly mistakes that multiplied as the temperature fell. Standing still after a crash, bottleneck or mechanical problem only made it harder to warm back up. No rider illustrated that struggle more clearly than Cody Webb. The Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Yamaha rider endured what he called his worst prologue in hard enduro, finishing Saturday in 15th after struggling with the cold and losing his front brake. Webb said he felt “chilled to the bone” and unable to make his body respond. The terrain was not the problem; the cold
Waiwaiole-Kahelpuna’s promising start also ended painfully. After running near the front, he crashed on the second lap and injured his elbow, ending his weekend before Sunday’s main event. The B and C riders received class-specific splits that preserved the venue’s character. Bentlee Bredekamp continued his B-class dominance, completing three laps in three hours and 22 minutes. For riders left soaked, cold and exhausted, the amateur race became a display of perseverance. Sunday opened with nearly 20 young riders competing in a Mini Hard Scramble on a onemile course through smaller rock gardens and mud holes.
PREVIOUS: Trystan Hart (1) LEFT: Cody Webb (2) ABOVE : Kawelo Huddy (25) RIGHT: Cole Clarkson (319), Tobin Miller (17)
Riders on 50cc, 65cc and 85cc machines marked the fourth USHE event of 2026 to feature a dedicated youth race. Track designer and USHE Scoring Director Mike Soudas built a compact three-mile circuit through the property’s most scenic section. Saturday’s top 50 advanced, starting five at a time in 30-second intervals. The loop followed a rushing creek, crossed waterfalls, climbed slick boulder fields and attacked steep black-dirt hills. Nearly a dozen viewing areas let spectators follow the action lap by lap.
That proximity changed the atmosphere. Riders could see rivals across the course and judge whether gaps were growing or disappearing. Huddy said the lap format played games with the mind because every glimpse forced a decision: push harder or remain calm? Hart answered immediately. On the opening lap, the leaders reached a new hill named Chaise Lounge. Hart attacked the direct line and cleaned it on his first attempt. No one else repeated the feat all day. LeBlond, Guest, Huddy, Webb and the rest were forced to push the final portion or use the longer route around. June 2026
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Hart felt obligated to attempt the climb after talking confidently beforehand. As traffic later carved an easier outside line, the direct route became unnecessary, but his early success delivered an immediate advantage. The terrain evolved rapidly. Ruts formed, alternate lines opened and several hills became faster with each lap. Hart rated the first lap close to an eight out of 10 for difficulty, but said the course eventually dropped to a six as the field cut in the lines. The reduced difficulty transformed the race into a faster contest where hesitation cost time. Hart built his lead while managing the creek’s risk. Mud hid holes capable of swallowing a front wheel or drowning an engine. Hart stayed seated with his weight rearward, allowing the front wheel to float through the deepest sections. Repeated impacts in the muddy rock gardens steadily wore riders down. Behind him, the race became increasingly volatile. LeBlond crashed on the technical downhill after Chaise Lounge, tumbling the bike and damaging the throttle tube.
Guest and Webb moved ahead, while Huddy battled severe arm pump and slipped to fifth during the first lap. Webb had already charged from the third row and 15th starting position toward the front, but arm pump soon limited his progress. A mechanical problem then threatened Webb’s recovery. Near a log before a major hill, he felt something unusual beneath his boot and realized a footpeg was coming loose. He stopped, gathered parts and tools from people nearby and improvised a repair. The delay dropped him outside the top five and nearly allowed Will Petrie to catch him. The stop revived Webb’s
Branden Petrie (99), Tyler Bauman (322), Makana Barger (400), Riley Bender (31)
race. His arm pump subsided, and once the Yamaha was secure, he moved forward. While younger riders attacked and sometimes exhausted themselves pushing, Webb searched for traction, conserved energy and waited for openings. One of his boldest moves came through two trees spaced narrower than his handlebars. Webb saw that the direct route would save time, committed before he could fully straighten the bike and twisted the bars through the gap. It was a classic hard enduro
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gamble: awkward, precise and impossible to reverse once started. Farther ahead, Huddy recovered from his arm pump and accelerated on the second lap. The Ultimate Hawaiian Hard Enduro winner moved into a fight with Guest for second, carrying the hopes of a breakthrough mainland podium. Huddy later identified the mossy switchbacks as the section where he lost the most time. He felt he had pushed too urgently instead of stopping, setting up each turn and riding his own rhythm. Guest was navigating unfamiliar territory. He spent much of the race near the front and admitted that holding second in a Premierclass event challenged his composure. The switchbacks suited his Hawaiian background, but mistakes in the rocks and encounters with lapped riders cost time. Even so, he remained in the podium fight until the final moments.
The climb called Not Ryan’s Hill became the center of repeated position changes. Some amateur riders spent more than an hour trying to escape it, while the Pros balanced wheel placement, momentum and energy conservation. LeBlond and Champion Brick Racing’s Braxton Hintze were fighting for fourth and fifth when Webb swept past both in one move, continuing his recovery toward Guest. Hart was already beyond reach. He completed the race in two hours and 12 minutes, securing his fifth Locked-NLoaded victory. The remaining podium positions, however, stayed unsettled to the finish. Huddy held firm to claim second, earning his first mainland AMA National Hard Enduro podium. The result confirmed that his Ultimate Hawaiian victory was no
isolated performance and showed he could adapt his speed to a compact, highpressure national format. Guest and Webb reached the last climb nearly side by side. Guest chose the primary line but hung up on a root. Webb selected a more technical alternate route, carried the bike through and made the pass within the final few hundred feet. After starting 15th, fighting arm pump and repairing the bike on course, Webb completed the comeback in third. Guest finished fourth, with LeBlond fifth. Ayden Marinchek led the A-class finishers in Sunday’s race, ahead of Makana Barger and Boogie Rivera. Katie HallLeah topped the Pro Women’s category with her Saturday victory. Locked-N-Loaded’s revised format achieved what the organizers intended. Saturday
preserved the long, demanding hard enduro experience for the full field, while Sunday concentrated the fastest riders into a spectator-friendly arena where the battles remained visible. Hart was still the standard, but Huddy’s breakthrough, Webb’s recovery and Guest’s charge ensured the race was about far more than another name at the top.
The AMA National Hard Enduro Championship now pauses before the Hollow Point Hard Enduro in Wellsville, Ohio, on August 8-9. After a weekend of cold rain, rushing water and constantly changing lines in Pennsylvania, Hart remains locked in while the riders behind him continue loading the championship fight.
EVENT RESULTS - MAIN EVENT OVERALL PRO/A
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Trystan Hart - 2:12:22 Kawelo Huddy - 2:30:40 Cody Webb - 2:31:19 Ryder Guest - 2:31:53 Ryder LeBlond - 2:37:39 Braxton Hintze - 2:40:00 Niko Piazza - 2:56:39 Branden Petrie Quinn Wentzel James Flynn
OVERALL - AMATEUR 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Bentlee Bredekamp - 3:22:48 Reimy Abreu - 3:34:04 Jose Technology - 3:43:43 Wilson Caraballo - 3:49:23 Thad Bredekamp - 3:53:15 Kevin Soltys - 4:12:09 Grayson Ingoldby - 4:18:27 Noah Howard - 4:25:49 Joel Rockwell - 4:26:21 Gustavo Garcia - 4:28:39
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Photo: R. Schedl
300 XC 300 XC
lways wear protective safety gear and ride in a responsible manner. Production model specifications and options may vary from the displayed vehicles.
RAW 2-STROKE POWER The 2026 KTM 300 XC doesn‘t just show up – it dominates. Its razor-sharp chassis and dialed suspension make it a weapon of choice for riders who live wide open. The 2026 KTM 300 XC isn‘t just a contender – it‘s the original alpha.
VISIT KTM.COM
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June 2026
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Ricky Russell Delivers a Dominant JDAY Sweep WORDS & PHOTOS
ROUND 5 - Budd's Creek LOCATION: Mechanicsville, MD
J
DAY Offroad’s fifth Regional Round came to a close at Budds Creek Motocross Park in Maryland, presented by Pro Taper. Riders faced a challenging course that combined the full motocross track ,featuring steep hills and concrete-like dirt, with a long, freshly cut woods section that created a true test of speed, endurance, and technical skill. Ricky Russell put on a dominant performance in the 50
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Pro AA class, sweeping both motos with a 1-1 finish and leaving the competition chasing his rear wheel. PRO AA CLASS
Moto 1 started with Joey Crown grabbing the Fox Racing Holeshot before a mistake on the first step-up resulted in a crash, dropping him
EIGHTEEN PHOTOS // KYLIE KULPA
back through the field. Ricky Russell quickly moved into the lead and began building a gap. Russell controlled the race from there, finishing Moto 1 with a 12-second lead over Tyler Medaglia. Medaglia battled for position throughout the moto with Collier Martinez, ultimately holding second by just 0.04 seconds. Josh Toth finished fourth after trading positions with Jiggs Fustini during the moto. Moto 2 saw Russell once again launch himself into the lead early and settle into a strong pace. Finding the best lines and staying consistent, Russell extended his advantage to finish the moto with an impressive 52-second lead. Medaglia claimed second in Moto 2, finishing nine seconds ahead of Toth, who continued pushing to secure another podium finish. Fustini crossed the line fourth, continuing his strong season in the Pro class, while Martinez rounded out the top five after starting lap
one in ninth and making a strong charge through the field. The overall podium featured Russell in first, Medaglia in second, and Toth in third, showcasing their speed and control through the woods, motocross track, extreme section, and the Kurt Caselli section.
Kayla O’Neill finished second overall, staying consistent and maintaining a strong pace through the woods and technical sections. Carly Lee finished Moto 1 in second place while keeping pressure on the leader, but unfortunately suffered a bike issue in Moto 2 and was unable to finish.
AMATEUR CLASSES
In the Amateur divisions, Rivers Morris once again took home the A Overall win. Kyle Grenewicz finished second in A250, while Cole Johnson secured third overall along with the A Open class win. WOMEN’S PRO CLASS
The Women’s Pro class brought out some heavy competition, with Jocelyn Barnes taking control of the day and leading both motos to claim the overall victory. Barnes had a scary crash during the day but was able to recover and continue fighting through to the finish.
Budds Creek delivered a demanding day of racing, combining speed, technical terrain, and challenging conditions to test every rider throughout the course.
OVERALL - CGI FACILITY GP 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Ricky Russell (KAW) Tyler Medaglia (YAM) Josh Toth (KAW) Collier Martinez (KAW) Jiggs Fustini (KTM) Justin Cokinos (YAM) Rivers Morris (KAW) Jake Abbott (YAM) Kyle Grenewicz (YAM) Cole Johnson (HON)
Rivers Morris (228, bottom left), Ricky Russell (212, below), Jake Abbott (777, right)
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BETA TEAM SWEEPS STAG WORDS & PHOTOS CENTRAL REGIONAL - Tulsa
Mountain Ranch LOCATION: Tulsa, OK
I
t was a hot weekend in Oklahoma for the Next Gen Mototrials Youth and Women’s Central Regional and two riders really brought the heat! Beta USA team riders Bennett Hubner and Abigail Buzzelli took the top boxes for the overall wins of the weekend taking home some new hardware: The Stag. Besides the heat and humidity, Saturday and Sunday proved 52
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to be very different conditions in the sections. Rain from Friday left the ground saturated and the rocks slick for Saturday, proving difficult for some riders, despite the sections improving as the day went on. Sunday, the conditions were much better having dried out overnight and proved to help some riders physically and mentally throughout the day. Bennett Hubner brought his A-game all the way from Montana right into the premier youth class in Oklahoma.
OLIVIA CUNNINGHAM Hubner swept the weekend and added to his collection of Next Gen Mototrials Regional trophies, having won both the Eastern and Western rounds in 2025. Hubner says that winning all three regionals was a goal of his and is happy to have accomplished it. While slimy rocks and mud may not be what Montana is known for, Hubner excelled in these conditions on Saturday and further proved himself on a drier Sunday throwing down
only 5points, putting him miles ahead of his competition. “Sunday I was very excited for the event because I knew I had a chance to win the stag," said Hubner. “I walked the sections almost every lap to make sure I was confident in them [and] made sure that I was ready before I entered the sections because I wanted to ride my best.” He looked like he was Beta USA's Bennett Hubner (above), Becky Owens (top right), Beta USA's Abigail Buzzelli (bottom right)
in the zone all day and there was nothing anyone could do to change that. But can he give the same performance at the next regional? That’s all up to him. Practicing riding sections is the number one thing on Hubner’s to-do list to keep himself sharp and help carry his momentum from Oklahoma to the upcoming
regional in Tennessee. We know he can’t be shaken, and it seems like no one can get in his way. Hubner has the potential to sweep the overall at all three regional events in 2026. The winner of the women’s premier class, Abigail Buzzelli, is now a three-time winner of the Stag. Buzzelli credits her perseverance and
hard work, saying it’s what has helped her win this title three times over, “The location has presented significant challenges to me the last two years and to still come out on top makes me feel good about all the hard work I’ve put in and about my personal resilience.” Having moved up to the top line this year proved to bring
out challenges to overcome, which is where she shined. Following a gnarly crash during section 1 on Sunday where her head became trapped between her bike and a rock after being thrown over the bars, Buzzelli was able to continue with her head up. “The second day I was feeling great in warm up leading up to the crash, which rattled me. I stayed focused and calm and
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tried to find my wins where I could. Not happy with all my riding on the second day but trying to give myself grace after such a hard fall,” said Buzzelli. She also credited the 10-point buffer she carried over from Saturday, saying it was enough to win her the weekend and bring home the Stag. After this challenging weekend, Buzzelli plans to get some rest then turn her practice time into a “boot camp” for the skills she is working to develop to get fewer 3’s and refine her style. She said, “My obstacle skills are there but some of the details really need to come together so that I can put those skills on display.” In 2025, Buzzelli managed to hit the trifecta and win all three regionals in the premier women’s class, but can she do it again in 2026? Only time will tell, and we’ll see what happens very soon. Beta USA trials team manager, Cole Cullins, had a few things to say about the weekend, “Beta USA and I are extremely proud of our rider’s performance at the most recent Next Gen Mototrials Youth and Women’s Regional. Specifically, I would like to shout out Bennett’s domination in the premier youth class, and Abigail’s determination and grit, even after a gnarly first section crash Sunday. We’re excited to see if they can sweep again in Tennessee. Great job guys!” Next, Next Gen Mototrials heads to Sequatchie, TN, where the beloved Trials Training Center brings riders from all across the country together. The regional will take place June 19-20 following the annual Family Camp held by TTC to help kids improve their skills (June 15-17). There are only two weeks until we see if Bennett Hubner and Abigail Buzzelli can carry Beta USA to another regional sweep.
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OVERALL - SATURDAY
OVERALL - SUNDAY
YOUTH-A-ES
YOUTH-A-ES
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Bennett Hubner - 11pts Preston Blumhorst - 28pts Thomas Keady - 34pts Bradyn Miller - 70pts Gage O'Niell - 99pts
Bennett Hubner - 5pts Thomas Keady - 28pts Preston Blumhorst - 34pts Bradyn Miller - 77pts Gage O'Niell - 87pts
EXPERT SPORTSWOMAN
EXPERT SPORTSWOMAN
1. 2.
1. 2.
Abigail Buzzelli - 108pts Kylie Glueck - 118pts
Beta USA's Bennett Hubner and Abigail Buzzelli
Kylie Glueck - 108pts Abigail Buzzelli - 110pts
Gear: helmets, jerseys, pants & protectors Parts: Jitsie, OEM plus various aftermarket parts Bikes: Beta, Electric Motion, Vertigo & TRS June 2026 ON-THE-PEGS.COM 55
DAVIS SEALS SPRINT ENDURO CROWN WORDS PHOTOS ROUND 4 - Olde Gray
Sprint Enduro LOCATION: Monterey, TN
F
MF KTM Factory Racing’s Grant Davis and KTM Orange Brigade’s Cooper Jones wasted no time writing the final chapter of the 2026 US Sprint Enduro Series, clinching their respective championships a day early at the Old Gray Sprint Enduro in Monterey, Tennessee. In a commanding display, Davis secured both the Overall crown and the Pro 1 title, 56
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SHAN MOORE JADE BARNES
while Jones locked in the Pro 2 championship. Demonstrating consistency and speed, Davis topped four of the thirteen scheduled race days and added seven podium finishes, amassing an imposing 357 points with Sunday’s competition still to come. His performance placed him 72 points ahead of Jones, who finished the season as the runner-up in the overall standings, in addition to his Pro 2 title. Despite missing the opening two rounds, equating to four
full days of competition, Toby Cleveland (Hsq) delivered an impressive late-season surge. The Husqvarna rider captured three victories en route to third overall and a strong secondplace finish in the highly competitive Pro 2 division. Adding further weight to the weekend’s results, the Old Gray Sprint Enduro featured a double-points format, amplifying both the intensity and the stakes as riders battled for final championship positioning.
SATURDAY
Davis and Jones wasted no time igniting a fierce battle on Saturday, trading strengths across the two test formats. Davis held the edge in the cross tests, while Jones answered back by dominating the enduro sections. The pattern remained consistent all day, with Davis setting the fastest time in each of the three cross tests, while Jones swept all three enduro Grant Davis (2), Gavin Simon (249), Chase Landers (254)
tests. When the final times were compiled, it was Davis’s steady performance that made the difference. By stacking consistent top finishes, he secured the Saturday’s win, finishing nearly seven seconds ahead of Jones. Davis’s results included two runner-up times and a third, compared to Jones’s two seconds and a
fourth, ultimately tipping the balance in Davis’s favor. Husqvarna’s Gavin Simon delivered a strong performance, securing third overall on Saturday while claiming second in the Pro 1 class, his time fifteen seconds adrift of Jones. Meanwhile, Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Red Bear Kawasaki Racing’s
Will Sievenpiper led the ProAm ranks with an impressive fourth overall. Colton Shields (Hsq) completed the top five overall and earning third place in the highly competitive ProAm division. “Today’s win locked up the championship for me, and I’m pleased with that,” said Davis. “It’s been a fun year, but
it’s unfortunate that Johnny (Girroir) and Cody (Barnes) were out most of the year. I wish the season had ended differently and we could have battled together all year.” Brody Amos (Hsq) was the top amateur for the day with his win in the 250A division.
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SUNDAY
On Sunday, Davis once again asserted his authority in the cross tests, setting the benchmark on all three runs. The Pennsylvania native complemented that speed with a victory in one of the enduro sections, delivering the top score of the day and further cementing his position at the head of the overall standings. Jones maintained a strong pace to secure second place once more, finishing 20 seconds adrift of Davis on the day and 27 seconds back in the combined results. His consistent performance earned him second overall for the weekend, along with top honors in the Pro 2 division. Pro Am standout Colton Shields completed the overall podium in third, 35 seconds behind Jones, a result that also secured him the Pro-Am class win.
n the Women’s Pro Division, FMF KTM’s Brandy Richards put on a near-flawless performance, capturing an incredible eleven of twelve tests over the weekend. Her dominance left little room for challengers, as she powered to both day wins and the overall victory ahead of AmPro Yamaha’s Danielle McDonald. McDonald showed flashes of brilliance, however, snatching the lone test Richards didn’t claim, the second enduro test, where she edged Richards by a razor-thin margin of just 0.8 seconds. “It was a fun season and I’m really glad that Danielle rode the series, she definitely gave me a run for my money, ” said Richards. “I struggled at the start of the year with an injury, but I came on strong at the end of the schedule and brought home the championship, so it was a good year.”
“I ended up getting it done early,” said Jones. “I stayed consistent all year and I had quite a few battles with Grant, so overall it was a super good season.”
Brandy Richards (198)
The top three in the Pro 1 division were Davis, Simon and Ryan Amancio (KTM). Jones, Toby Cleveland (Hsq) and Brody Johnson (Hsq) filled out the Pro 2 podium, while Shields Sievenpiper and Chase Landers (KTM) were the top three in the Pro-Am division.
EVENT RESULTS
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
The top Amateur for the weekend was 250 A winner Brody Amos (Hsq).
OVERALL
Grant Davis (KTM, Pro 1) Cooper Jones (KTM, Pro 2) Colton Shields (HSQ, Pro-Am) Gavin Simon (HSQ, Pro 1) Will Sievenpiper (KAW, Pro-Am) Chase Landers (KTM, Pro-Am) Cole Whitmer (GG, Pro-Am) Brody Amos (HSQ, 250A) Brayden Baisley (YAM, 250A) Ryon Amancio (KTM, Pro 1)
1. 2.
PRO WOMEN
Brandy Richards (KTM) Danielle McDonald (YAM)
SERIES STANDINGS
PRO 1
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 7. 9. 9.
Grant Davis - 445 pts Cody Barnes - 200 pts Gavin Simon - 155 pts Johnny Girroir - 129 pts Ryan Amancio - 126 pts Jarrett Mohn - 72 pts Josh Strang - 46 pts Craig Delong - 46 pts Henry Symanski - 42 pts Hunter Smith - 42 pts
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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
PRO 2
Cooper Jones - 423 pts Brody Johnson - 340 pts Toby Cleveland - 335 pts Collier Martinez - 99 pts Gavin Simon - 86 pts Jhak Walker - 84 pts JoJo Cunningham - 62 pts Jason Tino - 35 pts
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
PRO-AM
Colton Shields - 377 pts Will Sievenpiper - 364 pts Cole Whitmer - 322 pts Lane Whitmer - 234 pts Lane Smith - 213 pts
1. 2. 3.
PRO WOMEN
Brandy Richards - 415 pts Danielle McDonald - 365 pts Lilley Sheets - 232 pts
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BAYLOR DELIVERS AS KAWASAKI SWEEPS CHEROKEE WORDS PHOTOS
TYLER SHEPARDSON ART PEPIN
ROUND 4 - Rocky Mountain
ATV/MC Cherokee National Enduro LOCATION: Greensboro, GA
R
ocky Mountain ATV/ MC Red Bear Racing Kawasaki sweeps the Overall Podium for the second consecutive year with Grant Baylor leading the charge at the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Cherokee National Enduro in Greensboro, Georgia. After heavy rain leading into the weekend, riders were greeted with near perfect conditions for round four of the Redline Oil American National Enduro Championship (ANEC) Presented by MSR Racing. Deep soil, flowing trail, and technical ruts throughout the Georgia woods created what many riders called one of the best Cherokee National Enduros in recent memory. For the second straight year, the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC
Red Bear Racing Kawasaki team swept the entire Pro1 podium at Cherokee. Grant Baylor led the charge, overcoming a few costly mistakes throughout the day to secure the overall win with a total time of 2:05:51. Grant steadily built momentum through the middle portion of the event and ultimately edged out teammate Josh Toth by just over 44 seconds. “This is one of the best enduros of the year for sure. The conditions were sick today, traction was perfect,” Grant told us while reflecting on his win. Toth, returning to the podium despite coming into the weekend banged up, kept himself in contention all day long. The multi time Cherokee winner captured the fastest times in Sections 1 and 6 while continuing to battle through the brutal heat and humid conditions. His consistency throughout all seven tests
earned him second overall on the day. Steward Baylor Jr. rounded out the overall podium in third place after battling through adversity early in the race. A hard impact with a pine tree resulted in front wheel damage that forced a wheel change during a rider support stop, costing valuable time. Even with the setback, Stu remained competitive throughout the day and helped complete another Kawasaki podium sweep at Cherokee. “We’re working really good as a team right now,” Stu said. “As the team owner, it’s great to see.” Morning Duck JDP Suspension Honda rider Ryder Lafferty narrowly missed the podium with a strong fourth place overall finish, while AmPro Yamaha’s Liam Draper completed the top five in Pro1.
Grant Baylor (314) June 2026
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In the Pro 2 division, FMF Red Bull KTM’s Jason Tino continued his impressive season by securing another class victory and sixth overall on the day, taking 4 out of the 7 Pro 2 test victories. Tino adapted well to the changing conditions and credited the flowing trail and technical final section as highlights of the event.
The battle for the remaining Pro 2 podium spots came down to the wire. Enduro Engineering Triumph’s James Jenkins and MX Tech/ Offroad Performance Coach Husqvarna rider Gavin Simon traded seconds throughout the day, with Jenkins ultimately securing second in class by only 2.5 seconds over Simon. Jenkins found extra pace in the
final test to seal the runner-up position after entering the last section trailing Simon by two seconds. Liqui Moly Factory Racing Beta rider Jhak Walker earned the remaining Pro 2 test wins, but was taken out
of contention after being assessed a time penalty after unknowingly getting off track in test 5, gaining a significant advantage. In the Pro Women class, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Korie Steede continued her dominant 2026 campaign with another class victory. Despite multiple crashes throughout the day and a physically demanding final section, Steede swept all seven test wins to extend her undefeated season streak. Enduro Engineering Triumph’s Shelby Turner earned second place in class after another consistent ride, continuing to establish herself as a regular contender on the Pro Women podium. Defending champion Reiju’s Rachel Gutish rounded out the podium in third after charging late in the day and securing her podium position in the final test. Next up, ANEC heads to McArthur, OH for the Helmet House Little Raccoon National Enduro on June 21st.
Josh Toth (44A), Jason Tino (50A), Korie Steede (30A), Rachel Gutish (38A) 62
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EVENT RESULTS
OVERALL - PRO 1
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Grant Baylor (KAW) Josh Toth (KAW) Stew Baylor Jr (KAW) Ryder Lafferty (HON) Liam Draper (YAM) Craig Delong (HSQ)
OVERALL - PRO 2
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Jason Tino (KTM) James Jenkins (TRI) Gavin Simon (HSQ) Chase Landers (KTM) Ryan Piper (KTM) Will Sievenpiper (KAW) Jhak Walker (BET) Collier Martinez (KAW) Trevor Hulin (HON) Hunter Smith (GG)
OVERALL - PRO WOMEN
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Korie Steede (HSQ) Shelby Turner (TRI) Rachel Gutish (BET) Brooke Cosner (KAW) Rylie Howard (YAM) Dana Johnson Taylor Johnston (TRI)
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