JOHNNY GIRROIR TAKES THE PEARL’S POND U.S. SPRINT ENDURO

Girroir Wins at Pearl’s Pond Farm US Sprint Enduro Presented by Moose Racing

Story and photos: Shan Moore

“Yesterday was a nail-biter,” said Girroir. “Gus was ripping. He had me by twelve seconds going into the last test. Unfortunately, he had a crash, and I kept it on two wheels and had my best enduro test of the day and took the overall by just a little bit.”

FMF/KTM’s Johnny Girroir came out on top of a two-day battle with RPM Racing KTM’s Angus Riordan and Babbitts Online Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Lyndon Snodgrass to claim the overall win at this weekend’s Pearl’s Pond Farm Sprint Enduro, round five of the US Sprint Enduro Series Presented by Moose Racing in Arvonia, Virginia.

In all, Girroir won six of the twelve tests over the weekend and eventually topped Angus Riordan by 28 seconds to take the win. The Connecticut rider also won both individual days, beating Riordan by just 1.4 seconds on Saturday. Riordan went into the final test on Saturday with a 12-second lead over Girroir, but an unfortunate crash cost the Aussie 13 seconds and the KTM rider went down to defeat to Girroir.

Angus Riordan:”I was fairly comfortable and I think I had a twelve-second lead on the overall coming into the last test, but I just had a stupid little mistake, which cost me the overall. I hit a root. It was running diagonal across, parallel to the rut. I tried getting out of the rut earlier, and the rest is history.”

Riordan, who won three tests in total (all on Saturday) was second overall and first in the Pro 2 division, despite having a rough day on Sunday. Riordan was second behind Girroir on Saturday, but finished fourth on Sunday. Babbitt’s Online Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Lyndon Snodgrass, who was riding his first sprint enduro in two years, was third on Saturday and third on Sunday (behind Girroir and FXR/GasGas’ Layne Michael) for third overall for the weekend, three seconds behind Riordan.

Lyndon Snodgrass: “I started off a little slow after yesterday morning, but picked up the pace, although I wasn’t quite with Johnny or Gus,” said Snodgrass. “Today started off good. Got the first cross test win and then was sort of just a little bit off Johnny again today. But all in all, it was a good weekend of racing.”

Phoenix Honda Racing’s Ruy Barbosa, of Chile, was second in the Pro 2 class with a fifth overall. Barbosa’s Phoenix Honda Racing teammate Cody Barnes rounded out the Pro 2 podium with a sixth overall finish after getting off to a rough start. Yamaha’s Zach Osborne made his return to racing after injuring his elbow early in the year, however, the AmPro Yamaha rider injured his ankle and DNFed the race to get it checked out.

In the Women’s Pro division, Enduro Engineering GasGas’ Mackenzie Tricker put a whoopin’ on the field, taking the overall win by three minutes after winning 11 of 12 tests.

US SPRINT ROUND 5 OVERALL RESULTS

Johnny Girroir (KTM)
Angus Riordan (KTM)
Lyndon Snodgrass (Kaw)
Layne Michael (GG)
Ruy Barbosa (Hon)
Cody Barnes (Hon)
Dominick Morse (Hsq)
Jason Tino (Hsq)
Chase Colville (Kaw)
Ben Nelko (KTM)