Thad DuVall Wrangles Rattlesnake Enduro

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Thad DuVall required control of the overall point standings in the Kenda AMA National Enduro Collection after claiming a dramatic come-from-behind victory at this weekend’s Rattlesnake Enduro – round five of the collection in Cross Fork, Pennsylvania.

After getting off to a bad start in test a single, N-Fab/Am Pro Yamaha’s Josh Toth led much of the day’s race thanks to wins in tests 3 and four, however DuVall plus teammate Josh Strang came on strong in the final two lab tests, dropping Toth to third in the final results and giving Husqvarna a 1-2 sweep of the podium. Strang won the fifth test and really led DuVall heading into the sixth and final test of the day, but DuVall turned in a brilliant performance to complete off the final eight-mile test about 17 seconds faster than Strang for the win. In the end, DuVall received the event by seven seconds over Strang.

The Rattlesnake Enduro is considered probably the most technical on the schedule with it’s rocky terrain, and hard rainfall on Saturday made for an even harder event on Sunday, which ended up being an advantage for DuVall.

“I started out great, but I struggled halfway to the event and Toth was putting it on us, ” mentioned DuVall. “I just wasn’t using like I know I can. I think I was thinking too much about winning the race, so before test 5 I just told myself to relax plus ride and that made all the distinction. ”

DuVall only won a single test all day (the final test), however consistent times throughout the day (plus the win in the final test) gave him the victory and boosted him to the top of the series point standings. The win was DuVall’s third in a row.

For Fluss, the runner-up finish marked the particular Aussie off-road star’s first podium of the season.

“For sure, this was a better day for me, ” said Strang. “I think the biggest thing had been my foot is finally cured up and in these rocky problems you need to use your feet a lot to get via a lot of the sections. I’ve already been practicing enduro a lot at home, and i believe the combination of the two made the in today’s results. ”

Toth looked unbeatable at the halfway mark, but the Connecticut rider wasn’t able match the speed of DuVall plus Strang in the final two checks.

“I had a tip-over in the first ensure that you I knocked my front brake lever down and I struggled because one, but we came back plus won some tests and that shifted me to the front, ” said Toth. “I was in contention for the win and I was leading proceeding into the final two tests, but I had a couple of tip-overs, but We still felt I rode nicely. I’m not sure where I dropped my time to Thad and Josh but I was pretty bummed to drop back to third. ”

Fourth was SRT Racing KTM’s Steward Baylor Jr., who came into the event holding the series point lead. Baylor struggled all day with an infection in his knee and eventually finished 27 seconds at the rear of Toth.

“Everything that could go wrong went incorrect, ” said Baylor. “With Fluss and Toth finishing between me personally and Thad, that gave Thad the points lead and I am pretty bummed about that. I’m still dealing with the effects of the Epstein Barr virus and that makes me susceptible to infections and I injured my leg recently and now it’s infected and it also just bothered me all day. ”

Trail Jesters KTM Racing’s Ben Kelley used his rock-riding skills to circular out the top five. The Connecticut rider was second fastest within the third and sixth tests plus finished just seven seconds off of Baylor.

Solid Performance KTM’s Jesse Groemm kicked off the second half of the very best 10 with a sixth place finish. The New Jersey rider edged SRT Racing KTM’s Cory Buttrick by a tenth of a second for the place.

8th went to KR4 Husqvarna’s Grant Baylor, while KTM riders Russell Bobbitt and Ryder Lafferty rounded away the top 10.

With four rounds left over, DuVall now leads Baylor by four points (127 to 123), with Grant Baylor in 3rd with 88 points.

On a side note, eight-time national enduro champion Mike Lafferty came out of professional retirement to race the Rattlesnake Enduro on KTM’s 1090R Adventure bike. It was fairly cool seeing the eight-time national champion wrestling the 500-something pound. bike through the slimy rocks plus through the deep ruts to a nineteenth place finish in the Pro division.

“It took a section to kind of negotiate in, but once I got heading I started feeling comfortable on it, ” said Lafferty. “Later in the race I would find myself actually getting on it, but then I would strike a hole and I would have to remind myself that I was riding the 500-lb. motorcycle and I better back again it down a little. ”

In the Rekluse Expert-AA class, Thorn Devlin remains perfect after claiming his 5th win of the season. The AirGroup Enduro Engineering Husqvarna rider earned four of the six tests and beat fellow New Englander plus Yamaha rider Hunter Bush simply by two minutes and 25 seconds.

“It was a hectic day, ” mentioned Devlin. “I don’t feel like We rode my best today however it was still good enough for the win and I have to be happy with that. ”

Kyle Tino finished third on a KTM another 14 seconds behind Bush.

Such as Devlin, Tyla Jones also remained perfect, claiming a fifth-straight win in the Women’s Elite division after beating KTM rider Kiersten McDonal by a little over 25 a few minutes despite hitting the ground a couple of times. Jones rode from row 79 and had to deal with a deeply rutted course.

“The ruts gave me trouble and I slipped on the roots a couple of times because when I got to them they were dug up and sticking quite a ways from the ground, ” said Jones.

Over 500 riders competed in the Rattlesnake Enduro, which is organized by the Brandywine Enduro Riders. BER did an amazing work with this year’s event and it has become a mainstay of the national enduro routine.

The Kenda AMA National Enduro Series resumes action on August twentieth for the Muddobbers National Enduro in Matthews, Indiana, which is round six of the series. For more information go to www.nationalenduro.com.

RESULTS

1. Thad DuVall (Hsq)




2. Josh Strang (Hsq)




3. Josh Toth (Yam)




4. Steward Baylor Jr. (KTM)




5. Ben Kelley (KTM)




6. Jesse Groemm (KTM)




7. Cory Buttrick (KTM)




8. Grant Baylor (Hsq)




9. Russell Bobbitt (KTM)




10. Ryder Lafferty (KTM)