Cherokee National Enduro Race Report 2017

Thad DuVall grabbed his second win in a row at this weekend’s Cherokee National Enduro in Greensboro, Georgia – round four of the 2017 Kenda AMA National Enduro Series presented by Moose Race.

DuVall not only had to battle a formidable lineup of competitors, but the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing-backed driver also had to fight the elements, as being a hot, humid and dry day turned turned wet and muddy when rain storms moved into the location about halfway into the event. Despite the extreme conditions, DuVall won five of the six tests and got the overall win by one-minute-and-thirteen-seconds more than series point leader Steward Baylor Jr. at the end of 56 miles associated with racing.

With the win, DuVall cut in to Baylor’s point lead, and now sits just eight points behind Baylor in the series standings with just five rounds remaining.

Although things proceeded to go DuVall’s way for most of the day, there is some drama in the third test when he crashed hard and at one point wasn’t sure can finish.

“I hit my head pretty hard and it was hurting pretty poor, ” said DuVall. “I wasn’t sure I could continue, but I actually went into the fourth test and I just wasn’t all there. Steward ended up beating me in that test, but We regrouped and by that point I had a pretty good cushion. I really just needed to cruise, but I felt like the particular slower I went the more mistakes I made. I felt like the particular harder I charged the better I had been, so I came back and won the last two tests. I honestly did not think I was going to be able to finish after the fourth test – I was sick and didn’t feel well, but I just cleared my head and ended up winning. ”

Steward Baylor came into the event having spent the previous week in the hospital due to a malware. The SRT Racing KTM driver admittedly didn’t have the best week of practice prior to the Cherokee and came into the event hoping to salvage the top-five finish, however , the South Carolina rider was able to keep DuVall sincere all day and even won the fourth test. In fact , Baylor didn’t finish worse than second all day.

“I came in a bit behind the eight-ball, after spending last week in the hospital, but I rode well today, ” said Baylor. “I wasn’t expecting to do this well, but we kept it restricted and hopefully we can bounce back from this and get back on top of the podium. It’s good to come out here plus come away with a good finish all things considered that happened last week. ”

Josh Toth is still learning the ropes within the national enduro series, but the Connecticut rider picked up steam as the time progressed and came on solid in the last three tests. The Feel Pro Yamaha rider claimed their best finish to date with a 3rd.

“I rode pretty good in the beginning, but I couldn’t stay off the ground, ” said Toth. “I like the mud, when it started raining I think I acquired stronger. I’m getting better at this limited stuff and I definitely had a lots of fun. ”

KR4 Arrive-n-Ride Husqvarna’s Grant Baylor turned in a steady day regarding fourth.

“I had pretty good rides in the second and third tests, but I was a little off the pace within the fourth test, ” said Offer. “I was sitting about 30 seconds behind Toth in 3rd heading into the final test and I actually went in there and pushed very hard and ended up crashing, so I needed to settle for fourth. ”

Grant still includes a solid grip on third overall in the series standings, sitting 9 points ahead of Russell Bobbitt, who was fifth overall at the Cherokee.

Bobbitt came into the event hot off of a podium finish at the previous round in Louisiana, but the FMF KTM Stock Racing-backed rider struggled with suspension system settings at the Cherokee and was obviously a bit off the pace.

“With the set up we had, I just wasn’t comfortable in certain of the tests, ” said Bobbitt. “I was riding within the comfort zone but I don’t think I rode up to my potential. We will just go back now and focus on our setup for the next circular and go from there. ”

Finishing a tenth of a second at the rear of Bobbitt in sixth was Cory Buttrick. The SRT Racing KTM rider was third fastest within test three, but tests 4 and fifth didn’t go properly for him. Heading into the 6th and final test, Buttrick had been 13 seconds behind Bobbitt to get fifth, and he ended up beating Bobbitt in the test, but came up just a tenth of a second brief, which left him with sixth.

Strong Performance KTM’s Jesse Groemm produced the long drive from Nj-new jersey to finish seventh, crossing the line the minute-and-twenty-seven seconds behind Buttrick.

Eighth overall and first in the Rekluse/Expert-AA course was Thorn Devlin, who has earned all four rounds in the division so far. The AirGroup/Enduro Engineering Husqvarna driver finished 27 seconds ahead of 8th place overall and five-minutes-and-seventeen-seconds in front of Logan Lowrey, the second place finisher in the Expert-AA class. AirGroup/Enduro Anatomist Husqvarna’s Tyler Vore was 3rd in the class and 16th general.

“I only went down once all day, but in the fourth test I broke from the end of my brake pedal at the start of the test so I had to ride most of the 12 miles with no rear brake, ” said Devlin.

KTM riders Evan Smith and Zach Hayes rounded out the top 10 overall.

In the Women’s Elite class, Aussie off-road superstar Tayla Jones claimed her 4th win of the series, putting the girl KR4 Arrive-n-Ride Husqvarna on top of the particular podium ahead of Husqvarna rider Dorothy Baldwin and KTM rider Ashley Copeland. Jones beat out Baldwin simply by almost nine minutes, while Copeland finished another five minutes back in 3rd.

The particular 2017 Kenda AMA National Enduro Series presented by Moose Race resumes action with round 5 of the series on July 23rd in Cross Fork, Pennsylvania for that Rattlesnake National Enduro. For more information over the series check out www.nationalenduro.com.

During the rider’s meeting, the NEPG held a flash of silence in remembrance of Dale “Cookie” Cooke, who died on June 1 from problems suffered during a bicycling accident. Cookie was a longtime member of the off-road community and most recently drove the particular off-road rig for Team KTM.

RESULTS

1. Thad DuVall (Hsq)




2. Steward Baylor Jr. (KTM)




3. Josh Toth (Yam)




4. Grant Baylor (Hsq)




5. Russell Bobbitt (KTM)




6. Cory Buttrick (KTM)




7. Jesse Groemm (KTM)




8. Thorn Devlin (Hsq)




9. Evan Smith (KTM)




10. Zach Hayes (KTM)

Overall Championship Standings

1. Steward Baylor Jr. (105)




2. Thad DuVall (97)




3. Grant Baylor (75)




4. Russell Bobbitt (66)




5. Cory Buttrick (65)




6. Kailub Russell (58)




7. Jesse Groemm (56)




8. Josh Toth (46)




9. Evan Cruz (35)




10. Thorn Devlin (34)