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Donner Hard Enduro Photos Mary Rinell Louise Forsley Wins the West, Finishes P1 at Donner Hard Enduro. Cody Webb Wins the West with a P2 Donner Finish. Keith Curtis 7th Hot and dry conditions met riders for the Donner Hard Enduro which was the final leg of the Kenda AMA Extreme Off-Road series Western leg. Louise Forsley had wrapped up the women's pro Western #1 plate even before they lined up to race this weekend. Even so, she went out and capped off the tour of the West with another decisive victory and finishing 32nd overall. With that, she is also the mathematical champion of the entire series. Cody Webb was crowned King of the West with his P2 finish. He had three wins and two second place finishes to FMF KTM's Trystan Hart who had three seconds and two wins. The final Western points tally was 140 for Webb with 135 for Hart. The overall championship is up for grabs however with Hart gaining a four-point advantage after this weekend. The final two Eastern rounds will determine both the East champion as well as men's overall. Keith Curtis had another strong run on his Sherco finishing P8 for the weekend.
Sunday's race would be a four-hour marathon. Cody Webb simply described it as "terrible" and "not fun" for him personally. This was simply due to the conditions over the four hours and the intensity in which he needed to sustain over that time. Cody Webb: "That was miserable. It completely beat me down. Not because it was so technical, but because it felt like I was sprinting in a four plus hour marathon."
Louise Forsley: "Today really pushed me both mentally and physically. In enjoyed the course a great deal. It was hard, but manageable at the same time, which was appealing to me. Racing for four and a half hours in the heat and elevation was a mental battle. My first lap was rough. I had bent my rotor and thus, Kylee passed me about half way so I was behind her for awhile. I heard I was down more than 6 minutes at a checkpoint. I was able to fix my rotor and then was able to find my flow on lap two. Somewhere in there I managed to make up that time and then put a gap on her. When I went out for my 3rd lap, I wasn't quite sure how far I could make it under the time limit. I just kept pushing and was able to complete a 3rd. I was really happy to have gotten in the 3rd lap and finishing 32 overall."
The men's championship will come down to the last two races of the year. Cody Webb will need to finish ahead of Trystan Hart in both races to win the overall championship. The kicker in all of this is that all riders get scored on nine of their ten best races. Cody's worst finish is third while Trystan's is a second. We are going to leave that math up to the AMA. The final two rounds are Bad Medicine at Fallen Timbers in Ohio, which is this coming weekend. The Battle of the Goats in NC is on August seventh and eighth. Cody will be flying to Romania to compete in Romaniacs between those two races, so he will have a full plate until penultimate race at the Tennessee Knockout, which is not part of the Kenda AMA Extreme series, but rather a stand-alone grand championship and part of the world hard enduro series. |
Saturday
would have the pro men and women lining up in rows of five to determine
Sunday's starting order. Le cours du jour was a healthy serving of deep
silty sand, granite and temperatures in the upper 90's. This meant a top
five result was crucial to minimize the riders time in the dusty conditions
the next day. Cody Webb would lead early, but the fast and relatively easy
conditions would ultimately have him finish P3, good enough for a row one
start. Keith Curtis would have to fight through the dust that was thrown up
for the rows before him. He would have to settle for a P11 finish that put
him on row three. Louise Forsley set the time standard for the women.
Cody
on winning the AMA Western #1 Plate: "Honestly it doesn't mean much to
me. That was never the goal. The goal has always been the overall and I am
in a dogfight right now. I have two races left to obtain that goal. I am
going to give it everything I have."
Louise
on winning the #1 Western and clinching the overall: "It was my goal to
improve my off-road skills this year and improve my standing in the
championship. Between trials competitions and a being so run down at the end
of last year, I decided to skip a few rounds to focus on my health, and with
that, I didn't get to contend for the overall last year. I feel as though I
put together a great program with lots of focus and I was able to execute
this year. I want to thank Cody Richelderfer for always having my bike in
prime condition. I also want to thank Sherco USA for the opportunity to
represent the brand."