THE WEEKLY FEED: SPRINT ENDURO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP • INCREDIBLE HARD ENDURO VIDEO • YAMAHA IT 200 BITD

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Mike Webb testing a 1985 Yamaha IT200 for Dirt Bike magazine. This was shot at Indian Dunes (Wolf’s FM2 Nikon) in the Santa Clara river and was in the early stages of the editors using fill flash for outdoor action. The machine was new, the engine moved from the 175 size to a full 200. This was done with a longer stroke, which made for better bottom power which proved crucial on the small bore machine. A new frame had the steering head mounted 20mm rearward than the 175, and a 20mm longer swingarm which equaled the same wheelbase, but with a more forward weight bias which dramatically improved the steering. It sold for $1749.00

SPRINT ENDURO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

By Shan Moore

Johnny Girroir: “I felt at home in the woods, as I always do. I kept it consistent and was lucky enough to keep it on two wheels all weekend. I definitely need to clean it up in the cross test. I just wasn’t happy out there. I had a couple good times but nothing crazy. So, I definitely want to work on that a little bit. I had fun. Layne and Dante were flying out in the cross test and Josh laid down a couple of heater enduro tests. Just I guess consistency paid off and I kept it on two wheels.”

The Sprint Enduro World championships, a 3-day event held at High Voltage Raceway on the Pennsylvania/West Virginia State Line featured top sprint racers in the world, including 2016 Individual Overall ISDE Champion Taylor Robert, former World Enduro Champion Jack Edmondson and Pro 2 rider Jay Baxendale of the UK. They showed up to battle it out in a format that included four runs daily on two tests (a beautiful grass track and a rugged enduro test) over the three-day Labor Day weekend.

Layne Michael definitely showed his speed in the cross test, winning three of the 12, but just couldn’t catch Girroir in the enduro test. “Honestly, it came down to one crash in the enduro test yesterday and that’s where I lost the bulk of my time,” said Michael.

After three days of racing FMF/KTM Factory Racing’s KTM’s Johnny Girroir emerged the winner, topping FXR/KTM’s Layne Michael by just 15 seconds after completing 24 tests. FMF/KTM Factory racer Dante Oliveira kicked off the event by taking a six-second win over Girroir in the opening cross test. Michael was five seconds back in third, with Enduro Engineering/GasGas’ Josh Toth another second back. The battle for the win between these four riders would last all three days.

Dante went on to win two of the final three cross tests on day one but lost time to his competitors in the enduro tests, while Girroir made up the difference with dominating wins in three of the four enduro tests to pull out the day-one win by five seconds over a fast and consistent Michael, winner of the second cross test. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Craig DeLong was a consistent third for the day, with Dante, Toth (who won the final Enduro test), and FMF/KTM Factory racer Mateo Oliveira rounding out the top six to complete the first-day results. The UK’s Jack Edmondson (Tely Racing KTM) was the top Pro 2 rider in 11^th overall, while first in the Pro-Am class went to Magna1 Husqvarna’s Jason Tino in eighth overall.

This was only the second sprint race Josh Toth had raced all year, but he managed to get up to speed by the second day. “It was a blast,” said Toth. “ I was a little rusty and just pushing the edge and crashing too much on day one. I dug myself out of the hole yesterday and just tried to survive the tests today. Rode pretty well, but they were getting nasty and these guys were shredding.”

Though he won just two tests on day two (Sunday), Girroir remained on top of the standings, while Michael and Dante Oliveira showed their prowess on the cross test, with each winning two of the four for the day. Dante was also consistently one of the fastest on the cross test (in fact, he posted the fastest times of the weekend) but fell in the second cross test.

Tenth overall and top Pro 2 rider was former World Champion Jack Edmondson of the UK.

Day three would see Dante win all four cross tests, although a crash in the first enduro test cost him nearly two minutes. Michael also topped Girroir in all four cross tests, however, Girroir would make up the difference in the enduro test, ending the three days with a 15-second advantage over Michael with Toth in third.

Overall Results

Johnny Girroir (KTM) 2. Layne Michael (GG) 3. Josh Toth (GG) 4. Craig DeLong (Hsq) 5. Ryder Lafferty (GG)
6. Dante Oliveira (KTM) 7. Trevor Bollinger (Hsq) 8. Mateo Oliveira (KTM) 9. Taylor Robert (KTM) 10. Jack Edmondson (KTM)

RANDOM SHOTS

Danny LaPorte racing a very stock looking YZ250 at the 1984 Paris Supercross. After winning the 250 World Championship in 1982, he lost out to his friend Georges Jobe in 1983, moved up to the open class in 1984, but struggled with his equipment. The Paris Supercross was an invitational and many ‘American’ riders had to borrow machines to compete. The French magazine Moto Vert and Moto Revue often times lent their test bikes out to star racers for the event. How many times do you see a World Champion running a stock pipe?

SOCIAL DISTORTION

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VIDEO JUKEBOX

Red Bull Outliers race recap- typically killer stuff from Red Bull!

This is from Spenser Wilton and documents his weekend at the Red Bull Outliers Hard Enduro. It has Spenser moving through the Prologue and into the main event which featured zero traction and mongo hills. Good job Spenser!

GEAR BAG

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WOLF: BACK IN THE DAY

Here we are up in Gorman, CA- testing the new 1984 Honda XR500R. This was a much improved machine, it had lost some suet, had improved Showa suspension, a dual carb setup to improve and smooth the power and had a radial 4-valve combustion chamber for enhanced compression. The power was tractable and strong, starting was still an issue (at least for a guy who had only spent 4-stroke time on his CB160) and despite the diet, it was still a beefy sucker to manhandle slamming the scales at just under 300 pounds. At the time I was racing a 1983 CR480 in District 37 Enduros and loved it!