IRC Tires Endurocross Series Final Round | Trystan Hart is the Champ!
Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing) took the 2023 IRC Tires Endurocross Series championship here in Reno on night where you couldn’t have scripted the way things played out. Coming into the final round Jonny Walker held a seven point lead over Hart and a thirteen point lead over Colton Haaker. Walker had started the series perfectly over the first two rounds of the series, going 1-1-1/P1 in each to open up a commanding lead over the field. From that point on, though, Walker struggled. A lot. In Idaho for Rounds 3 and 4 he got into trouble in Moto 1 of the first night, and from that point on if there was trouble on the track Walker seemed to find it going P2/P4. In Oregon for Round 5, Walker struggled again but managed to salvage a P3. Hart, on the other hand, bounced back from a poor showing in Rounds 1 and 2 where he ended up P5 in both, and lagging 28 points behind Walker. With a suspension setting change after Round 2, and then choosing to skip the final round of the FIM Hard Enduro Championship in Germany, Hart turned his series around. He went P1 in Rounds 3/4, and P2 in Round 5 to close the gap to that seven point lead coming into the final in Reno. Haaker came roaring into the picture in Round 5, winning the night and putting himself in a position to have an outside shot at the championship. The bottom line, though, was that Walker still controlled his own fate in Reno. He just had to beat Hart and Haaker to take the win and repeat as the series champ.
IRC Tires Endurocross Series Presented by Progressive | RD 2 Recap
The second round of the 2023 IRC Endurocross Series, presented by Progressive, went off on Saturday night in Prescott, Arizona. Coming into this round the obvious question was if Jonny Walker (Beta USA/Leatt) could have another dominating night to extend his series lead. From the Canadian perspective, the story was about if 2022 Endurocross series champ Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing) could bounce back from a tough first round, where he placed P5. Other Canadian stories were if Spenser Wilton (HTR GasGas) and Branden Petrie (Sherco Enduro Racing) could push their way into the top 10 overall in the series, and if Melissa Harten (Beta Canada/Leatt) could beat Rachel Gutish to move into a tie for first overall in Pro Women.
Behind the Shot #1 | Jayden Riley (BFD Moto / Husqvarna Canada / TLD Canada)
Welcome to my ‘Behind the Shot Series’, where I look back at motocross and enduro photographs that I’ve taken (good and bad) to tell the story of the image. For this inaugural post I’m looking back to the start of the 2023 motocross season here in Calgary, Alberta, and this image of of Jayden Riley. Jayden is a young up-and-coming racer for BFD Moto, Husqvarna Canada, and Troy Lee Designs Canada.
To set the scene, this was at Round 1 of the BFD Moto Spring Super Series at the Wild Rose MX Association here in Calgary. The Spring series is a pretty big event here in Western Canada normally attracting 400+ riders to this iconic Canadian track. It’s a great opportunity to see professional and high-end amateur racers strut their stuff after spending time down in the US training during the winter, and to get the first indicators for performance expectations. The series runs 5 rounds over 3 weekends from late April to late May, and this year it would finish the week before Round 1 of the national Canadian Triple Crown Series.
Shooting Pro Hard Enduro: Red Bull Outliers - Prologue
Racing at the 2023 edition of Red Bull Outliers got started on Saturday, August 26th. For those who missed it in my previous Outliers blog post, the FIM explains Hard Enduro as become “one of the most challenging off-road motorcycle [disciplines] in existence.” In a nutshell, FIM Hard Enduro World Championships consist of an Enduro Cross style prologue and one or more stages of racing in extreme off-road environments. For Red Bull Outliers, the prologue would take place at Olympic Plaza in downtown Calgary, with the single Hard Enduro stage being run in the Badlands just north of Brooks in Steveville, Alberta (about 2.5 hours east of Calgary). I covered the pro riders’ track walk of the hard enduro track in my previous post, and will cover the hard enduro stage in my next one
IRC Endurocross Series Presented by Progressive | RD 1 Recap
The 2023 IRC Endurocross Series, presented by Progressive, opened tonight in Everett, WA, at the Angel of the Winds Arena. Coming into the series, Canadian eyes were on #84 Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing) after his second-place overall finish to Jonny Walker in the 2022 series, and with his strong first half of the 2023 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship.