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ANDREW DELONG CLAIMS VICTORY FOR ROCKSTAR ENERGY HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING AT THE SANDLAPPER NATIONAL ENDURO JOSH STRANG FINISHES 6TH OVERALL Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Andrew DeLong put in an impressive ride at the second National Enduro of the 2015 season. Cold, rainy weather and slick sand made for a tough day of racing in Pelion, South Carolina, but that didn’t stop DeLong from overcoming and winning four of the six tests. “It was a good day. I felt like I rode awesome and was one of my best rides of my career. I ended up winning by almost a full minute,” explained DeLong. “The track was super muddy and it was a tough day but I was able to keep up long enough to win. I am happy to get my Husqvarna FC 350 back on the podium.” Josh Strang of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing made progress throughout the day finishing 6th overall, a mild improvement on last week’s 7th place. “Today was good. I placed top three in one of the tests but I’m still learning,” explained Strang. “I look forward to improving week after week,” said Strang. Overall Results Series Points
Baylor Carries Kenda AMA National Enduro Series Points Lead Into Sandlapper Enduro The 2015 Kenda AMA National Enduro Series makes a stop on March 1st in Pelion, South Carolina for the Sandlapper National Enduro, round two of the 10-round off-road series where Steward Baylor will try to continue the momentum he generated by winning the series opener on February 1st in Sumter, South Carolina. Baylor now holds a five-point lead in the series standings, and will once again have the benefit of competing in a hometown race in South Carolina. In addition, since he won the previous round in Sumter, the MotoTech KTM rider will be starting from row 21. Kailub Russell will be looking to improve on the runner-up finish he claimed in Sumter, where the FMF/KTM rider barely missed out on the victory after topping two of the six tests. MotoSport.com Am Pro Yamaha’s Brad Bakken, who was third in Sumter, will also be looking to unseat Baylor on his Yamaha YZ250FX. Defending series champ Andrew DeLong will be looking to make amends for his eight-place finish at the series opener. The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing-backed Pennsylvania rider was running as high as second in Sumter, but struggled in the final two tests and dropped out of contention for the win. Meanwhile, FMF/KTM’s Russell Bobbitt was steady and consistent en route to fourth at the opener in his first national appearance back with KTM after stints with Husaberg and Husqvarna. The four-time champ is a previous winner at the Sandlapper Enduro and is certain to be in the hunt for a win next Sunday. In the Beta USA camp, Jesse Groemm, last year’s number two rider, will be ready to go this weekend after dropping out of the Sumter race with a mild concussion. Meanwhile, Greomm’s teammate, Cory Buttrick, will be attempting to improve on his fifth-place finish at round one. You can’t rule out up-and-comer Ryder Lafferty as a podium contender either. The New Jersey rider will be the lone rider in the AirGroup Racing Husqvarna camp this weekend, now that Nick Fahringer is on the mend after having knee surgery. In the Rekluse Expert-AA class, which is designed as a stepping-stone for riders hoping to move into the highly competitive Pro division, Zack Hayes took the win at Sumter, followed by Drew Higgins and Ryan Belue. This class gives a good look at the future stars of the Pro class, and is always one of the most competitive classes. The Rekluse Expert-AA series will pay a year-end purse for the top finishers based on a riders overall final standings in the class. No less then 720 riders pre-entered the Sandlapper race, as the series enjoys record-breaking popularity in 2015. An eye-popping 820 riders competed in the Sumter race, which was a series record. No doubt, there will be plenty of exciting action this weekend. Racing begins at 9:00 am on Sunday, but there will be plenty to do and see on Saturday, as well, with KTM hosting a demo ride during the day. There will also be plenty of opportunities to get rider autographs, including Mike Lafferty, who retired from race in 2014, but is working with KTM and the NEPG at all of the Kenda AMA National Enduro races. Besides featuring a lot of sand with some black loamy dirt thrown in, this year’s event will be staged all on private property. Proceeds of the race helps keep Hollowcreek Volunteer Fire Dept funded. Don’t forget about the Yamaha Power Equipment giving away. Yamaha will give away one of their top of the line pressure washers to the rider that earns the most series points in one class after the first 5 rounds of the 2015 KENDA AMA National Enduro Series presented by Moose Racing. In the event that there is a tie, those rider’s names will be placed in a hat and the winner will be drawn. The pressure washer will be presented to the winning rider at the riders meeting of the 6th round in Upton WY, you must be present to win and cannot combine points from multiple classes. For more info on the 2015 Kenda AMA National Enduro Series check out www.nationalenduro.com
Baylor
Opens Enduro Series With Win In South Carolina Steward Baylor topped a massive field of off-road competitors this weekend, taking an impressive win at the opening round of the 2015 Kenda AMA National Enduro Series in Sumter, South Carolina. A record turnout of 825 riders took to Sumter’s tight and sandy trails, and after 65 miles of racing, Baylor held off a last minute challenge by FMF/KTM’s Kailub Russell to take the overall victory by 13 seconds. Baylor’s win was significant in that the 2012 series champion is returning to action this year after spending all of last year recovering from injury. “It’s been a long time coming,” said Baylor. “This is where I’ve wanted to be since 2012, to be on top of the box. The day started out pretty rough, but I just kept pushing and it paid off.” Baylor got off to a rough start in test one, losing valuable time when he crashed midway into the test. However, the Mototech KTM rider quickly regained his footing with a solid win in test two, finishing 10 seconds ahead of 2014 champ Andrew DeLong. In all, Baylor won only two of the six tests on the day, however, consistency paid off in the long run for the South Carolina rider, and he collected to first victory of the 2015 season. Russell finished up the event with an impressive ride for second place, although he had his ups and downs. On the “up” side, Russell was fastest in the first and last tests of the day. However, a crash in test two left the North Carolina rider 10th fastest for the test. Russell was sixth fastest in test three, but then he started to pick up the pace and was second to Motosport Yamaha’s Brad Bakken in tests four and five. A win in the final test allowed Russell to move ahead of Motosport Yamaha’s Brad Bakken for second. “It was good, bad and ugly,” said Russell. “I didn’t really get going until the end of the third test, and then I felt like I had a good rhythm.” Bakken rounded out the podium, finishing just five seconds behind Russell. Bakken also got off to a slow start but came on strong in the middle part of the race before a bad final test stopped his momentum. Fourth went to four-time champ Russell Bobbitt, who is back on KTM after spending the last few years on Husaberg and Husqvarna. The FMF/KTM rider lost considerable time in test four when he took a tumble and bent his controls, but came back with some good rides in the final two tests. Beta USA’s Cory Buttrick turned in his best performance in a couple of years with a solid fifth place finish, while Chris Bach made a rare national enduro appearance to claim sixth, edging out Rockstar Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Josh Strang by just two seconds. Defending series champ Andrew DeLong ran in second place for most of the day, but a pair of devastating finishes in the final two tests dropped the Rockstar Husqvarna Factory Racing-backed rider all the way down into eighth for the day. Meanwhile, Am Pro Yamaha’s Grant Baylor and AirGroup Racing’s Ryder Lafferty rounded out the top 10. Australian off-road star Daniel Milner was expected to do well in Sumter, however, the Am Pro Yamaha rider ran out of fuel in test one when a mechanic forgot to fuel his bike, and he was not able to start the second test. Zach Hayes won the Rekluse Expert-AA division, which is considered a stepping-stone for young riders hoping to move into the Pro ranks. The South Carolina rider was seventh fastest in the fifth test and he beat out fellow KTM rider Drew Higgins by three minutes and 49 second for the AA-Expert class-win. He also finished 12th in the final overall standings. “I was really tight in the first test, and in test two I went over the bars, but then I start getting it together and rode strong for the rest of the race,” said Hayes. Higgins had to overcome arm pump to finish second, while Motosport Yamaha’s Ryan Belue was 23 seconds back in third.
Results |
The
Kenda AMA National Enduro Series resumes action with round two of the series
on March 1st in Pelion, South Carolina. For more info on the series check
out