KTM’S JOHNNY GIRROIR TAKES GEORGIA US SPRINT ENDURO

Story and photos by Shan Moore

FMF/KTM’s Johnny Girroir dominated this weekend’s Mac Daddy’s XC Paradise US Sprint Enduro in Hephzibah, Georgia, beating out Coastal Racing GasGas’ Thad DuVall by 49.5 seconds after 12 tests during two days of racing, to win round two of the 2023 US Sprint Enduro Series presented by Moose Racing in Hephzibah, Georgia.

Thad DuVall: “This was a lot better than round one. I just needed to be more comfortable being uncomfortable. I went back to Kailub Russell’s place in Florida and just learned how to go fast.”

 

Saturday’s and Sunday’s events couldn’t have been more different. Although it rained on both days, the sandy soil soaked up the rain on Saturday and made for perfect dirt for racing. While on Sunday, the sand had apparently taken all it could handle from Saturday’s precipitation, and more rain on Sunday turned the final day of racing into a slippery affair.

DuVall kept Girroir honest all day, barely losing out by mere seconds to the KTM rider in several tests, but by the end of the day, Girroir held a 19.4-second lead over DuVall to take Saturday’s win, with Pro 2 rider, Phoenix Honda Racing’s Cody Barnes holding down third overall, another 33.6 seconds back.

“It’s a handful,” Toth said of the two-stroke 250 GasGas. “I started to figure it out by the end of today, I feel like and making some adjustments, but it’s a handful. Out of the corner, it rips and when I hit the next corner I can’t stop.” Toth was the only rider to beat Girroir in a test.

 

Even though Toth won one of the Enduro tests on Sunday, Girroir still topped the day by 30 seconds over DuVall, with Barnes in third, 15 seconds behind DuVall. Phoenix Honda Racing’s Ruy Barbosa and Toth were fourth and fifth.

 

“Conditions were a 180 from Saturday,” said third-overall and Pro 2 winner Cody Barnes.  “Yesterday was real fast and sandy and today was slick with lot of ruts and a lot of feet off the pegs.”

 

In overall scoring, Girroir was the clear winner, beating out DuVall by 49.4 seconds, with Barnes winning the Pro 2 division with a third-overall finish., another 49 seconds behind.  Missing from the event was AmPro Yamaha’s Zach Osborne, who announced on social media that he had broken his elbow earlier in the week and had to have surgery.

The lead swapped in nearly every test in the stacked Pro-Am division, however, in the end, Precision Offroad Racing’s Dominik Morse built a dominating lead in the first four tests of Day Two, landing on top of the box at the end of the weekend. Morse also finished sixth overall.

Rachel Archer: “Me and Kenzie were pretty tight all day yesterday (Saturday),”So, I knew today was going to be a long day, but, unfortunately, she crashed. It sucks to see a friend go down, but I hope she heals quickly.”

 

AmPro Yamaha’s Rachel Archer topped the Women’s Pro class after going 2-1 over the course of the two-day event. Enduro Engineering GasGas’ Mackenzie Tricker beat Archer in a close race on Saturday by a mere .6-seconds. However, Tricker fell near the start of test one on Sunday, injuring her collarbone and was forced to drop out, leaving Archer a clear way to victory on Sunday, including the overall win.

OVERALL RESULTS

  1. Johnny Girroir (KTM)
  2. Thad DuVall (GG)
  3. Cody Barnes (Hon)
  4. Josh Toth (GG)
  5. Angus Riordan (KTM)
  6. Dominick Morse (Hsq)
  7. Jason Tino (Hsq)
  8. Nicholas DeFeo (Kaw)
  9. Gavis Simon (Hsq)
  10. Cade Henderson (KTM)
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