Issuu

FIRST NATIONAL WIN FOR DAVIS

PLUS •

AHRMA's Six Days of the Mid-Atlantic

•

Hollow Point Hard Enduro

•

EnduroGP Finale in Wales

•

Ohio Hard Enduro Black Rock 2.0

... and much more!

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September 2026

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On the Pegs is published monthly by On the Pegs, LLC. On the Pegs considers its sources reliable and verifies as much data as possible, although reporting inaccuracies can occur; consequently, readers using this information do so at their own risk. On the Pegs is printed in the USA and all rights are reserved. Reproduction of this work in whole or in part without the written consent of the publisher is strictly prohibited. The articles contained in this magazine are works of journalism and do not represent the opinions or ideas of On the Pegs. On the Pegs and the publisher assume no responsibility for the content of advertisements. Print copies of this publication are available via www.on-the-pegs.com; price will vary due to issue length and printer service utilized.

MAGAZINE

Issue 09 • September 2026 NEWS

Rachel Gutish: Winning 2 World Titles & Finding a Home in FIM EnduroGP

Why Josep Garcia is Fast Becoming the Most Dominant EnduroGP Rider

On the Pegs Podcast - Ep 8 | Tobin Miller - Three Years to Romaniacs Gold

King of the Carpathians - Red Bull Romaniacs

EnduroGP: Wales Delivers a Grand Finale

TrialGP: Bou Makes It 40 (Rounds 5 & 6)

USHE: Hart Seals the Championship at Hollow Point

OHE: Black Rock Gets a Muddy Second Act

JDay: Fustini Takes the TItle at Unadilla

AHRMA: Six Days of the Mid-Atlantic

ANEC: Davis Breaks Through in Rhode Island

By EnduroGP

By Steph Vetterly

By Kylie Kulpa // Eighteen Photos

By Josh Schucker

By Tyler Shepardson

ON THE COVER Grant Davis powers through the Rhode Island mud to claim his first career American National Enduro Overall victory at the Yamaha New England National Enduro. ART PEPIN September 2026

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FIM ANNOUNCES PROVISIONAL ENDUROGP CALENDAR FOR 2027 Prime Stadium Events, promoters of the Paulo Duarte FIM EnduroGP World Championship, together with the FIM, are pleased to confirm the provisional calendar for the 2027 season. Held across seven months, from April to October, the championship will feature eight rounds in Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Isle of Man and Greece. The six-round Expotrade FIM Women’s Enduro World Championship will be held at rounds two, three, four, six, seven and eight of the 2027 FIM EnduroGP schedule. Spain, a nation steeped in enduro heritage, will open next season with two rounds in April at the beginning and at the end of the month. Valverde del Camino will be a new location for EnduroGP to visit, while Oliana welcomes EnduroGP back after two successful editions in 2025 and 2026. Fafe, Portugal returns for backto-back weekends of racing

in June for rounds three and four. Thanks to its expansive terrain, it will offer a unique course and set of special tests for competitors at each round. Always an important feature on every calendar, the GP of Italy will host round five in Carpinetti in July to begin the second half of the season. Renowned for its challenging terrain and passionate enduro fans, it will be one not to be missed. An island steeped in motorcycling history, the Isle of Man will welcome the Paulo Duarte FIM EnduroGP World Championship for the first time ever during the final weekend of July. Bringing the 2027 season to a close in October, EnduroGP returns to Greece for the first time since 2019. With backto-back weekends of racing for rounds seven and eight, it’s here where the 2027 world champions will be crowned.

NEWS BETA USA ANNOUNCES NEW DIVISIONAL TRIALS EVENT Beta USA is giving trials riders something new to chase this fall with its first Divisional Trial Event, scheduled for Sunday, October 18, 2026, at Donner Ski Ranch in Norden, California. Open to riders from Novice through Pro, the event replaces traditional riding classes with a format built around strategy, consistency and choosing just how far you want to push yourself. Every competitor will ride the same ten sections for three loops, but there is no single prescribed line through each section. Instead, riders will find five one-point gates and choose their own route based on which obstacles they feel confident attempting. Make it through one gate cleanly and you earn one point. Get through three and you score three. Successfully negotiate all five and reach the end of

CHRIS BUZZELLI

the section cleanly, and you collect the maximum five points. With ten sections per loop and three loops, a perfect day is worth 150 points. That freedom to choose is where the Divisional Trial gets interesting. A rider might see an easy path to three gates but face a much bigger commitment to reach the fourth or fifth. Do you take the points you know you can earn, or risk going after more? Riders of completely different skill levels can enter the same section and build entirely different routes through the terrain. Scoring also rewards knowing when to push and when to protect what you already have. If a rider puts a foot down, the checker blows a whistle and point scoring stops for that section. The points already earned remain intact as long as

PHOTO BY STEPH VETTERLY

the rider reaches the END gate without another fault. Bigger mistakes come with a bigger penalty. A crash, riding a gate in the wrong direction, crossing your own path or receiving outside assistance can result in zero points for the section. Once the final scorecards are turned in, riders are ranked from highest score to lowest and separated into divisions, generally consisting of 15 competitors. That means riders do not have to decide beforehand whether they belong in Novice, Intermediate, Expert or another traditional class— the results determine where everyone lands. Purse money is paid to the top three riders in each division, with the top division paying $1,500 to win, $750 for second and $500 for third.

Entry is limited to 100 riders, and the $150 entry fee also includes Saturday practice, a spaghetti dinner and movie night, plus an event shirt and hat. For riders looking for something different, Beta USA’s Divisional Trial is offering a simple challenge: ride the terrain in front of you, choose your own level of risk and see where your score puts you when the day is done.

click or scan to go to www.BetaUSA.com and learn more

September 2026

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rachel

GUTISH

Winning 2 World Titles & Finding a Home in FIM EnduroGP WORDS & PHOTOS

COURTESY ENDUROGP

inning the Expotrade FIM Women’s Enduro World Championship at the GP of Portugal II in Fafe, RIEJU Factory Team’s Rachel Gutish became the first world champion crowned in the 2026 Paulo Duarte FIM EnduroGP World Championship. Starting out the season as the Expotrade FIM Women’s Enduro World Champion, many expected RIEJU Factory Team’s Rachel Gutish to successfully defend her title. Her proven pace, consistency, support from RIEJU, and sheer determination to succeed put her on paper, at least, as the rider to beat. But somehow, when she fulfilled those expectations at the GP of Portugal II, the penultimate round of the Expotrade Women’s Enduro category, it seemed to come as surprise, even to Rachel herself. After the podium celebrations on Sunday evening in Fafe, we sat down on the grass with Rachel, in the shade of the Portuguese sun, to ask if the realisation of becoming a two-time world champion had begun to sink in…

Congratulations, Rachel, you’ve done it again! Are you beginning to feel like a twotime world champion yet? 8

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Rachel Gutish: “It feels a little weird to wrap the title up in mid-June, which makes this interview hard. I don’t know how I feel, so we’ll go with happy! Really, we just didn’t expect it to happen so soon. We weren’t prepared and were kind of flat footed. For sure, I feel like I should be happier, and I know that will come. Honestly, I’m just glad to be sat down on the grass and smiling because I’m tired after that race!” How were the nerves starting out this morning, knowing the title was possible? And how did it compare to how you felt on the morning of winning your first world title?

“I was less nervous today than at the final round last year in Germany because I knew even if it didn’t happen today, then I still had time. I felt that I could have had a catastrophe today and I would still be in a position to pull off the championship in Wales. However, I did have a double espresso this morning, like in Germany, and I was jittery lining up for that first special test, so no more coffee for me, it doesn’t sit well!” As the world champion, did that put a target on your back coming into the 2026 season?

“I felt less pressure this season. I will never again be the first American to do this,

September 2026

and for me that was what last year was all about. Nobody from my country had won before. So now that it’s done, this year was about going for it again and having fun with it. I just love riding my dirt bike and I feel lucky I get to do this for a job.”

We can see the high level of support RIEJU have for Women’s Enduro, fielding both you and Rosie Rowett. You have rewarded them with two world titles, and before that Mireia Badia won in 2024. What does that mean for you to represent them?

Rewinding back to round one in Sicily and round two in Spain, we saw some up and down moments, some unforced errors, how did you deal with those and keep pushing forward?

“We don’t get a lot of support in Women’s Enduro, we work full time. Most of us are heading back to work between races. And those are sacrifices you don’t see from the podium. We can’t train full time the way others do. So from first to 12th, there are no quitters.

“My Dad says my biggest enemy is myself. I’ve beaten myself more often than others have beaten me. On day one in Sicily, I don’t know how that happened - to check-in one minute early like that. I’ve done 10 6DAYS, so I was upset at myself for that mistake. “Failing the sound test was frustrating because it was something we weren’t able to solve at the time, due to the new bike and new mapping system. But after that happened, I went home, got sound testing equipment and worked on it. With the team, we tried different exhaust packing and mapping, and now we’re within the safe decibel margin. Unfortunately, I was sick on day two in Spain. I felt awful, but I knew I had to tough that out. I don’t think anyone in our class is a quitter. If we were prone to giving up, we’d have left this sport a long time ago!”

“At the beginning of 2025, Sherco USA went bankrupt and I lost my ride there. I thought I was done racing because I had no support in March. When Mireia Badia retired with RIEJU, they called and I immediately signed. They gave me a second lease on life. Actually, Mireia is now the new team manager, so they have a female team manager, too. This is another reason why I want to ride for them. I feel they are the most progressive team in the paddock.” As a two-time world champion, do you think it is time others took a lead on this to grow the championship further?

“There will always be some reluctance among teams to spend money when they don’t have to. In the States, we now have three or four full-time

factory riders who make a salary and race for a living. Part of the reason is because the person who manages the KTM Offroad team is heavily involved in the USA’s 6DAYS team and he realised that if he wanted a competitive women’s team, like he had with World and Junior, he needed women to race, train and ride full time. So he supported them through KTM, GASGAS and Husqvarna. That resulted in other teams following his lead. Yamaha and Kawasaki now have a female rider. So once the ball is rolling, momentum builds. In EnduroGP, we don’t have an imperative reason yet to support the women. “I do have two ideas. Similar to the FIM E-Xplorer

series, we could have a duo championship, where each team combines top male and female riders for a standalone EnduroGP title. It would be a slow entry, but would build. There needs value added instead of enforcement.

to want to support it. These are changes that would work and could be easily implemented.”

of Wales, what will the mindset be like going there as the newly crowned world champion?

Is a five-round championship enough or would you like to go to a full seven-round championship?

“Secondly, we need structural changes as to how the manufacturer’s championship is scored. Right now its Enduro1, Enduro2 and Enduro3, what would be better if riders of all gender and categories were scored. Count top EnduroGP rider, top Women Enduro, and top Open Enduro - if we’re trying to prove whose motorcycle works best that’s a better way to showcase it. It would give the manufacturers an incentive

“Right now, less rounds makes racing in EnduroGP accessible for women riders. I’m afraid that if we push too hard and too fast, without the buy-in of the teams, then the championship will be myself and Rosie Rowett with RIEJU, and maybe Francesca Nocera on Honda because no one else could afford it.”

“I’m looking forward to it. The past two years were dry, so I’m told I’ve yet to race a proper muddy Welsh enduro. But in general, I do feel like I’ve found a home here in EnduroGP. I like being here, like I belong here more than in the States. I didn’t think that would happen racing 3000 miles from home, but it did. This is where I’m meant to be, and what I’m meant to be doing. And I want to keep doing it!”

The final round of the Expotrade Women’s Enduro will be the Forsiteservices GP

Congratulations on your world title, Rachel, on behalf of everyone in the Paulo Duarte FIM EnduroGP World Championship!

September 2026

ONTHEPEGS.COM

Why Josep Garcia is Fast Becoming the Most Dominant EnduroGP Rider of His Generation WORDS & PHOTOS

COURTESY ENDUROGP

ecoming the 2026 FIM EnduroGP World Champion at the penultimate round of the Paulo Duarte FIM EnduroGP World Championship further cements Josep Garcia as the most dominant rider of his generation. Entering this year’s Paulo Duarte FIM EnduroGP World Championship as the defending EnduroGP World Champion, the target was firmly on the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider's back as he began his run for a third consecutive overall title. Naturally, pre-season questions centred around whether Josep would continue to hold his place at the top of the EnduroGP standings. With numerous riders chopping and changing programs, and others returning to a full bill of health, it was asked if these factors would see his rivals bridge the gap to the KTM rider and result in an even tighter title fight than we’ve seen in previous years. But right from the off, Josep was quick to silence any 10

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doubters. A dominant victory on the opening day at round one in Italy showed he meant business. And by backing that up with third place the following day, he left Sicily as the championship leader and would never be truly challenged.

it’s his current tally of 48 EnduroGP victories that is beginning to truly set him apart from the rest of the field. With a monumental 20 EnduroGP wins more than his nearest competitor, Steve Holcombe, what Josep is achieving on track is nothing short of incredible.

So far, out of six rounds and 12 race days, Josep has topped the EnduroGP podium at least once at every round, while claiming a double victory in Spain and at the GP of Portugal II.

And while the atmosphere in Saint-Agrève was electric, those achievements were evident to see by the sheer joy on Josep’s face when he completed the final special test on day two as champion.

His 100 per cent podium streak of eight wins, three second place finishes and that third overall on day two in Italy culminated in him clinching the EnduroGP title last time out at the Polisport GP of France.

Winning his eighth and ninth world title — he also swept the Enduro1 class — the

To win the coveted EnduroGP crown with a round to spare is something no rider of his generation has been able to accomplish before. However, in addition to his hat trick of EnduroGP titles,

September 2026

celebrations erupted and his emotions flowed out. All the hard work and sacrifices made along the way had paid off, yet again. It’s an understatement to say that 2026 has been an incredible season for Josep. Arguably one of his best, even if it’s one that’s not even fully completed yet. With the season finale, Forsiteservices GP of Wales, still to come on 7-9 August, we can be sure of more standout out performances from our 2026 FIM EnduroGP World Champion as he puts the finishing touches to a dominant year.

September 2026

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Three Years to Romaniacs GOLD WORDS PHOTOS

n 2023, Tobin Miller was still trying to figure out how far hard enduro could take him. The Iowa native had grown up racing harescrambles, working his way through the Iowa Enduro Riders Association from the youth ranks to AA before shifting his focus toward hard enduro. When On the Pegs first sat down with Miller in late 2023, he was 21 years old, had recently joined Champion Brick Racing, and was beginning to approach his racing career with a more deliberate plan. “I told myself I would give it until I was 25,” he said at the time. “Five years of 110% effort, absolutely everything I can think of in the gym, whatever I can think of to do, I’m going to do it.” Miller also knew where he needed to improve. He wanted to sharpen his trials 12

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STEPH VETTERLY RED BULL ROMANIACS

skills, carry momentum more efficiently through rock sections, and become smarter about when to attack difficult lines. He admitted that early in races, he would sometimes convince himself he could win, go for the biggest lines immediately, and pay the price later. Three years later, much of that self-assessment looks remarkably accurate. Now 24, Miller has worked his way into the top 10 of the U.S. Hard Enduro Premier Championship and, in 2026, added one of the sport’s toughest accomplishments to his résumé: finishing the Gold class at Red Bull Romaniacs. Only 10 American racers have completed the Gold class, and Miller is now one of them. But the most interesting part of his story is not simply that he finished Romaniacs. It is how deliberately he has built

September 2026

himself into a rider capable of doing it. One of the clearest examples is the way Miller now evaluates the riders ahead of him. Instead of looking at established names in the U.S. Hard Enduro field as untouchable, he tries to reduce the gap to something measurable. “When I think of it more as, ‘I just need to be 10 minutes faster,’ that sounds a lot more doable,” Miller explained. Closing those final minutes, however, has proven far more difficult than making the initial jump toward the top 10. “The gap from what I used to get three years ago, 25th place up to 10th place, that’s pretty doable,” he said. “But then to get from 10th place to fifth place, that’s so much effort.”

At that level, improvement can come down to small mistakes spread across an entire race: a couple minutes lost in a rock garden, a slow attempt on a hill, or an obstacle that takes two tries instead of one. “The faster you get and the closer you get to the lead pack, the smaller the differences are,” Miller said. “You really have to be so perfect everywhere.” That analytical approach has carried into his technical development. In 2023, Miller identified trials as one of the missing pieces in his riding. Since then, he has focused less on simply riding more, and has instead worked more on repeating individual techniques until they become instinctive. Double steps became one example. Miller would seek out variations of the same

obstacle and ride them over and over again, learning how small changes in weight, wheel placement and timing affected the motorcycle. At Romaniacs, that repetition paid off in one of the Gold course’s defining skills: pivot turns. The steep switchbacks demanded extreme precision. Landing the front wheel even a few inches off line could put it onto a root or rock and send the bike sliding back down the hill, wasting both time and energy. Miller had prepared for exactly that. “If you do a pivot turn and you drop your front wheel six inches or four inches or sometimes even two inches too far to the left or the right, it’s going to land on a rock or a root and slide your front tire down,” he explained. Looking back, Miller believes the rider he was three years ago would not have made it very far. “I wouldn’t have even finished the first day if it was me from three years ago,” he said. Technique, though, was only part of the transformation. Miller also had to become more calculated. In 2023, he admitted that he often attacked difficult lines too aggressively. By 2026, he had learned that the fastest option was not always the smartest one.

costly crash. Miller’s priority was simply to keep moving, conserve energy, and reach the finish. “For me, I just wanted to finish and get that checked off,” he said. Miller has also learned that becoming a professional racer requires more than improving on the motorcycle. Champion Brick Racing owner Matt Adams has played a major role in that education. Miller now understands sponsorship as a two-way relationship, where results matter, but so do communication, promotion, product feedback and creating value for the companies supporting the team. “In the position that I’m in, I need to be almost more of a salesman than a racer,” Miller said. That is a major shift from his younger perspective. “Four years ago, I just thought it was go fast, get free stuff,” he admitted. The original age-25 deadline Miller set for himself is approaching, but it is no longer the hard cutoff it once was. “I don’t really know if there’s a deadline anymore,” he said. “I’ll keep racing as long as

I can make enough money to live.” For now, the goal is simple: keep improving, stay inside the U.S. Hard Enduro top 10, close the gap to the top five, and continue finding out how far the path that started in Iowa can take him. Three years ago, Tobin Miller was trying to become the rider he imagined. Finishing Gold at Romaniacs did not answer every question. But it proved the plan is working.

Hear the full conversation with Tobin Miller in Episode 8 of the On the Pegs Podcast, where he discusses his progression from Iowa harescrambles to Red Bull Romaniacs Gold, the lessons that reshaped his riding, and what comes next. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the full episode through On the Pegs.

Click or scan to listen now

“If there’s a side bailout and it’s going to add 10 seconds, that’s so much better than crashing, going over backwards, picking your bike up, turning back around, getting lined back up, and then hitting it,” he said. At Romaniacs, that decisionmaking became even more important. Across more than 35 hours of racing, saving a few seconds with a high-risk move rarely outweighed the possibility of a September 2026

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September 2026

King of the carpathians Lettenbichler makes history, Kabakchiev refuses to surrender, and Mario Roman leads a new era of hard adventure racing WORDS PHOTOS JULY 28 - AUGUST 1 LOCATION: Sibiu, Romania

here are races where outright speed is enough, and then there is Red Bull Romaniacs. Five days in and around Sibiu, Romania, demand something more. The Prolog rewards rhythm and aggression, but once the city disappears behind the riders, the Carpathian Mountains begin stripping the race down to its essentials. Hidden rocks, endless climbs, exposed descents, long transfers and hours on the motorcycle leave little room for weakness. By the time riders reach the final hillclimb, speed matters only if it has survived everything that came before it. For Manuel Lettenbichler, the 2026 “UNSTOPPABLE” edition became another demonstration of why he has mastered that equation better than anyone in the modern era. Four demanding Offroad Days ended with the KTM rider claiming his seventh Red Bull Romaniacs victory, drawing level with Graham Jarvis for the most wins in the event’s history. But the road to number seven began with Lettenbichler watching someone else celebrate. The 23rd edition opened July 28 with the traditional In-City Prolog in Sibiu, where the tight, man-made course traded the endless mountains for logs, ramps, water and obstacles

STEPH VETTERLY FUTURE7MEDIA, ATTILA SZABO - RED BULL CONTENT POOL

packed tightly enough that maintaining flow became nearly as important as clearing them. Lettenbichler controlled much of the Gold final, but Teo Kabakchiev stayed within striking distance. When Lettenbichler chose against the faster “flow line,” Kabakchiev closed in, made his move before the final lap and carried the lead to the finish. Mitch Brightmore followed him through for second, leaving Lettenbichler third. Just two seconds separated the top three, with Kabakchiev stopping the clock at 11:23.657. The Prolog, however, is only the opening argument at Romaniacs. When Gold rolled into the mountains Wednesday morning, 25 riders faced roughly 180 kilometers on Offroad Day 1. Sections carrying names like “Live or Die,” “Last Chance” and “Mental Trap” hinted at what waited beyond the start. Lettenbichler opened the course, with Kabakchiev chasing, and for much of the day the Bulgarian refused to let the KTM rider escape. The separation finally came late. At the “Octopus” LIVEmaniacs section, riders faced three laps over loose, steep and off-camber terrain. Lettenbichler improved with each pass while Kabakchiev struggled to match his rhythm. By the finish, Lettenbichler

had converted the day into a 7-minute, 58-second advantage over Kabakchiev, while Michael Walkner moved into third. James Moore and brothers Mitch and Ashton Brightmore filled the next three positions and made it clear that the podium fight stretched far beyond the established leaders. The finish itself was pure Romaniacs. Riders were sent into the abandoned Petrila Mine, threading motorcycles through crumbling hallways, rubble, broken stairways and fallen beams before finally reaching the timing line covered in coal dust. It was an eerie collision between Romania’s industrial past and the modern brutality of Hard Enduro. If Day 1 allowed riders moments to breathe, Day 2 did its best to remove them. The course returned to terrain that had not been used since 2018, with hidden rocks beneath grass and brush, boulder gardens, steep climbs and a constantly broken rhythm. Lettenbichler was again at his best when the terrain demanded patience as much as aggression. At “Rocks ’n’ Roll,” the second LIVEmaniacs stage, riders attacked a steep boulder field with no opportunity to preview the lines. Lettenbichler adapted lap by lap, finding traction and momentum where others lost both. Even a heavy crash could not derail his day. He finished

12 minutes, 19 seconds ahead of Kabakchiev, with Walkner third again, stretching his overall advantage to 19:37. Another abandoned mine provided the closing act. This time it was Lupeni, where rusted steel, derelict buildings and more than a century of mining history surrounded the riders as they completed another punishing day in the mountains. By Offroad Day 3, Kabakchiev had little choice but to attack. Over seven hours and more than 140 kilometers, he did exactly that. The Gold route moved through “Magic Mushroom,” “Coal Face,” “Parallel Slalom,” “Low Battery” and “Slap Me Baby” before reaching the “Galindo” LIVEmaniacs section. Lettenbichler and Kabakchiev remained close on the trail, both navigating a steep rock face cleanly before wrestling their bikes down a treacherous descent. Kabakchiev ultimately earned the fastest overall time of the day by 53 seconds. It was not enough to erase Lettenbichler’s cushion, but after two consecutive Offroad Day defeats, it proved the fight was still alive. Walkner remained remarkably consistent in third, while a younger generation led by Moore, the Brightmore brothers, Matthew Green, Tom Scales and Lorenzo Gandola continued fighting just behind them. LEFT : 1 - Manuel Lettenbichler

September 2026

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week and arrived at the Sibiu Hillclimb Arena comfortably ahead. There would be no late mistake. He attacked three laps of the final technical hillclimbs, ramps and gap jump before crossing beneath the finish arch as a seven-time Red Bull Romaniacs champion. “I’m speechless, it's nuts how my career has gone so far, it's an unreal feeling,” Lettenbichler said. “Every win I put so much work in but I didn’t ever expect to have seven wins here at Red Bull Romaniacs.” Kabakchiev recovered from his mechanical setback to secure second, but the biggest final-day drama unfolded behind him. ABOVE : 1014 - Pol Tarrés BELOW : 3 - Graham Jarvis Lettenbichler carried an 18:44 advantage into the final morning. Then Romaniacs reminded everyone that nothing is finished until the motorcycle is beneath the arch.

Kabakchiev suffered an early mechanical problem that effectively ended his chance of hunting down the leader. Lettenbichler, freed from the immediate pressure, managed the hardest Offroad Day of the

Walkner had been one of the revelations of the week, holding third through all three previous Offroad Days. A first Romaniacs podium appeared to be his until a crash near the finish turned the order upside down. That opened the door for 19-year-old South African James Moore.

Even Moore’s final day was far from trouble-free. Just after service, his front fork collapsed and locked. It eventually released when he struck a depression, but the problem persisted as he pushed toward Sibiu. Somehow, Moore completed all three laps of the final hillclimb with the malfunctioning suspension and crossed the line third, completing a remarkable Romaniacs debut. The Gold podium belonged to Lettenbichler, Kabakchiev and Moore, but another rider was quietly making history farther down the order. At 51, Jarvis returned to Gold aboard the electric Jarv-e prototype. He became the first rider to contest the toughest Romaniacs route on an electric motorcycle, and on Offroad Day 2 he recorded the secondfastest time through the LIVEmaniacs section. More importantly, he completed the rally without a battery change during the four Offroad Days. If Jarvis was pushing Hard Enduro in one new direction, the Adventure category was expanding it in another. Now in its second season at Romaniacs, Hard Adventure Racing arrived in force. Three Adventure classes brought 100 competitors aboard everything from strippeddown 450s to large, near-stock multi-cylinder machines. The Adventure Ultimate podium alone represented three different approaches: a CFMOTO 450MT, Yamaha Ténéré 700 and KTM 890 Adventure. Mario Roman proved quickest at adapting. After a decade competing in Gold and five previous Romaniacs podiums, the Spaniard switched to Adventure Ultimate and immediately won the Prolog. He followed with victories on Offroad Days 1 and 2, surrendered Day 3 to defending winner Pol Tarrés, then answered on the final day.

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September 2026

Roman started Saturday with only five minutes over Tarrés. The Yamaha rider suffered two crashes, breaking a footpeg before service and later damaging his visor, while Roman kept mistakes to a minimum. His reward was his first Red Bull Romaniacs victory, 14 minutes and 40 seconds clear of Tarrés, with Dieter Rudolf completing the podium on the KTM 890. The variety was part of the spectacle. Kevin Gallas finished fourth aboard a Ténéré 700 and became the first Adventure rider to conquer the main Sibiu hillclimb. Jonny Walker finished sixth after muscling a roughly 220-kilogram, near-stock Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro through terrain once considered almost exclusively the territory of lightweight enduro motorcycles. In Adventure Core, René Columna took the victory ahead of two-time Dakar Rally winner Sam Sunderland, with Chris Power third. Guishu He won Adventure Lite. Beyond the headline classes, Sandon Kerswell dominated Silver with victories on every Offroad Day, while Sandra Gomez finished fifth overall. Emanuel Gyenes completed his 23rd consecutive Romaniacs appearance with third in Bronze, continuing a streak that reaches back to the event’s beginning.

The Carpathian Mountains, however, remain stubbornly familiar. Five days. Long hours. Endless rocks. One mistake capable of undoing a week. And in 2026, once again, Manuel Lettenbichler was the rider who made the fewest.

ABOVE : 1003 - Mario Roman Serrano

EVENT RESULTS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Manuel Lettenbichler (#1, KTM) - 22h14m41s Teodor Kabakchiev (#11, SHR) - 23h18m8s James Moore (#14, BET) - 24h35m3s Matthew Green (#6, KTM) - 25h4m59s Mitch Brightmore (#4, GG) - 25h7m58s Michael Walkner (#21, GG) - 25h51m25s Lorenzo Gandola (#18, SHR) - 26h40m40s Thomas Scales (#8, BET) - 28h1m26s Sonny Goggia (#24, KTM) - 28h20m25s David Cyprian (#22, KTM) - 28h42m55s BELOW : 6 - Matthew Green

It was a fitting snapshot of what Romaniacs has become. Lettenbichler equaled one of the event’s most important records. Moore announced himself on the Gold podium. Jarvis proved an electric motorcycle could survive the hardest route. Roman finally earned a Romaniacs victory, only on a completely different kind of motorcycle than the one he had spent a decade racing there. The machines are changing. The names at the front are changing. Even the definition of what belongs on a Hard Enduro course is changing. September 2026

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Wales Delivers a Grand Finale WORDS PHOTOS

STEPH VETTERLY FUTURE7MEDIA & POLE POSITION COMMUNICATION

ROUND 7: Wales

he championship trophies might have been waiting at the finish, but nobody arrived in Rhayader ready to coast. For the seventh and final round of the 2026 Paulo Duarte FIM EnduroGP World Championship, the paddock returned to Wales with some titles already settled and several of the biggest prizes of the season still hanging in the balance. Josep Garcia had wrapped up both the 18

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EnduroGP and Enduro1 championships one round earlier in France, but Enduro2 and Enduro3 remained undecided. Alberto Elgari was closing in on the Junior crown, Pietro Scardina had one hand on the Youth title, and the battle behind Rachel Gutish in the Women’s championship was still wide open. Add in a huge British crowd, a dry and increasingly beaten-up Welsh course, and wildcard

September 2026

appearances from Billy Bolt and Jonny Walker, and the season finale had all the ingredients it needed. By Sunday afternoon, Garcia had reached another career milestone with his 50th EnduroGP victory, Andrea Verona had survived a finalday fight with Zach Pichon to become Enduro2 World Champion, Steve Holcombe had secured his 10th world title, and a new generation of

champions had been crowned in Junior and Youth. It was a fitting end to a championship that refused to slow down before the final checkered flag. The action began Friday evening with the Akrapovic Super Test in front of a packed Rhayader crowd. With the championship regulars joined by several high-profile British wildcards,

much of the early attention centered on Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Billy Bolt. Returning to competition after more than three months off the bike because of a hand injury, Bolt immediately showed that his speed had not disappeared. The multiple SuperEnduro World Champion fired himself to the top of the timing sheets aboard his TE 300 and briefly looked capable of marking his comeback with a Super Test victory.

But Zach Pichon had other ideas. The TM MOTO Boano Factory Enduro Team rider edged Bolt by 0.96 seconds to take the fastest time of the night. Garcia then split the pair, finishing 0.42 seconds behind Pichon to take second, with Bolt pushed to third. Garcia’s runner-up result also secured him the 2026 Akrapovic Super Test Series title.

Behind them, Jonny Walker delivered on expectations by placing fourth aboard Triumph’s TF 450-E in the motorcycle’s EnduroGP debut, while Verona completed the top five. Walker had arrived in Wales directly from Red Bull Romaniacs and was returning to timecard enduro competition after years focused primarily on hard enduro and SuperEnduro.

Elizabeth Tett gave the home fans another reason to cheer by topping the Women’s Super Test, while Manuel Verzeroli led Junior and Fraiser Lampkin went quickest among the Youth riders. Friday night belonged to Pichon, but Saturday would belong decisively to Garcia.

THIS PAGE: Josep Garcia September 2026

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With both the EnduroGP and Enduro1 titles already secured, Garcia entered the final weekend with little championship pressure. Instead, he had another number in sight. Two victories in Wales would take the Spaniard to 50 career EnduroGP class wins. Garcia wasted little time starting that chase. Fastest in Saturday morning’s opening Extreme Test, he immediately established a three-second advantage over Pichon, with Steve Holcombe sitting third. Garcia followed that performance by setting the pace in the Enduro and Cross tests to complete the opening lap with nearly 13 seconds in hand. From there, the KTM rider never relinquished control.

While others fought over the remaining podium positions, Garcia continued to stretch the gap until he reached the finish with a commanding 34-second victory. It was career EnduroGP win number 49 and left only one step remaining between Garcia and another milestone. Pichon rode a composed race in second, winning two Cross Tests and strengthening his position in both the overall EnduroGP standings and the increasingly tense Enduro2 championship battle. The final EnduroGP podium position became an all-British fight between Holcombe and Nathan Watson. Holcombe held third for much of the day, but Watson steadily erased a deficit of roughly nine seconds as the afternoon progressed.

The Beta rider finally made the difference in the last Cross Test, taking third by just 0.29 seconds. Holcombe settled for fourth overall, while Verona finished fifth. Holcombe still had reason to celebrate. His fourth overall came alongside an emphatic Enduro3 class victory, where he beat Theo Espinasse by 41 seconds. Brad Freeman finished third, leaving everything to be decided in Sunday’s championship showdown. Pichon won Enduro2 ahead of Watson and Verona, cutting Verona’s championship advantage to a single point. 20

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September 2026

After six rounds and Saturday’s racing in Wales, the Enduro2 World Championship would be decided by Sunday’s final collection of special tests. The Women’s class offered its own home-country storyline. Rachel Gutish had already secured the championship in Portugal, but Rosie Rowett arrived in Wales trying to defend second overall from Nieve Holmes while also chasing another home victory. On Saturday, Rowett was nearly untouchable.

Left to right: Billy Bolt (57), Rachel Gutish (417), Morgan Lesiardo (41)

The result strengthened Rowett’s grip on second in the championship, but Gutish would have the final word on Sunday. Saturday also produced the weekend’s first world champion.

The RIEJU Factory Team rider established herself at the front and steadily opened an advantage through the dry, dusty Welsh tests. By the end of the day she had won by one minute and eight seconds. Gutish endured a slower start but grew stronger as the day progressed. The American won the final Extreme and Enduro tests to recover to second, while Holmes completed a British first-and-third result after setting three fastest test times of her own. Further down the order, Mauricette Brisebard and Justine Martel completed the top five, while Tett took the Junior Women’s win.

Pietro Scardina arrived in Wales with a 19-point advantage in the Youth standings after winning five of the previous six race days. Rather than chase unnecessary risks, the TM MOTO Costa Ligure rider managed the situation exactly as required. Valentin Mersin won Saturday’s Youth class by 16 seconds, but Scardina’s second-place result was enough. The Italian was the 2026 Putoline Oil FIM Youth Enduro World Champion. In Junior, Leo Joyon ensured Alberto Elgari would have to wait another day. The Triumph rider continued the form that had transformed the second half of his season,

winning Saturday by 19 seconds. Elgari took second and maintained an 18-point championship lead heading into the final day, while Manuel Verzeroli finished third.

final Cross Test of the 2026 championship as the winner. Career EnduroGP victory #50 was his.

Sunday would decide the rest. Garcia needed one more victory to complete his Welsh objective. He got it. The newly crowned champion completed Sunday’s opening lap with a 12-second advantage over teammate Verona. Pichon remained close as he and Verona fought simultaneously for the EnduroGP podium and the Enduro2 world title, but Garcia kept enough distance between himself and the battle behind. As the Welsh tests deteriorated and became increasingly demanding, Garcia maintained his rhythm. After two laps his margin sat at 13 seconds. He then managed the advantage through the closing stages and cleared the

It capped a season in which Garcia had already secured both the EnduroGP and Enduro1 crowns and gave him two wins from two days in Wales. Behind him, however, there was little room for celebration until the final times had been calculated. Verona began Sunday holding just a one-point championship advantage over Pichon in Enduro2. The equation was simple enough. Beat the Frenchman and the title was his. Executing it was considerably harder. Pichon pushed throughout the day and mounted one final attack on the last test, but Verona refused to crack. When the times were totaled, the KTM rider had beaten his rival by six seconds.

September 2026

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Second overall behind Garcia secured Verona the Enduro2 World Championship. Pichon finished third overall and second in Enduro2 after one of the strongest closing stretches of the season, but the title belonged to Verona, who became a nine-time FIM Enduro World Champion. Nathan Watson finished fourth overall on Sunday, while Morgan Lesiardo completed an impressive weekend for Triumph with fifth, his best EnduroGP result of the season. Lesiardo also ended 2026 as Enduro1 vice-champion, helping Triumph finish its second EnduroGP season with another collection of podium results. Leo Joyon’s Junior performances added another highlight, with the Frenchman ending the year second in both Junior overall and Junior1.

The Enduro3 championship carried a different kind of weight. Steve Holcombe and Brad Freeman arrived in Wales separated by only six points, placing two of Britain’s most decorated enduro racers into a direct fight for the title on home soil. Holcombe’s Sunday did not begin cleanly. A difficult start left the Sherco rider needing to recover, but with the championship at stake he did what was required to protect his points advantage. By the end of the day, the title was his. The 2026 Enduro3 World Championship became Holcombe’s 10th FIM Enduro world title and delivered Sherco a second consecutive crown in the category. After watching Rowett control Saturday, Gutish responded immediately on Sunday. The American won the opening three special tests and never allowed the race to 22

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September 2026

develop into another Rowett runaway. Continuing to attack throughout the day, Gutish eventually won by 53 seconds. Rowett faced pressure from Holmes for second but held the Sherco rider off by 8.89 seconds. The day’s podium ultimately mirrored the final championship standings: Gutish first, Rowett second and Holmes third. Lorna Lafont also secured the Junior Women’s World Cup after taking a commanding Sunday win over Charlene Boudon. Joyon again proved to be the fastest Junior rider on Sunday. The Triumph racer closed the season with another dominant performance, winning by 38 seconds and completing a perfect double in Wales. But the championship belonged to Elgari.

Left to Right: Steve Holcombe (70), Leo Joyon (96), Zachary Pichon (101), Jonny Walker (22)

The TM MOTO Boano Factory Enduro Team rider avoided unnecessary trouble and brought the bike home in fifth, enough to secure his first FIM Enduro World Championship. Elgari also won the Junior1 World Cup, while Romain Dagna finished the season as Junior2 World Cup winner. Scardina celebrated his newly earned Youth championship in fitting fashion by returning to the top step Sunday. After moving into the lead at the end of the opening lap, he stayed there and won by 22 seconds over Yago Dominguez. By the time the final riders cleared the last Welsh test, there was little left unresolved. Garcia had finished his championship season with victory number 50. Verona had survived one of the tightest title battles of the finale. Holcombe had added a 10th world championship to his career. Elgari and Scardina had become first-time world champions, and Gutish had finished her title-winning campaign from the top step. The 2026 EnduroGP season had arrived in Wales with trophies still waiting to be claimed. Rhayader made sure nobody earned them easily.

EVENT RESULTS ENDUROGP

WOMEN ENDURO

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Josep Garcia - 266 pts Andrea Verona - 208 pts Zachary Pichon - 207 pts Steve Holcombe - 154 pts Hamish MacDonald - 134 pts Brad Freeman - 131 pts Morgan Lesiardo - 100 pts Max Ahlin - 94 pts Albin Norrbin - 93 pts Julien Roussaly - 93 pts

Rachel Gutish - 178 pts Rosie Rowett - 137 pts Nieve Holmes - 123 pts Justine Martel - 116 pts Marine Lemoine - 110 pts Lorna Lafont - 86 pts Joana Goncalves - 84 pts Mauricette Brisebard - 82 pts Shelby Turner - 74 pts Charlene Boudon - 61 pts September 2026

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September 2026

BOU

MAKES ROUND 5 - France LOCATION: Cahors

WORDS PHOTOS

ROUND 6 - Netherlands LOCATION: Zelhem

STEPH VETTERLY PEP SEGALES

fter a month away from the world championship paddock, the 2026 Hertz FIM Trial World Championship returned with its title fights entering the decisive stretch. Rounds five and six could hardly have offered a greater contrast. Cahors, France, delivered heat, loose soil and natural terrain, while one week later Zelhem, Netherlands, challenged the field across an entirely man-made collection of massive rocks, slabs and concrete obstacles. The common thread was Toni Bou. The Repsol Honda HRC rider arrived in France with a perfect record, left with it intact, then carried that momentum into the Netherlands where he secured an unprecedented 20th consecutive TrialGP World Championship. Combined RIGHT: Toni Bou

with his 20 X-Trial titles, the victory pushed Bou to the almost incomprehensible total of 40 FIM world championships.

Behind him, however, there was nothing settled. Jaime Busto and Gabriel Marcelli traded places in the fight for second, while Trial2 continued to deliver the unpredictability that has defined the class all season. Arnau Farré finally took control in France, only for George Hemingway to answer with a remarkable performance in the Netherlands. And in Trial3 Junior, Harison Skelton emerged from a season-long battle with Fabio Mazzola as a world champion. When TrialGP returned from its summer break for round five in Cahors, Bou had already built the kind of championship advantage that usually allows a rider to start thinking about points rather than victories. He entered

France with 310 points after sweeping the opening half of the season, while Marcelli sat third on 229, only one behind Busto. The previous round at Anglesey had brought another clean sweep for Bou and left his rivals running out of opportunities to slow him down. Cahors also carried good memories. Bou had clinched the 2024 outdoor title there, but the 2026 visit would present a very different challenge. With the entire points-paying portion of the event packed into Sunday, there was little time to recover from mistakes.

The sections combined steep banks, loose sandy ground and sharp-edged rocks, while high temperatures added another layer of difficulty. Bou had won Saturday’s Super Test, giving himself the preferred starting position, but his Sunday did not begin perfectly.

September 2026

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LEFT: Harry Hemingway BELOW: Gabriel Marcelli RIGHT TOP: Ryon Land RIGHT BOTTOM: Fabio Mazzola

He lost two marks in the opening section. For almost anyone else, it could have been the beginning of a difficult morning. For Bou, it became little more than a footnote. He cleaned everything that followed until a single dab in section 12, with one additional time penalty leaving him on four marks for the opening race. Behind him, Marcelli and Busto fought over second. Busto’s five in the manmade eighth section gave Marcelli breathing room, but a maximum for Marcelli in section 11 brought them back together. Marcelli responded by cleaning the final section to finish on 12, while Busto’s last-section dab left him third on 14. Harry Hemingway continued an impressive rookie TrialGP campaign with fourth on 15, followed by Matteo Grattarola and Miquel Gelabert, who remained the sole electric-bike rider in the premier class. The second race briefly suggested that Bou’s winning streak might finally be vulnerable. Busto topped Super Pole and then matched Bou through the opening five sections of the Final. The separation came in section six, where a triple step from almost no run-up proved decisive. Most of the field collected maximums. Bou somehow cleaned it. Busto fought through for three, while Marcelli and Gelabert escaped with one mark apiece. By the Super Final, Bou again had the advantage. Even a dab in section seven and a five in section 10 were not enough to derail him. He finished with seven marks, including a time penalty, while Marcelli took another second 26

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September 2026

on 15. Gelabert completed the podium with 19. Busto’s challenge unraveled in the Super Final. Seventeen marks across the first five sections were followed by a rear-wheel puncture that prevented him from attempting the final hazard, while six time penalties eventually dropped him to sixth. For Bou, the result represented race victories 17 and 18 of the season and increased his championship total to 360 points. For Marcelli, two runner-up finishes were almost as valuable. He had arrived in France third in the standings and left second. “The feeling today has been great,” Bou said. “We've had an incredible year. With everything we've been through this season with the injury, to get to this point with a perfect record of wins is something that fills me with immense satisfaction.” Cahors put the title within reach. One week later in Zelhem, Bou would have his first opportunity to finish the job. While Bou’s advantage in TrialGP was becoming overwhelming, Trial2 remained almost impossible to predict. Alex Canales had led the championship since the opening round in Japan, but Cahors became the turning point. Farré arrived in France without a 2026 victory despite having ended 2025 with consecutive wins. By Sunday evening, he had two more victories and the championship lead.

The second race was cleaner but no less tense. Farré and Bincaz each started with a dab. Bincaz added another mark in section three, Farré matched it in section five, and neither rider lost another mark. Once again, they were tied at the finish. Once again, Farré got the verdict. The double victory made him the sixth different Trial2 overall winner through nine days of competition and moved him ahead of Canales for the first time in 2026. “I’m very happy,” Farré said. “It’s been a hard day, but it feels great to be leading the

championship for the first time.” With only the Netherlands and Spain remaining, the championship suddenly had a new leader. The paddock barely had time to reset before moving north to Zelhem. Heavy rain before Saturday transformed the entirely man-made course, where huge boulders, concrete slabs and pipes replaced the natural terrain of Cahors. Bou entered the weekend with the possibility of sealing the championship, but he refused to approach it defensively.

He won Friday’s Super Test and followed with another commanding performance in Saturday’s first race. Early pressure from Marcelli and Busto faded as Bou completed the course on nine marks. Busto finished second on 17, just one ahead of Gelabert, while Marcelli ended fourth on 24. Then came another Super Pole win for Bou, although the drying sections tightened the margins in the Final. A three in the opening section immediately put him behind, while Hemingway cleaned it and several other contenders

His opening race became a duel with home favorite Benoit Bincaz. The pair traded maximums and dabs throughout the sections, and Farré nearly surrendered the race with a five in section 11 and a time penalty. Both eventually finished on 18, with Farré winning the tie-break.

September 2026

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from there Bou returned to the precision that has defined his season. He cleaned every remaining section, finishing with only the five marks from section two. Busto took second on 11, while Marcelli earned third with 21. The result mathematically secured Bou’s 20th consecutive TrialGP World Championship. Added to his 20 X-Trial crowns, the 39-year-old reached 40 world championships, continuing a run that began when he won both titles in his first season with Repsol Honda HRC in 2007.

escaped with single marks. Bou responded by cleaning the next four sections and entered the Super Final only one behind Marcelli. The opening section there reshuffled everything. Marcelli, Grattarola and Jack Peace all took maximums. Bou needed a dab, but that was enough to move him forward.

He finished on nine, with Grattarola second on 16 and Busto third on 17. Another two victories meant Bou had won the first 20 races of the 2026 season. More importantly, he ended Saturday with a 111-point championship advantage.

Sunday morning began with warm, dry conditions and the championship effectively sitting at Bou’s feet.

Only one more race was needed.

Busto added his own maximum in section five, and

Then he fived section two. For a moment, Busto had an opening, but it did not last.

“I'm so happy. Winning my 40th world title is incredible, and it's still hard to believe we did it,” Bou said. “This season has been amazing; we've been very consistent and made good decisions at crucial moments.” With the championship decided, Bou still had one streak to protect. He had won every race all year. Busto finally ended it. Bou topped Super Pole before the weekend’s final race, but his late starting position worked against him as the hazards deteriorated. He remained clean through three sections before reaching the fourth, where he eventually collected a maximum on the imposing final step. Busto carried a four-mark advantage into the Super Final. Bou cleaned every section from there, but Busto refused to crack. He added only two marks and defeated the newly crowned champion by two, handing Bou his first race loss of 2026. Even so, Bou’s overall day-winning streak remained intact at 11 straight. The victory also had championship implications

TOP: Toni Bou and crew celebrate Toni's 40th World Title BOTTOM: Harison Skelton cinches the Trial3 World Championship with an 18-point lead. 28

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September 2026

behind Bou. Busto had arrived in Zelhem eight points behind Marcelli. By beating him across all four races in the Netherlands, Busto left seven points ahead in the fight for second. Farré initially strengthened his Trial2 position in Zelhem. He won Saturday’s opening race on 11, four ahead of George Hemingway and five ahead of Canales. Hemingway responded in race two, beating Farré by a single mark, but the Spaniard still ended the day with an increased championship advantage. Sunday belonged to Hemingway. The British rider won the opening race on seven after defeating Francesco Titli on a tie-break, then delivered one of the performances of the Trial2 season in race two. He finished completely clean. Canales took second on two and Farré third on three, but Hemingway’s double victory transformed the championship picture. His first overall victory of the season moved him into second in the standings, 13 points behind Farré and five ahead of Canales. With seven different day winners from 11 possibilities, Trial2 has remained the opposite of predictable. What appeared early in the year to be Canales’ championship became Farré’s fight in France, then tightened again through Hemingway’s breakthrough in the Netherlands. The Netherlands also brought the Trial3 Junior championship to its conclusion. Harison Skelton and Fabio Mazzola arrived tied after their back-and-forth battle in Cahors. Skelton had won France’s first race before Mazzola answered in race two, leaving them level heading into the finale.

In Zelhem, Skelton created separation on Saturday. Marco Laure won the first race, but Skelton’s second place contrasted sharply with Mazzola’s seventh. Skelton then won race two by one mark over the Italian to establish an 11-point advantage. On Sunday, he did what championship situations demand.

EVENT RESULTS*

He finished second in the opening race and third in the second. Mazzola’s sixth in the finale left Skelton with enough breathing room to secure his first FIM world championship.

ROUND 5 - FRANCE (TOTAL DABS) SATURDAY - TRIALGP 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

“A world championship title – I can’t believe it,” Skelton said. “It’s taken me many, many years to get to this stage and here I am! I’m pretty much speechless.” Two rounds changed the shape of the 2026 championship. Bou arrived in Cahors with the title within sight and left Zelhem as a 40-time world champion. Farré turned his first victories of the season into the Trial2 points lead, only for Hemingway to make the final round anything but comfortable. Skelton transformed a dead-even junior fight into a world championship. Now only Spain remains. Bou’s work is complete, but behind him Busto and Marcelli are separated by seven points for second. Farré carries a 13-point Trial2 advantage over Hemingway, with Canales another five back. After the heat of Cahors and the artificial obstacles of Zelhem, Pobladura de las Regueras will provide one final test— and several of 2026’s biggest questions are still waiting for answers.

Final positions determined by championship points per loop

Toni Bou - 9 Gabriel Marcelli - 27 Harry Hemingway - 36 Jaime Busto - 39 Miquel Gelabert - 45 Matteo Grattarola - 50 Hugo DuFrese - 77 Luca Petrella - 80 Jack Peace - 86 Sondre Haga - 93

ROUND 6 - NETHERLANDS (TOTAL DABS) SATURDAY - TRIALGP

SUNDAY - TRIALGP

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Toni Bou - 18 Jaime Busto - 34 Matteo Grattarola - 58 Gabriel Marcelli - 41 Miquel Gelabert - 44 Harry Hemingway - 57 Jack Peace - 79 Hugo Dufrese - 111 Sondre Haga - 115

Toni Bou - 10 Jaime Busto - 14 Gabriel Marcelli - 37 Matteo Grattarola - 46 Miquel Gelabert - 43 Harry Hemingway - 68 Jack Peace - 81 Hugo Dufrese - 100 Sondre Haga - 106

SERIES STANDINGS TRIALGP

TRIALGP WOMEN

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Toni Bou - 437 pts Jaime Busto - 324 pts Gabriel Marcelli - 317 pts Matteo Grattarola - 289 pts Miquel Gelabert - 259 pts Harry Hemingway - 227 pts Jack Peace - 215 pts Hugo Dufrese - 152 pts Sondre Haga - 99 pts Luca Petrella - 49 pts

Berta Abellan - 296 pts Andrea Sofia Rabino - 285 pts Alessia Bacchetta - 200 pts Alice Minta - 196 pts Alycia Soyer - 183 pts Kaytlyn Adshead - 169 pts Denisa Pechackova - 167 pts Alicia Robinson - 120 pts Nikita Smith - 118 pts Sophie Bailey - 59 pts

September 2026

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Gear: helmets, jerseys, pants & protectors Parts: Jitsie, OEM plus various aftermarket parts Bikes: Beta, Electric Motion, Vertigo & TRS 30 ONTHEPEGS.COM September 2026

TRIALS TRAINING CENTER www.trialstrainingcenter.com 423-942-8688 • Train With A Pro! Expert instruction by top national riders • Riding Park Train on our 650 acre Mountain Resort Beautiful trails, streams and vistas • Lodging, Cabin Rentals, RV sites and Tent sites • Full Service Motorcycle Headquarters We sell Gas Gas, Sherco, Beta, Montesa & Scorpa

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

* All dates are subject to change September 2026

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HART SEALS THE CHAMPIONSHIP WORDS PHOTOS

ROUND 10 NHE / ROUND 4 EHE LOCATION: Wellsville, OH

year can make an enormous difference in Wellsville. When the Hollow Point Hard Enduro debuted in 2025, Coal Hollow Raceway delivered one of the driest East Coast races of the season. Dust hung in the trees, loose silt covered the climbs, and the inaugural event developed into a surprisingly fast-moving battle between Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing's Ryder LeBlond, Flatrock GasGas's Jordan Ashburn and IRC Beta's James Flynn. LeBlond eventually escaped late in the race to claim the victory, while Rocky Mountain 32

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STEPH VETTERLY RYAN MCCASLAND, OWEN GORSUCH, STEPH VETTERLY

Yamaha's Cody Webb finished fourth aboard a 1995 Yamaha WR250 he had rebuilt as a personal project.

Metal Jacket remained, yet the conditions transformed them into an entirely different challenge.

By the end of the weekend, the race had become something much bigger than another stop on the schedule.

The same hills were waiting when the US Hard Enduro Championship returned to Wellsville in 2026, but almost everything else had changed.

For promoter and US Hard Enduro Pro Quinn Wentzel, that difficulty was part of the point.

FMF KTM Factory Racing's Trystan Hart left Wellsville with the overall victory and the 2026 AMA National Hard Enduro Championship secured one round early.

Rain early Saturday morning soaked the Ohio clay, leaving the forest floor slick long after the clouds moved away. The rocks offered patches of traction, but the dirt between them could feel like ice. By Sunday, the rain had stopped, but the ground never completely dried. Familiar sections including Big Waterfall, 12 Gauge Hill, 20 Gauge Hill and Full

September 2026

Hollow Point's second edition was elevated to the penultimate round of the AMA National Hard Enduro Championship and Round 4 of the AMA East Hard Enduro Series. Five separate courses were prepared for riders ranging from Pee-Wee through Pro, with Saturday featuring the amateur races and a spectator-friendly Pro Dash for Cash before the Pro and A classes took on the main event Sunday.

But first, the amateurs had to discover exactly what a little Ohio rain could do. The B and C classes faced a 10.5-mile course with two laps and a five-hour time limit Saturday. The morning rain had already done its work, and the combination of wet clay, exposed roots, rockfilled creeks and steep hills

made simply maintaining momentum a challenge.

King had reason to be cautious.

Karsen Fulton handled it better than anyone in the B field.

“Last year I broke my wrist,” he continued. “I don't want to do anything this year to jeopardize anything.”

Fulton normally competes on an 85cc motorcycle in the Supermini A division of the American Woods Racing Championship Series (AWRCS), but he makes a significant jump in machinery for US Hard Enduro, climbing aboard a 300cc for the national series. At Hollow Point, the larger bike and Fulton's willingness to attack the rough terrain paid off with the B-class victory. “The rocks had traction, but the dirt was super slick,” Fulton said. “It was all clay and real bad. It was actually better the first lap, and once it dug down to like the roots, it got even worse.” Traffic changed the course almost continuously. Fresh dirt disappeared, roots became exposed and riders began carving alternative lines around the worst holes. On the final large hill, Fulton needed several attempts before moving left toward fresh ground and finding enough grip to climb out. The win also carried championship implications. Fulton entered Hollow Point 12 points behind in the standings and left believing he had either substantially closed that deficit or moved into the lead. Cory King followed in second, but after what had happened at Hollow Point the year before, King was unwilling to turn a close race into an unnecessary gamble. “I was just trying to keep the bike upright and not make any mistakes,” King said. “They kept telling me I was like four minutes from first overall and I'm like trying. But I kept washing out.”

King still finished within striking distance of Fulton, while Graham Kobak completed the B podium in third. Kobak was perhaps the most enthusiastic of the three about the mud. “The hills, you just held it wide open because of the mud and just tried to hang on,” he said. “I thought it was awesome.” His race was not without mechanical trouble. Kobak's footpeg mount repeatedly came loose, forcing him to stop every 15 to 30 minutes to reinstall it—or continue riding with one foot until an obstacle made the missing peg impossible to ignore. His seat also came loose along the way. Still, he praised the balance between creek riding, climbs and faster trail, comparing Wellsville's slickness to the wet conditions he encounters riding at Clay City, Kentucky. For the amateurs, Hollow Point had already established its personality. The weather had taken a difficult race and removed much of the margin for error.

Hart took the victory, with LeBlond second, Webb third and IRC Beta's Branden Petrie fourth.

gold spec,” with climbs that reminded him of Red Bull Romaniacs and the Motorex Highway at Erzberg.

By then, the leading riders had already walked portions of Sunday's course.

His conclusion after walking the course was telling.

Hart liked what he saw. “I've been looking forward to this race all year,” he said before the main event. “Quinn knows what he's doing.” Hart described sections as “proper gnarly like Romania

“It's going to be a battle not against me or Ryder or anyone, but honestly just against the course,” Hart said. “Just finishing I think is going to be a mission.” LeBlond immediately recognized how different the

The Pros would face an even more extreme version Sunday. Before the main event, the Pro field lined up Saturday afternoon for the Dash for Cash Prologue, a roughly 30-minute race incorporating the endurocross track and surrounding woods. Beyond the immediate competition, the finishing order established the starting positions for Sunday's main event.

OPPOSITE : Trystan Hart (1) THIS PAGE : top: Ryder LeBlond (513) bottom: Karsen Fulton (1479)

September 2026

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second Hollow Point would be from the first. “Kind of opposite conditions of last year,” he said. “It was super dry and dusty, which honestly made it slick in its own way last year. Now it's going to be muddy.” Webb had experienced the 2025 conditions aboard his vintage WR250. “Probably the driest I've ever seen East Coast conditions ever,” Webb remembered. “And this year…it is really damp out there.”

The stage was set for a race with very little resemblance to the previous edition. Sunday's Pro and A course stretched 13.5 miles, again with two laps and a five-hour limit. Usually in hard enduro, being first into an obstacle is an advantage. A rider gets an untouched line, avoids traffic and controls the pace. At Hollow Point, the opposite could be true.

The first rider into the most difficult climbs became the test pilot, searching for grip where no obvious line existed. Each failed attempt exposed dirt, moved rocks and revealed new possibilities. The riders behind could watch the mistakes and capitalize. Hart quickly realized leading wasn't necessarily the place to be. “I kind of realized that being in first wasn't necessarily the best because the line was getting better,” Hart said. “So that's when I was kind of

happy to be in second a couple of times because Cody was making a line and you could get on it and ride it actually better.” Webb discovered the downside firsthand. “Leading was super tough,” he said. “The first lap, like you're making virgin tracks. I got to a section. I don't even know what to do.” Hart, Webb, Petrie and LeBlond remained relatively close through much of the opening lap. They could race between the major obstacles, but once they reached the hardest sections, everything compressed again. There was often one workable line. If the first rider failed, everyone behind him stopped. That created something rarely seen among riders fighting for a national victory: cooperation. Hart and Webb eventually reached a section neither could conquer alone and began helping each other. Elsewhere, other racers grabbed motorcycles, tow straps and whatever else was available. Hart later joked that he owed one spectator $100 for helping pull him through another obstacle. “We had to make a section where we all just got pulled up,” Hart said. “Me and Cody had to team up on one.” For a rider accustomed to the world's biggest extreme enduros, his assessment of Hollow Point carried some weight. “It's a gnarly race, like for sure. Like top five hardest in the world,” he said. “It was a proper hard enduro.” As the race developed, Hart and Webb began separating themselves from LeBlond and Petrie. THIS PAGE : Matthew Maas (1700) OPPOSITE : IRC Beta's randen Petrie (99)

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September 2026

Webb was dealing with another problem at the same time. His jetting was off, causing the bike to run hot enough that he needed to stop and add coolant. It cost him time, but he remained close enough to keep pressure on Hart. Hart wasn't trying to win the race through outright speed between obstacles. He understood where the minutes were really hiding. “I wasn't honestly pushing super hard anywhere because I just knew getting in the top sections and getting it done was where I was going to be made,” he said. The second lap became noticeably faster as lines developed. Hart estimated the lap was close to an hour quicker because the riders no longer needed to invent their way through each difficult section.

Webb remained within reach. Hart would gain ground, then look back and find Webb appearing again. Near the end, Hart finally began building a more meaningful advantage. At one of the final major climbs, he was approaching the top before Webb arrived at the bottom. The physical distance between them was tiny. The time difference was not. Hart estimated the final 20 feet alone cost him approximately three minutes. “It's weird to be 100 feet in front of a guy and that's like five minutes,” Hart said. “Anything can happen on sections like that.” Hart finally reached the finish in 3:40:47. Webb followed in 3:46:20, giving Hart the victory by 5 minutes, 33 seconds.

With the win, Hart also mathematically secured the AMA National Hard Enduro Championship with one round remaining. Webb was exhausted but satisfied with second. “I pretty much nailed all the sections, which helped put some time on Ryder and Petrie,” he said. “I just kept pushing all the way through and definitely a little sore right now, but I made it through and pretty happy to get second.” Behind them, LeBlond's race had been more complicated. The defending Hollow Point winner repeatedly arrived at difficult sections after several riders had already attacked them. Rather than creating a clean, established route, the traffic sometimes left the terrain completely destroyed. “First lap, I was always like the fourth one into sections

and it just got so blown out,” LeBlond said. At one climb, the riders began helping one another through. At another, LeBlond stopped to assist Petrie, only to watch Petrie continue without returning the favor. The effort began taking its toll halfway through the lap. But he recovered. “I rode really good the second lap,” he said. “I had such a big gap to close.” LeBlond began eating into Webb's advantage but lost time again at the final major hill, where ropes were being used to help competitors reach the top. By the time LeBlond cleared it, Webb had enough breathing room to protect second. LeBlond finished third, with Petrie fourth. Petrie's challenge faded late after his nutrition plan

September 2026

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unraveled. He lost the gels he had carried on the bike, then lost the replacements from his strap. Cramping followed. “The cramps took over,” Petrie said. “But hats off to Ryder. He put in a strong last hour.” Farther back, Hollow Point became less a race against one another and more a mass effort to continue moving. Ryder Guest finished sixth after becoming part of a group that stopped for nearly 20 minutes while riders helped one another through a particularly difficult obstacle. Nobody wanted to abandon Matthew Stevens, the 19-yearold South African who had carried a tow rope after the course walk made him nervous. Bentlee Bredekamp (1615), Cohen Baker (1457)

It turned out to be one of the most useful pieces of equipment in the race. “Matt from South Africa had a rope,” Guest explained. “So he was the last one of the chain too. So we were like, we can't leave him because he busted out the rope.” For Stevens, Hollow Point was his first race in the United States—and his first trip outside Africa. The American terrain immediately forced him to adapt. “Today was really tough,” Stevens said. “I think it was a big learning curve.” The power climbs were unlike what he normally rides at home, requiring commitment and momentum with little opportunity to recover once an attempt began.

toward more racing in the United States. Max Beaupre's 13th-place result represented another kind of victory. After struggling through several recent races, Beaupre arrived without major expectations and concentrated on moving forward one obstacle at a time. He oneshot many of Hollow Point's biggest climbs and reached the finish encouraged by the progress being made with his motorcycle. “I loved every second of it,” Beaupre said. “I loved suffering and getting muddy and gross and slippy and just everything all the time.” For Beaupre, simply sitting at the finish with the bike represented progress.

“I carried a tow rope because of the track walk—that made me nervous,” he said. “We were pulling each other with that thing. It was hectic. There were like seven of us pulling each other all at once.”

“It was just a massive step forward for the bike,” he said. “I'm the happiest guy on the planet.”

Stevens finished 10th in the Pro standings and left Wellsville already looking

A crash in a creek flooded his motorcycle early, and the

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Champion Brick's Tobin Miller had a far different day.

September 2026

problem became worse while he was attempting to restart it. Water remained inside the engine, and the Bendix broke.

“Luckily, Trystan got ahead of me,” Barger said. “So then there was a line.”

Miller returned to his team, replaced the damaged component and, despite the enormous amount of time already lost, went back onto the course.

Barger completed both laps in 4:09:48 and was the only A rider to record all 12 checkpoints, finishing ahead of Boogie Rivera and Ayden Marinchek in the overall standings.

His new objective was simple: complete one lap.

“It was a gnarly course out there today,” Barger said.

“I lost a ton of time and went out with the goal to just finish one lap,” Miller said.

That simple description applied equally well from the A-class winner to the national champion.

He accomplished it, reaching the cutoff after a long day of repairs and survival. The A riders shared Sunday's course with the Pros, and Champion Brick's Makana Barger emerged with the class victory. Barger encountered one of the hardest sections before Hart and the leading Pros caught him. He knew from the course walk that clearing it alone could be difficult, but an accurate attempt put him over before the leaders arrived. At the next major obstacle, the order worked in his favor.

The second Hollow Point proved how dramatically Wellsville can change. In 2025, LeBlond, Ashburn and Flynn spent much of the race swapping positions, racing wheel-to-wheel through dry hills and dusty singletrack. LeBlond called it one of his favorite East Coast courses of the year, while Webb attacked it aboard a 30-yearold Yamaha. In 2026, riders returned to many of the same hills and found something almost unrecognizable.

The rain slowed the race. The clay erased traction. The hardest climbs forced rivals to become teammates, if only for a few minutes. Ropes came out. Spectators pulled. Riders waited for one another because sometimes nobody was getting to the top alone. And through all of it, Hart kept moving. Before the race he predicted the biggest battle would be against the course rather than the riders around him. Four hours later, after sharing lines with Webb, throwing his motorcycle at climbs and clawing through sections he rated among the hardest anywhere in the world, Hart crossed the finish first. The Hollow Point victory gave him the day.

Trystan Hart secured the championship series win one round early.

The championship made it much more.

EVENT RESULTS OVERALL - PRO

OVERALL - A

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

OVERALL - B

OVERALL - C

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Trystan Hart (KTM) Cody Webb (YAM) Ryder LeBlond (HSQ) Branden Petrie (BET) Kawelo Huddy (KTM) Ryder Guest (KTM) James Flynn (BET) Kamakana WaiwaioleKahalepuna (KTM) 9. Braxton Hintze (KTM) 10. Matthew Stevens (KTM)

Karsen Fulton (HSQ) Cory King (SHR) Graham Kobak (SHR) Grayson Ingoldby (HSQ) Kevin Soltys (SHR) Alexander Badilla Arias (KTM) 7. Noah Howard (HSQ) 8. Jacob Edwards (KTM) 9. Marty Robbins (KTM) 10. Joel Rockwell (SHR)

Makana Barger (KTM) Boogie Rivera (KTM) Ayden Marinchek (KTM) Leiber Ponce (KTM) John Kroll (KTM) Hayden Guest (KTM) Quinn Dickey (KTM) Kai Morgan (KTM) Jared Fortner (BET) Jacob Lesko (HSQ)

Patrick Rexing (BET) Lucian Whitener (KTM) John Bisson (GG) Matt Adams (KTM) Noah Lowe (BET) Landon Kelly (KTM) Leonel Henson (KTM) Branham Stilts (HSQ) Sylas Huffman (GG) Shane Huffman (GG)

September 2026

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Black Rock Gets a Muddy Second Act WORDS & PHOTOS STEPH VETTERLY ROUND 5: BLACK ROCK 2.0 LOCATION: Chesterhill, OH

ive months after the Ohio Hard Enduro Championship Series first rolled into Black Rock, the series returned to familiar ground for Round 5. Familiar, however, did not mean predictable. 40

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Black Rock 2.0 brought riders back to many of the same ravines, creek beds, hills and rocky trails they had faced in April, but a moderate rainstorm Saturday morning gave the property an entirely different character. Sections that had offered traction earlier in the year were now slick and polished, creek exits

September 2026

were greasy, and erosion had changed the shape of several obstacles.

By the time the Pro-A field hit the trail later in the day, the soil had begun to tack up.

The Ohio Hard Enduro crew also had a few ideas of its own.

At the front of the Pro-A race, Quinn Wentzel arrived with a different goal than most.

Parts of the course were reversed, familiar obstacles were approached from new directions, and Mother Nature had spent the summer modifying sections without asking permission. The result was a 9.7-mile loop that felt recognizable without ever becoming comfortable.

Wentzel was not chasing the Ohio championship. Instead, Black Rock gave him a chance to begin learning a new motorcycle and a new program before his 2026 racing schedule wound down. After more than five years aboard the same platform with Rieju USA, there was plenty to learn.

For the Amateur racers, the opening lap was designed as something of an introduction, with several of the more challenging obstacles saved for lap two. But with rain soaking the course ahead of the race, even the supposedly easier trip around Black Rock demanded patience.

“I obviously got a new bike and I’m on a new program, so I thought it was a good time to come break it in and get a feel for it,” Wentzel said. “I won’t have the opportunity to do too much more racing this year, so I just wanted to get out and try to have a jump start on the new bike.”

Wentzel estimated he had only about an hour and a half on the Beta on Friday before lining up at Black Rock. Beaver Creek Cycles handled much of the setup, leaving Wentzel to make a few personal adjustments before going racing.

Thaxton bent his shifter underneath the engine case, leaving the KTM stuck in first gear.

“I trusted Beaver Creek Cycles to set it up for me,” he said. “I didn’t have to do a whole lot— just put a few things on it that I like and I was ripping; I felt right at home on it.”

Wentzel came through and reclaimed the lead.

Wentzel grabbed the early advantage and controlled most of the first lap, but Maverik Thaxton was never far behind. Thaxton entered Round 5 as the Pro-A championship leader and approached the opening lap with a simple plan: use Wentzel’s experience to his advantage. “Quinn got the holeshot on me and I told myself to slow down to go faster,” Thaxton said. “If I could just stick behind him, I know he’s got a ton of experience and is just crazy good, so if I could just stick to him and follow his lines, worst-case I was going to stay right behind him.” It worked. Thaxton watched where Wentzel found traction and, just as importantly, where he did not. If Wentzel’s rear tire spun into a hole or slid off line, Thaxton could adjust before arriving at the same spot. The pair stayed close through the first lap. Thaxton even slipped ahead briefly at the first difficult hillclimb before Wentzel retook the position.

“I couldn’t shift—I was stuck in first—and I just waved him by,” Thaxton said. “I didn’t know what to do.”

Thaxton eventually found Stephen “Uncle Steve” Thaxton on the course and swapped shifters with him, joking afterward that he wished him luck with the damaged one. Wentzel continued cleanly to the finish, stopping the clock at 2:11:29 and taking the Round 5 victory. “I stopped for fuel after the first lap and that’s where he got around me and pulled on me,” Wentzel said. “I could hear him and ended up catching him in a rock section. He waved me by and said he had a shifter problem. It was a bummer to not battle it out to the end.” Behind him, Thaxton suddenly had another fight on his hands. Mark Fortner’s race could hardly have started worse. Fortner was near the front leaving the start, but Cable Hill quickly dropped him toward the back.

Thaxton worked his way past Fortner, but Fortner stayed close. Eventually Fortner regained the position and tried to open enough of a gap to protect second. Late in the race, he could hear Thaxton closing. “He and I were just going at it the rest of the race,” Thaxton

said. “That was fun, but that mechanical hurt a little bit.” Thaxton finally got back around shortly before the finish, completing his comeback in 2:17:42. Fortner arrived only 50 seconds later at 2:18:32. For Fortner, third place came aboard one of the more unusual machines in the field—a 350cc two-stroke that he had specifically adapted for hard enduro.

“I screwed it up on Cable Hill—seems like I was stuck there forever, so I ended up dead last,” Fortner said. “I had to play catch-up for quite a while.”

Wentzel stopped for fuel after the opening lap while Thaxton believed he had enough fuel to continue. Thaxton rode past and into the lead.

Fortner worked his way forward, eventually connecting with Hayden Mosa and riding with him for much of the first lap. After moving past Mosa, Fortner had little idea where the leaders were until Thaxton unexpectedly appeared behind him following the shifter problem.

About 15 minutes later, that opportunity disappeared.

“When Maverik came up behind me, I figured I had

Then the race changed in the pits.

taken a wrong turn,” he said. “He told me he had to change his shifter, so I was excited that I was back in the mix.”

Quinn Wentzel (5, left), Maverik Thaxton (125, above), Mark Fortner (30, bottom) September 2026

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Cory Jones (1155, top), Graham Kobak (1014, bottom)

setup played a significant role. He was running a VE33S rear tire with a tubeless setup and felt the combination suited the muddy terrain. The most telling part of his race may have been what did not happen. “I didn’t seem to have any problems with the uphill climbs with the logs,” he said. “I seemed to get up them without an issue. I didn’t seem to have to hit any of the hillclimbs twice.” Behind Jones, championship leader Cory King had a far messier afternoon. King found the front early with Bentlee Bredekamp running close behind, and the pair were enjoying their own race before reaching a difficult root section. Jones slipped past, and shortly afterward King and Bredekamp became tangled in a rock garden. “I’m not really a top-end rider, I lug things a lot,” Fortner said. “Ever since these 350 two-strokes came out, I wanted to try one and turn it into a hard enduro bike. I geared it down, put soft suspension on it. I think it suits me.”

it back on and it didn’t end my race. The course was super slimy. It was brutal.” With traction at a premium, Jones believed motorcycle

Thaxton’s runner-up finish also strengthened his grip on the Pro-A championship. Through five rounds, he had accumulated 121 points, 23 more than Fortner. Earlier in the day, the Amateur field had faced the course when conditions were at their slickest. Cory Jones handled those conditions better than anyone. Jones moved into the lead early and never surrendered it, completing the race in 2:20:55. Even a derailed chain in one of the rocky creeks on the opening lap was not enough to derail his race. “I kicked my chain off in a rock creek in the first lap,” Jones said. “Thankfully I got 42

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September 2026

“We just got tied up in a rock garden; Bentlee and I helped each other out,” King said. “We probably got passed by eight people because we had

bikes upside down—it was just a mess.” King recovered impressively, climbing back through the field to finish second in 2:33:07. Despite losing the race win, the result proved valuable for the championship. King left Black Rock 2.0 with 131 points, maintaining a nine-point advantage over Bredekamp. Jones’ victory moved him to 98 points and third. “All in all, the track was good, super greasy and slimy,” King said. “It was great singletrack. Had a blast, felt good. It rained last night, so it was nothing but mud.” Emmett Covington completed the overall Amateur podium, but he did so without all of his motorcycle. His rear fender, already held on with zip ties, disappeared somewhere during the second lap. “It didn’t really bother me too much, but the mud splashing up on my butt definitely made

my seat pretty slippery,” Covington said. Covington also noticed how rapidly the course evolved. The first lap was exceptionally slick, but traffic helped expose more traction by lap two. Ravines such as Cell Tower had also changed significantly since the April event. Covington finished third in 2:37:22, while Justin Farley worked his way to fourth and Graham Kobak rounded out the top five. Kobak’s approach was built around conservation. In the slick conditions, keeping the bike upright was more important than trying to attack every obstacle. Instead of charging into the hardest sections, Kobak slowed down, studied his options and tried to make the first attempt count. “If it was a harder section, I would just slow down and figure out my line and try and clean it first try instead of

getting myself wrapped up in the mud and wasting all my energy,” he said. The contrast was especially noticeable because Kobak had come directly from the Tennessee Knockout. He had not even washed his motorcycle. The same setup that had worked in TKO’s dry, dusty conditions now had to deal with Ohio mud. “Compared to TKO, this was a struggle,” Kobak said. “TKO was really dry; it was super dusty and I had a lot of traction there. This was just a beat-down.” That may have been the most fitting description of Black Rock 2.0. It was not simply a repeat of the spring race. Rain changed the traction, erosion changed the obstacles, course revisions changed the rhythm and two laps of racing changed the ground beneath the riders.

Wentzel showed how quickly an experienced rider can adapt to a new motorcycle. Thaxton turned a mechanical setback into a runner-up finish and another important championship result. Fortner fought from the back into podium contention. Jones put together the clean, efficient Amateur ride the conditions demanded, while King recovered from early trouble to protect his points lead.

Black Rock may have been familiar territory, but Round 5 proved that in hard enduro, the same piece of ground rarely tells the same story twice.

EVENT RESULTS OVERALL PRO/A

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Quinn Wentzel (BET) Maverik Thaxton - KTM) Mark Fortner (BET) Hayden Mosa (RJU) Jacob Lesko (HSQ) Owen Luzier (KTM) Donnie Alborn (KTM) Quinn Dickey (KTM) Clayton Costello (KTM) Jay Potter (KTM)

OVERALL AMATEUR

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Cory Jones (KTM) Cory King (SHR) Emmett Covington (KTM) Justin Farley (HSQ) Graham Kobak (SHR) Marty Robbins (KTM) Lukasz Sienkiewicz (KTM) Joel Stolz (BET) Caleb Covington (KTM) Bentlee Bredekamp (HSQ)

September 2026

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Fustini Takes the Title at Unadilla

WORDS & KYLIE KULPA // PHOTOS EIGHTEEN PHOTOS ROUND 7/8 - Unadilla LOCATION: New Berlin, NY

DAY Off-Road wrapped up its 2026 AMA Championship Regional Rounds 7 & 8 at the legendary Unadilla MX in New York, proudly sponsored by Moto Tassinari.

PRO AA CLASS RECAP

With just 25 points separating the top three riders heading into the final weekend, and only 18 points between Jiggs Fustini and Justin Cokinos entering the last round, the Pro AA championship was wide open. Every position mattered, and with two days of racing ahead, one mistake could change the championship standings.

With a beautiful weekend ahead in the valleys of New York, the final two rounds of the series brought everything down to the wire. Not only were riders battling for championship glory, but the Pro AA champion would also take home a $10,000 Yamaha ride. From the opening round in Florida back in February to the season finale in New York in late August, these riders have traveled countless miles up and down the East Coast, putting in the time, effort, and sacrifice required to compete at the highest level. Every race, every moto, and every point has mattered. After an incredible seasonlong battle, the first 2026 JDAY Off-Road AMA 44

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Regional Champion of the Pro AA class is KTM rider Jiggs Fustini! Fustini put together a championship-winning season and came out on top when it mattered most, as the 2026

September 2026

JDAY Off-Road Pro AA Regional Champion. Congratulations to Jiggs Fustini on an incredible ride to the Championship!

Saturday’s Round 7 featured a long, fast woods course through the valleys of Unadilla. Thorn Devlin came into the weekend determined to finish on the top step. In Moto 1, Devlin battled inside the top four with Jiggs Fustini, Justin Cokinos, and Evan Smith. Cokinos led the opening lap before the positions began to shuffle. Devlin worked his way into second, finishing just three seconds behind the top three riders. Smith took the Moto1 win, with Devlin second, Fustini third, and Cokinos fourth.

LEFT: Justin Cokinos (444) ABOVE: Round 7 holeshot secured by Kyle Gaetani RIGHT: Jiggs Fustini (511, top), Mallory Pickard (736) and Kayla Oneill (310) battle through the dusty grass track (bottom)

Moto 2 belonged to Devlin as he made the roughening course look easy, leading every lap to claim the Round 7 Pro AA overall victory. Fustini finished second, followed by Ryder Lafferty in third, Ryan Amancio in fourth, and Cokinos in fifth. For Sunday’s Round 8, the course became more technical, featuring tighter woods, off-camber sections, and challenging line choices. Evan Smith once again took control early in Moto 1, setting a 4:45 lap time and leading the first five laps. Ryder Lafferty eventually made the pass for the lead and secured the moto win. Fustini and Devlin continued their battle throughout the race, finishing third and fourth respectively. In Moto 2, Cokinos grabbed the early lead before Lafferty made his move to the front.

Lafferty held the position all the way to the checkered flag, securing the Round 8 Pro AA overall win. Behind him, Cokinos, Devlin, Smith, Fustini, and Lafferty battled for every position, with the extreme section proving to be a major factor and costing several riders valuable time. Sunday’s podium saw Ryder Lafferty take the overall win, with Evan Smith in second and Thorn Devlin in third. After two days of intense racing at Unadilla, the Pro AA riders left everything on the track in a championship finale filled with close battles, changing conditions, and racing that came down to every position. PRO 125 WEEKEND RECAP

The Pro 125 class delivered some of the most exciting September 2026

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Jiggs Fustini, the 2026 Pro AA AMA Grand Prix Regional Champion

Addison Harris also had an eventful weekend, claiming 2nd overall on Saturday before putting it all together on Sunday to take the top step of the podium. AMATEUR OVERALL RECAP

Rivers Morris wrapped up the AMA Regional Championship in the A250 class on Day 1 at Unadilla. Morris also claimed the Amateur Overall win on Saturday, putting together a strong performance at the legendary facility.

racing of the weekend at Unadilla, with Justin Cokinos, Colton McQuarrie, Evan Smith, Ryan Amancio, and Van Gosling battling throughout both days. Justin Cokinos came into the weekend focused on the championship and delivered a dominant performance on Saturday, going 1-1 and securing the 2026 AMA Regional Championship in the Pro 125 class. The 125 battles were nonstop, with riders trading positions throughout the motos and Gosling consistently mixing it up inside the top five. For Round 8 on Sunday, Cokinos went 4-1, continuing to fight at the front despite the intense competition. Unfortunately, Evan Smith suffered an injury during the second moto, ending his weekend early. Colton McQuarrie had a standout Sunday, earning his first Pro 125 overall victory, finishing ahead of Ryan Amancio in second and Justin Cokinos in third. Sponsored by Moto Tassinari, Cokinos is V-Force equipped and leaves Unadilla as the 2026 AMA Regional Pro 125 Champion after a season full of hard-fought battles. 46

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WOMEN’S PRO CLASS RECAP

Yamaha rider Kayla O’Neill set the bar high this weekend as the Women’s Pro points leader, battling with Mallory Pickard and Addison Harris to make for some incredible racing. During Sunday’s race, O’Neill secured the 2026 JDAY Off-Road AMA Regional Championship after an eventful weekend filled with intense battles throughout the Women’s Pro class. On Saturday, O’Neill finished 2nd in Moto 1 and 3rd in Moto 2, earning 3rd overall for the day. She came out swinging again on Sunday with 1-2 moto scores. On the final lap, O’Neill made an aggressive charge through the extreme section, where she passed both second- and third-place riders to take the lead. Unfortunately, she was taken out shortly after in the chaos.

On Sunday, Morris battled all day and finished 2nd overall in the Amateur Overall, coming up just short behind Cole

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Cole Johnson, the A Open regional championship winner, had a fast-paced and dominant weekend at Unadilla. Johnson went 1-1 overall both days, putting together an impressive sweep and capping off his championship season in style. The A200 regional championship went to Matt Jakan, who also put together solid results at Unadilla with 4-5 finishes across the weekend. Those consistent results kept him ahead in the championship points and secured the regional title.

EVENT RESULTS OVERALL PRO - RD 7

WOMEN'S PRO - RD 7

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

1. 2. 3. 4.

Thorn Devlin (YAM) Jiggs Fustini (KTM) Ryder Lafferty (HON) Justin Cokinos (YAM) Ryan Amancio (KTM) Jake Abbott (YAM) Colton McQuarrie (YAM) Gavin Forsbrey (HSQ) Cole Johnson (HON) Rivers Morris (KAW)

OVERALL PRO - RD 8 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Mallory Pickard (HSQ) Addison Harris (KTM) Kayla O'Neill (YAM) Destiny Artegian (KAW)

WOMEN'S PRO - RD 8 1. 2. 3. 4.

Addison Harris (KTM) Kayla O'Neill (YAM) Mallory Pickard (HSQ) Destiny Artegian (KAW)

Ryder Lafferty (HON) Evan Smith (KTM) Thron Devlin (YAM) Jiggs Fustini (KTM) Justin Cokinos (YAM) Cooper Jones (KTM) Ryan Amancio (KTM) Jake Abbott (YAM) Van Gosselin (YAM) Cole Johnson (HON)

2026 CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

O’Neill finished the season with 167 points, securing the regional championship. Mallory Pickard finished 3rd overall in the Women’s Pro regional championship. She charged hard through both days of racing, earning 1st overall on Saturday and a 3rd-place finish on Sunday after a crash involving every Women’s Pro rider shook up the results.

Johnson after a long fight to the finish.

AA OVERALL 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Jiggs Fustini - 144pts Justin Cokinos - 124 pts Ricky Russell - 110 pts Tyler Medaglia - 85 pts Jake Abbott - 63 pts Joey Crown - 62 pts Josh Toth - 69 pts Evan Smith - 65 pts Angus Riordan - 64 pts Thorn Devlin - 63 pts

WOMEN'S PRO 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 10.

Kayla O'Neill - 167 pts Tayla Jones - 95 pts Mallory Pickard - 85 pts Addison Harris - 63 pts Destiny Artegian - 51 pts Carly Lee - 42 pts Lilley Sheets - 40 pts Brandy Richards - 25 pts Jocelyn Barnes - 25 pts Shelby Turner - 22 pts Korrie Steede - 22 pts

September 2026

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September 2026

SIX DAYS of the Mid-Atlantic WORDS PHOTOS

JOSH SCHUCKER PAULA KYLE STEPHENS, LOST IN A PHOTOGRAPH, DOUG "DR. B COOL" BURROUGH

MX / CC ROUNDS -

Shady Acres MX (Friendsville, MD Coyote Run CC (Ebensburg, PA) Ohio Valley BSA Club CC (Toronto, OH)

hree out of four weeks, six out of thirty-one days, three different states…makes for an aggressive August for AHRMA’s Mid-Atlantic region. When regional coordinator Dave Kutskel released the 2026 schedule late last year, two things were clear. One, there were more opportunities to race in the region than ever before. Two, the month of August stood out as a challenge to the region’s volunteers to facilitate six days of racing in a single month. But, if anyone can do it and do it well, it’s these folks. Certainly, it is a challenge for the racers as well, with travel time and cost, bike maintenance, recovery, and securing time away from other obligations. And to broaden the scope even further, two of the three weekends were AHRMA National events, one of which added motocross to

the already packed crosscountry race day experience. No sense dwelling on difficult logistics, the schedule has been in print for months…let’s make it happen! AUGUST 8 & 9: SHADY ACRES MOTOCROSS PARK, FRIENDSVILLE, MARYLAND National and Regional Motocross and Cross-Country

Last year’s attempt to move the Shady Acres event to early in the year was plagued with undesirable remnants of wintertime, so it was a welcome sight to see the former dairy farm return to its late summer spot as well as a restoring its status as an AHRMA National event. With the bustling Deep Creek Lake resort area just south of the facility in the full hype of summertime delight, the trip to Western Maryland is always

LEFT: Cody McVicker (72M) RIGHT: Marty Strouse (67K) September 2026

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full of things to do. That is if the full weekend of motocross (MX) and cross-country (CC) racing and camaraderie on the beautiful landscape of proprietors Tim and Paula Thomas isn’t enough to keep you engaged. And trust me, this was a full boat weekend. Two CC races each day, vintage MX Saturday afternoon, and post-vintage MX Sunday afternoon. There were threats of storms in the forecast for most of the weekend, and we dodged several storms on Friday evening, but that luck ran out on Saturday morning. An early start time was selected to help expedite the packed day, and that time coincided almost to the minute with the first drop of rain that would quickly turn into a wicked downpour accompanied by the thunder, lightning, and wind gusts one would expect from a summertime storm. Lap one was everything you expect of Tim’s CC layout, with fast open field stretches broken 52

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up by pockets of flowing singletrack, approachable hill climbs, a winding grass track, and the trip through the dairy barn . Always a joy, but as the laps clicked off the rain kept coming and conditions began to degrade rapidly. Open field grass track getting churned into tail swapping slime, ruts and roots rearing their heads, and a soaked but resilient scoring crew trying to hold it all together. By the time the green flag flew for the postvintage CC race, the storm had moved on to bother other parts of the region and the sun was shining. The action on course still struggled through the damage already done and the sun’s might wasn’t yet enough to markedly improve conditions, but the racers made the best of things. Tim Thomas’ vintage motocross course has received some high praise over the last few years, and it was again laid out and ready to please on the hillside adjacent to the main parking area. Great

September 2026

spectating sight lines abound, and the loop is a true natural terrain grass track with only a couple slightly manmanipulated jumps befitting the 60s and 70s machines roosting across the slope. Despite the earlier deluge, and the havoc it wreaked throughout the day’s earlier competition, the vintage track was spared! Somehow, someway, the combination of grade and intact grass cover shrugged off the rainfall and shed it efficiently downhill. Don’t get me wrong, there was a touch of slickness early in practice and perhaps at the start of the first moto, but in all the traction looked pretty primo and the dual shock bikes were flying! By the time the MX races were completed, the sun had been shining for a while, and some eager spotters had reported that the woods loop was really looking like it was drying up well. Sitting by an evening campfire, everyone agreed… tomorrow was going to be

great. That thought was still running through my head as I awoke to rain drops pounding out the drum solo to “In the Air Tonight” on the roof of the camper. Shortly thereafter the camper was rocking from the awning whipping in the wind and as I opened the door to work on retracting the darn thing, the door was ripped right out of my hands echoing a loud BANG across the pits as it smacked into the wall. Surely those not already awake were by now. Yeah, it was a fierce one. As morning came with another early start, the precipitation had once again retreated and the racers filing into the start were blessed with clear skies and fair weather. But the course was doomed by that whopper of a storm last night. Both CC races were survival mode. The grass track and open field sections grew progressively wider as riders were skirting the edges to find untouched grass in a desperate attempt for traction.

There were two uphills in the wooded trail areas that proved to be quite a challenge. The first was long, winding, and covered with a thick layer of mud. Multiple lines continued to develop as the most successful approach was sit back on the fender for traction, point it up, stay on the gas and go wherever the bike led you. The next hill was easier to crest, but there was a single line, and if it was clogged with a struggling rider, your best bet was to wait for the line to clear. Ironically, some of the worst mud was found just below the vintage MX track… remember all that talk of shedding the water, yeah, we found where it went. Post vintage MX finished off the event weekend on the property’s more modern track. And again, Tim Thomas must have some magic MX track pixie dust that he used to seal that thing up overnight, because the track was far less muddy than you’d expect watching the downtrodden CC

racers exiting the course with globs of mud dripping freely from every surface. Sure, there were some wet spots and some slick corners, but the racing action was great. For a track used for “modern” racing and practice, the majority of the jumps and terrain are quite approachable for the post vintage crowd, and there is an appreciable amount of natural elevation changes that are featured as well. Quick and efficient race operations by the MA crew and the Thomas team got everyone out of there at a reasonable time considering all the racing taking place. AUGUST 22 & 23: COYOTE RUN, EBENSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA Regional Cross-Country

Racing resumed two weeks later just one hundred miles north on Route 219 at the home of Dave K. The tradition of Coyote Run is a unique mainstay on the MA region’s

calendar. As always, this year’s slate of activities once again included the everpopular sideshows of the Powder Puff and Pit Bike races in between the three CC races on Saturday followed by a potluck cookout full of attendee-supplied side dishes and desserts to accompany the Kutskel prepped pulled pork, BBQ chicken, and sweet corn. A yearly celebration of the Potomac Vintage Riders and Mid-Atlantic family. Three more CC races follow on Sunday on a course nearly ninety percent unique from the prior day. Now, I don’t want to sound repetitive, but I didn’t have a choice in the matter. The pattern developing here is all on Mother Nature. She moved the timing around a bit, but the gist of the story remains the same. This time it starts with the Ebensburg area getting

pummeled by a crooked number of inches of rain on Thursday and a potentially soggy outlook for the rest of the weekend. Several struggles with mud and stuck vehicles on Friday afternoon created an ominous foreshadowing effect. Saturday’s course was a mixed bag. There was plenty of great singletrack that lived on higher parts of the property that provided the traditional Coyote Run flow and fun, but there was also plenty of low-lying areas that are quite impossible to avoid. These areas not only retained water from Thursday’s rain event, but there are many springs throughout the woods that are typically dry by August. This year the springs are LEFT: Laci Horvath (996) with a slight edge on Bob Bean (54) BELOW: Brett Zofchak (322), Chad Tallman (184)

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flowing boisterously, further exacerbating the problem areas. I counted at least three portions of the course that more resembled 1990’s era Speedworld coverage of Florida swamp buggy racing than a dirt bike race. Several holes of standing water and muck the consistency and color of butterscotch pudding could nearly swallow a vintage bike and disguise any number of hidden obstacles prone to catch you off guard and throw you or your machine off kilter. Dave K tried to reroute on the fly as much as possible and eventually was able to find reasonable go-arounds. Hopes for an improved Sunday were high as the threat of rain in the forecast for Saturday lessened throughout the day and despite the mud on course, the weather itself was nice through the pit bike race, awards ceremony, and the evening dinner. However, the black clouds started to appear shortly thereafter. Thunderstorms rolled in right after food and through the evening with a tremendous downpour just before midnight. The Coyote crowd awoke to light rain, which was supposed to leave early, but kept sputtering like a seventy54

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year-old with a questionable prostate before finally quitting after the morning’s vintage race.

rode with both feet dragging along like outriggers on a catamaran…just a little further and its over!

Lap one of that race was the best it would get and was actually quite decent on the fresh trails found in the woods. Dave warned that an early creek crossing may be high and it probably exceeded his expectations. Several bikes throughout the day were claimed by water and/or mud intrusion. Continued laps would work over the ground and whip it into a goo until it eventually developed into a slot car course that would make Aurora or Tyco jealous. Alternate lines were there… if you could get out of the rut, which was far easier said than done. The cross section of the earth excavated by the miles long rut looked like a freshly poured black and tan from your favorite Irish pub, a decadent dark layer of organic topsoil fading into a rich tan from the wet solid clay beneath, each having a friction coefficient similar to ice. The final half-mile before scoring retreads some ground used the prior day and by the third race Sunday had been beaten into cake batter where the exhausted riders often

Fast forward to cleaning the motorcycle. Coyote Run often offers some of the best bests in the series, but it seems to also have the best (worst?) mud ever. I carried so much of that Cambria County dirt home with me that I had to call our local soil conservation officer to reevaluate the soil type distribution on my property.

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But mudders are a part of this game we play, sometimes you just gotta gut through it and hope for better days next time around. AUGUST 29 & 30: OHIO VALLEY BSA OWNER’S CLUB, TORONTO, OHIO National and Regional CrossCountry

Another one-hundred mile trip, this time west via Route 22, through West Virginia for

a hot minute before ending up just over the Ohio border at the welcoming Cable Creek Campground, home to the Ohio Valley BSA Owner’s Club. This venue was new to the National scene last year and the feedback from racers following the inaugural event was exceedingly positive. Apparently the BSA Club members have been equally smitten with the AHRMA crew as well as there was already chatter on Friday about an AHRMA return for the 2027 season. The club members work hard to prepare the property for this event. The grounds total almost twohundred acres of wooded mountainside where they often host trials events. The spacious campground area offers ample flat parking along with pavilions, shower houses, bathrooms, a food vendor, and even a lovely swimming hole in the Island Creek that borders the camp. Now we just need to ensure we don’t repeat all that repeating business we talked about above. It’s time

for some redemption in this fight against mudders! The club prepared a four-mile course on the slopes of the property. The terrain here

offers very little that is flat. The loop is kind of like being on a perpetual roller coaster where the operator just lets you blow through the station and head back uphill again. Constantly rising and plunging nearly three hundred feet in elevation, this is a finely crafted layout and possibly one of the most fun CC courses on a schedule chock full of fun CC courses. A brief grass track right after the start gets you dialed in before plunging into the woods and over some small fun hills. You do encounter a little mud from time to time, but just your run-of-the-mill wet spots, not a continuous thing at all. You’ll ride a combination of old logging roads, sidehill goat paths, and singletrack as the course crisscrosses the mountainside ever seeking the summit. A rocky hill climb that was one of the tougher portions of the track finally gets you to the top. Here a flowing bit of singletrack takes full advantage of a relatively flat area up top. A winding descent follows before heading up again, this time using a few tricky switchback climbs where throttle control and continuous motion are the key. There are a few spots where the logging road opens up and so does the throttle for a bit of

a break, only to be followed by some more prime trails. A couple steep and foreboding downhills near the end add a challenge right before a final romp up the face of the hillside before descending on a winding singletrack into scoring. Great dirt, a few rocks, amazing elevation change, cool people and a cool place… what a blast! And a welldeserved great weekend for the racers and volunteers. I’m right with the club members thoughts on Friday…can we come back in 2027?! Many thanks to the MidAtlantic crew for pulling this all together and executing well under the pressure of the “Six Days of the Mid-Atlantic” and to the participants for soldiering through the tough ones and still showing up to the next one. Also, thanks to primary sponsors Redwood Engineering and Potomac Vintage Riders along with the plethora of other folks that support the series. LEFT: Brian Polen (777), Thomas Holbert (63), Bob Radcliffe (18), Wesley Butcher (67W) This Page: Addyson Zerance (2A) with a spectator assist, Mark "Lightning" Weppler (13 1/2)

September 2026

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September 2026

DAVIS BREAKS THROUGH IN RHODE ISLAND WORDS PHOTOS

TYLER SHEPARDSON ART PEPIN

ROUND 7 - Yamaha New England National Enduro LOCATION: West Glocester, Rhode Island

ound 7 of the Redline Oils American National Enduro Championship presented by MSR brought the series to Rhode Island for the Yamaha New England National Enduro, where rain turned an already challenging New England course into one of the toughest races of the season. After a issues with the land originally laid out for the race, the Hoot Owl Scramblers had to scramble to put together a completely different track on short notice. Different from a normal ANEC, the race consisted of three tests that each got ridden twice making the final three tests of the day even more challenging. FMF/Red Bull KTM's Grant Davis emerged from the sixtest battle with his first career National Enduro Overall victory, while Liqui Moly Beta's Jhak Walker swept Pro2 and Rockstar Husqvarna's Korie Steede kept her perfect Pro Women season alive.

Davis came out swinging, winning the opening three tests of the day and building an early advantage before conditions continued to deteriorate. As the rain moved in and the course broke down, Davis found himself under pressure from a hard-charging Steward Baylor but held on to claim both the Pro 1 and Overall victories. "This is my first ever Overall win in a National Enduro, so it's pretty cool," Davis said. "It was pretty gnarly there at the end. I honestly don't know how Stew was going so fast because I was on the edge of death and he was still beating me." Davis' day wasn't without adversity. A collision with another rider in Test 5 sent him into a mud hole and buried his KTM nearly to the seat, but he was able to recover and protect enough of his advantage to earn the win. Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Red Bear Kawasaki's Steward Baylor finished second Overall and second in Pro 1 after turning his day around in the second half of the race. Baylor

struggled with setup early, but a switch back to the tire he had tested earlier in the week helped him find his pace as he swept the final three tests. "We missed the mark, and I learned throughout the day," Baylor said. "We went back to the basics and went to a normal tire and were able to close out with three test wins consecutively, but I just put myself in too much of a hole early on." Baylor called the final test one of the three most difficult sections he has raced in a National Enduro, praising the Hoot Owl Scramblers for putting together the event on short notice. AmPro Yamaha's Liam Draper rounded out the Overall and Pro 1 podium while maintaining the championship points lead with two rounds remaining. Draper described the event as one of the toughest enduros he has raced, especially as riders encountered the deteriorating course for a second time. "The track got pretty blown apart

Grant Davis (40A) September 2026

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there, but it was a good points day," Draper said. "That last test was pretty gnarly. The people that finished that test deserve a pat on the back." LiquiMoly Beta's Jhak Walker continued his impressive run through the Pro 2 division

with a perfect day, winning all six tests to claim another class victory. Coming off his historic Overall victory at the previous round, Walker once again mixed it up near the front of the Overall standings despite racing unfamiliar New England terrain.

Walker credited his success to staying calm and avoiding the temptation to override as the course became increasingly difficult. "Once I get stressed about results, that's when everything goes downhill," Walker said. "I just make sure I'm staying calm, hitting my marks and not overriding. You take the track piece by piece and it all comes together at the end of the day.” FMF/Red Bull KTM's Jason Tino finished second and retained the Pro 2 points lead after another consistent performance. Tino stayed smooth as the rain transformed the second set of tests and compared the deteriorating conditions to racing at Snowshoe GNCC. "The rain came down and made it super gnarly, but I just stayed smooth and consistent and did what I needed to do," Tino said.

Ryan Piper completed the Pro 2 podium despite a massive crash in Test 2 that left his motorcycle damaged. Piper managed to get the bike to the finish of the test before making repairs and shifting his focus toward staying off the ground as conditions worsened. "It started off pretty good, and then in the second test I had a huge get-off," Piper said. "The bike was all mangled up, but I managed to get it to the finish. From there I just tried to stay off the ground the best I could." Rockstar Husqvarna's Korie Steede once again found herself in the center of the podium, extending her undefeated season to seven straight victories. Steede enjoyed the faster conditions early before the rain completely changed the conditions of the track. By the second half of the day, simply

Jhak Walker (50A), Korie Steede (444)

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September 2026

reaching the finish became a challenge. "The first two tests I was having a ball out there," Steede said. "After that rain, I was fighting for my life. It was probably just as bad as Snowshoe, if not worse. I just tried to keep pushing forward, look ahead and get to the checkered flag." Enduro Engineering Triumph's Shelby Turner put her technical riding skills to work as conditions deteriorated, taking three test wins on her way to second in Pro Women. Turner found another gear when the rain arrived and kept mistakes to a minimum through the final sections. "When it started raining, my Pirellis were working awesome," Turner said. "I was able to tractor through and didn't really make any mistakes in the last two tests. I just kept digging, kept pushing, and honestly it was a lot of fun."

Kayla O'Neill rounded out the Pro Women podium with an impressive third-place finish. Like Turner, O'Neill found herself enjoying the increasingly difficult conditions and dug deep through the closing tests to earn her spot on the podium. "I really didn't think I was going to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but suddenly it was there and I made it," O'Neill said. "I'm just happy to be on the box today." With seven rounds complete, Draper and Tino carry their respective championship leads into the final two rounds, while Steede remains perfect in Pro Women. After surviving one of the toughest events of the season in Rhode Island, the American National Enduro Championship now turns its attention toward the closing stretch of the 2026 season with the next round being a two day event in West Virginia hosted by ANEC.

EVENT RESULTS

OVERALL - PRO 1

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Grant Davis (KTM) Steward Baylor Jr (KAW) Liam Draper (YAM) Josh Toth (KAW) Grant Baylor (KAW) Craig Delong (HSQ) Ryder Lafferty (HON) Evan Smith (KTM)

OVERALL - PRO 2

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Jhak Walker (BET) Jason Tino (KTM) Ryan Piper (KTM) James Jenkins (TRI) Trevor Hulin (HON)

OVERALL - PRO WOMEN

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Korie Steede (HSQ) Shelby Turner )TRI) Kayla Oneill (YAM) Taylor Johnston (TRI) Addison Harris (KTM) Brooke Cosner (KAW)

SERIES STANDINGS

OVERALL - PRO 1

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Liam Draper - 198 pts Steward Baylor Jr - 175 pts Grant Baylor - 167 pts Josh Toth - 154 pts Craig Delong - 139 pts Ryder Lafferty - 129 pts Evan Smith - 73 pts Grant Davis - 60 pts Ben Kelley - 41 pts

OVERALL - PRO 2

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Jason Tino - 210 pts Jhak Walker - 177 pts James Jenkins - 151 pts Ryan Piper - 148 pts Trevor Hulin - 115 pts Nickolas Defeo - 97 pts Cooper Jones - 29 pts Jack Maki - 27 pts Collier Martinez - 27 pts Lance Maschino - 25 pts

OVERALL - PRO WOMEN

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Korie Steede - 210 pts Shelby Turner - 163 pts Rachel Gutish - 117 pts Taylor Johnston - 108 pts Kayla Oneill - 21 pts Tayler Bonecutter - 16 pts Rylie Howard - 16 pts Courtney Gregory - 16 pts Jocelyn Barnes - 16 pts Addison Harris - 16 pts

September 2026

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September 2026 On the Pegs Magazine