RYAN SIPES TAKES KENDA SPRINT ENDURO KICKOFF

Ryan Sipes Kicks Off Kenda Full Gas Sprint Enduro Season With Win At Moccasin Creek Opener

photos by Darrin Chapman

Having ridden very little during the weeks leading up to the Georgia race (his wife was expecting their third child), the former Supercross star and 2016 ISDE individual overall champion still managed to come out on top of a fierce battle with defending series champ Steward Baylor to claim the overall victory. It was a battle that shifted momentum several times during the weekend, however after two days of racing and 12 special tests, Sipes topped Baylor by just under 21 seconds to claim the first win of the new season.

Ryan Sipes “At the end of Day One, Stew was gaining on me, and he was obviously doing it in the Enduro test,” said Sipes. “So I walked that test a total of four times trying to figure out where he was gaining time on me and I think that made the difference.”

Steward Baylor came into the weekend carrying a lot of momentum after winning a national enduro the weekend before and is not at all to be counted out of the championship just yet.

After winning the second Enduro test on Saturday, Josh Strang pressured Sipes and Baylor during the early going. However, the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory rider struggled to find a comfortable set-up and finished the weekend in third overall, just 23 seconds off of Baylor’s pace.

Jordan Ashburn, who was a consistent podium finisher in 2017, spent the weekend adjusting to the sand. “We don’t have a lot of sand where I live, so we ended up learning a lot about our bike set-up,” said Ashburn. “We were close all weekend, just a second here and there. “

The Pro Podium- Baylor, Sipes and Strang

The Pro 2 podium was led by New Zealander Liam Draper.

OVERALL RESULTS

Ryan Sipes (Hsq)
Steward Baylor (KTM)
Josh Strang (Hsq)
Jordan Ashburn (Bet)
Evan Smith (Hsq)
Grant Baylor (KTM)
Layne Michael (Hsq)
Liam Draper (Hsq)