THEE WEEKLY FEED: HOLIDAY SPECIAL! LOT’S OF DIRT, BLACKWATER BITD, ROCZEN BITD, WOLF BITD

BLAST FROM THE PAST

THE BLACKWATER 100 • The Woodstock of Off-road racing • Thousands in attendance • A smattering of them may not pass a Breathalyzer test • The Highway 93 Crossing was the mosh pit • It solidified Dave Coombs and his vision to promote hard-core off-road into legendary status.

NEWS

2023 U.S. SPRING ENDURO NEWS AND SCHEDULE

The eight-round series kicks off with its annual US Sprint Enduro Awards Presentation Dinner on Friday, January 27, (see website) followed by the first two days of racing on January 28-29 at the iconic South of the Border MX in Hamer, South Carolina.

A number of big-time Pro1 and Pro 2 riders are slated to ride this year’s series, including 2017 AMA 250MX Champion and 2020 AMA 450MX Champion Zach Osborne, on an AMPRO Yamaha. Also confirmed making a return to US Sprint Enduro from AMPRO Yamaha is 2022 GNCC WXC National Champion Rachel Archer.
KTM will be fielding a team consisting of 2021 Pro 2 champion Johnny Girroir, who is moving up into the Pro1 ranks for this year, as well as three-time WORCS champion and 2016 ISDE individual winner, Taylor Robert, who will ride select events in 2023 in an effort to return to form in hopes of helping to bring back the ISDE World Team Trophy to the United States. Meanwhile, Coastal Racing GasGas will have new team member Thad DuVall riding the Pro1 class. And, Husqvarna will have Tayla Jones back to defend her Women’s Pro title.

In the Pro 2 division, Phoenix Honda Racing’s Cody Barnes will be back to defend his 2022 title, and will be pitting alongside teammates Mike Witkowski and Ruy Barbosa. This year’s series also incorporates a three-day ISDE Qualifier, which will be held at Carolina

For more information, check out www.ussprintenduro.com.

2023 US Sprint Enduro Series Schedule

Jan 28-29 South of Border, Hamer, South Carolina

Feb 11-12 Hephzibah, Georgia

Feb 25-26 Carolina Adventure World, Winnsboro, South Carolina

Mar 25-26 Virginia International Raceway, Alton, Virginia

Apr 8-9 Arvonia, Virginia

April 29-30 Promised Land MX, Oldtown, Maryland

May 27-28 High Voltage Raceway, Dilliner, Pennsylvania

Jun 17-18 Harleywood, Bristol, Virginia

SOCIAL DISTORTION

•

•

VIDEO JUKEBOX

SHOT OF THE WEEK

In 2015 Ken Roczen signed with RCH Suzuki after winning the 450 Outdoor National title for KTM. He won the Outdoor title in 2016 in dominant fashion on the yellow machine. For 2023, Ken returns to Suzuki after 6-years with Honda. He’ll be the only guy on the line with a kickstart machine. Odds are it won’t bother him. It should make for an interesting year!

TESTING

Here’s a couple shots of our Ryan Koch playing on the 2023 KTM 150 XC-W TPI. AS you can see, Ryan is sized perfectly for the 150, he loves rocks (being a trials guy) and at our very steep testing zone, he climbed hills that no one breathed the air up top.

Ryan calls the 150 a total riot, saying it feels like it weighs nothing, makes enough bottom power to trail easily and in the rough stuff, it’s beyond manageable- it’s a almost spooky it’s so fun and flickable.