ROUND 5 RACE REPORT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.
PRESS RELEASE
Michael Aces Hidden Valley Golf Course Sprint
Enduro
Glen Daniel, WV (May 29-30, 2021) – AmPro Yamaha’s
Layne Michael claimed his third win in a row in the
Kenda US Sprint Enduro Series victory with a
dominating performance at this weekend’s Hidden
Valley Golf Course Sprint Enduro, round five of the
series in Glen Daniel, West Virginia, and by doing so
wrapped up the Pro championship with one round
remaining on the schedule.
Rain off and on all weekend made for a very slippery
course, but Michael was unfazed, winning nine of the
12 tests (all six on Saturday and three on Sunday) to
outdistance runner-up Thad DuVall (Rockstar Energy
Husqvarna) by 49 seconds over the course of the two-
day event.
“To win the championship is pretty cool,” said Michael.
“I’ve been chasing a professional championship for a
while now, so this is a stepping stone. I’ve been close.
Last year I was close with Kailub, I just struggled in the
beginning of the season and wasn’t there, but at the end
I was battling for wins. I knew coming into this year this
was definitely one I was wanting to wrap up. To get it
done a round early is pretty cool.”
After an extended time off the bike due to injury, Duvall
has been riding himself back into form during the last
few weeks and looked especially good on Sunday,
where he won two of the enduro tests.
“I rode much better weekend this weekend, especially
today; I felt like I kept Layne pretty honest today.
Yesterday he was hammering us in the cross test,” said
DuVall. “I feel like I’m getting more comfortable riding
that edge that it takes to win these things. I just kind of
found some lines this morning and went with them and
they worked out pretty good.”
Johnny Girroir wrapped up the Pro2 title a race early
with a third overall. The Coastal Racing GasGas rider
swept all 12 tests in the Pro2 division and even won the
final cross test outright against the Pros.
“It feels good, a big weight lifted off my shoulders,” said
Girroir. “I’m excited to be a back-to-back champ in
sprint racing. I really enjoy this kind of racing. I kind of
was struggling in the grass track a little bit. Kind of just
fighting myself. But the last grass test, I aced it. I did it
as perfect as I could. I actually ended up getting the
overall win on that last grass test, so that felt really
good.”
Tely Energy KTM’s Liam Draper was third in the Pro
division and fourth overall. Draper was in the hunt all
weekend for second overall, mixing it up with DuVall
and Girroir.
“Layne put it to us again, but me and Thad were like one
second apart in some tests,” said Draper. “I crashed in
the first enduro test today and then crashed again,
which cost me a lot of time. So it was a rough today but I
was still close and I was happy with the last test for the
day.”
As usual, Ben Nelko was super-fast in the cross test, but
this weekend the Seven Sixty Racing Husqvarna rider
found his groove in the enduro test, which propelled
him to fifth overall and second in the Pro2 division.
“I finally figured out the enduro test,” said Nelko. “I’ve
been working with Stew Baylor at the Shoals MX a lot,
focusing on the woods more than riding moto like I’ve
been in the past. It was good. I know that I’m always
going to be solid on the cross test, so we just worked the
woods mainly and it worked out. It was a good
weekend.”
Rounding out the Pro2 podium with sixth overall was
Max Sports/FXR/Husqvarna’s Evan Smith, who was
racing his first sprint enduro in two years.
“It was good returning to the sprint format,” said Smith.
“They’re a lot higher intensity than I was ready for. I
haven’t done anything like this practicing in two years
since I raced them. So it was a bit of a learning curve. I
got a lot better towards the end of the weekend, but I
fell down a few times and came out of some tests not
breathing that heavy, knowing I didn’t try hard enough.
But all in all, it was really fun.”
Second in points in the Pro2 division, Trail Jesters
Racing KTM’s Jesse Ansley was disappointed in fourth
in class and seventh overall.
“Definitely not the greatest, that’s for sure but we lived
to see another day,” said Ansley. “I’ve just got to get
better at slick conditions. I’m still sitting second in
points right now and it’s getting pretty close to the last
round, but we’ll go back and regroup and just try to
figure it out.”
Brendon Poling made his first appearance of the year
and came away with fifth in the Pro2 class and eighth
overall on a Kawasaki.
Meanwhile, Coastal Racing
GasGas’ Cole Whitmer was top Amateur in ninth overall
and first in the 250 A class despite hitting a tree in the
final test of the weekend and injuring his knee.
“I was trying to ride high on a bank and kind of lost
traction and my rear end started going down towards a
tree and kind of split it right in the middle and wrapped
my leg around the tree,” said Whitmer. “I pretty much
rode solid all day, except for that last test crash.”
West Virginia rider Tyler Braniff rounded out the top 10
overall and first in Open A on a Yamaha.
Dalton Seals (Yam) took top honors in the Pro-Am class
after sweeping all 12 tests. Seals topped runner-up Zach
Nash (KTM) by 1:32, while Earl Luhn III was third, just
over two minutes back.
Bandy Richards (KTM) travelled all the way from
Arizona to win the Pro Women’s class. It was her first
race on the east coast in over a year.
“I was a little nervous coming in because I saw there
was rain,” said Richards. “Back west we don’t have rain,
so it’s all dry and dusty. I was a little nervous but
excited to get the time in in the mud. The first enduro
test was a little hectic. I got a little stuck on some tree
roots and stuff and just kind of getting used to the slick,
tight stuff really. Just kind of progressed throughout the
weekend. Day two, today, I felt phenomenal all day,
really, especially in the woods. I was just picking up
some good speed, getting a lot more comfortable in that
slick stuff. So I’m extremely happy with how the
weekend went.”
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Tayla Jones was second,
which was good enough to clinch the Pro Women’s
championship.
Rachel Archer wrapped her AmPro Yamaha around a
tree in the first test and rode the remainder of the event
with a bent bike to finish third, with Allie Spurgeon
(Hsq) and Britney Gallegos rounding out the top five.
Cole Forbes was the class of the morning Youth races,
taking a dominating win in the Super Mini Sr. (14-15)
80-112cc Two-stroke/75-150cc Four-stroke class. The
KTM rider won all 12 tests in his class.
Best in the Super Mini Jr (12-13) 80-112cc two-
stroke/75-150cc four-stroke class was Peyton Feather
on a KTM.
KTM rider Jonathan Snyder took first in the 85 SR (12-
15) 66-85cc Two-stroke/75-125cc Four-stroke class.
HONERABLE MENTION:
Cade Henderson competed in the ISDE Qualifier in Alabama on Friday and then drove all the way to race Round 5 of US Sprint Enduro! WAY TO GET AFTER IT Cade!
MICROS HAD A ROUGH GO ON THE SLICK TESTS
The Kenda US Sprint Enduro Series resumes on July 17-
18 for the sixth and final round of its series at the
Wassell Works Sprint Enduro in Westernport,
Maryland.
For more information on the Kenda US Sprint
Enduro Series go to www.ussprintenduro.com
OVERALL RESULTS
- Layne Michael (Yam)
- Thad DuVall (Hsq)
- Johnny Girroir (GG)
- Liam Draper (KTM)
- Ben Nelko (Hsq)
- Evan Smith (Hsq)
- Jesse Ansley (KTM)
- Brendon Poling (Kaw)
- Cole Whitmer (GG)
- Tyler Braniff (Yam)
- RESULTS FOUND HERE
