Mani Lettenbichler won the fifteenth annual Red Bull Tennessee Knockout on his Red Bull KTM. It was the German rider’s third TKO win at the Trials Training Center in Sequatchie, Tennessee. FMF KTM’s Trystan Hart finished second. It was the Canadian’s second consecutive runner-up finish at the TKO. The UK’s Billy Bolt rounded out the podium on his Husqvarna:
A total of 535 entries kicked off three days of racing on Friday with the amateur hot-laps to set the starting order for two rounds of Saturday racing followed by four rounds of pro-class racing that started on Saturday afternoon and concluded on Sunday afternoon.
The pro class racing started on Saturday afternoon with the hot-laps and Lettenbichler set the top mark with a time of 6:22.339. Hart was just 3 seconds behind, and Bolt was 7.5 seconds behind the fast time. Husqvarna’s Ryder LeBlond finished fourth and Sherco’s Will Riodan rounded out the top five. Cody Webb, Ryder Guest, Jordan Ashburn, Danny Lewis and James Flynn rounded out the top ten respectively.
The top fifty-five riders started the first of three knockout rounds of racing on Sunday morning on the 14-mile “long course” and top 30 earned a trip to the TKO Knockout race two. Lettenbichler kept the pressure on and set the fastest time of 1:02:57. Hart finished second, 56.084 behind and Bolt rounded out the top three just nine seconds behind Hart. Riordan was fourth and Eddie Karlsson earned his way into the pro class with the fifth fastest overall time while racing the ECR eMoto class. Ashburn, Webb, Niko Piazza and Flynn rounded out the top ten.
The next round changes formats and a total of 31 riders (the top thirty plus one rider that earned a spot into TKO two via an LCQ Straight Rhythm Duel win). The riders are split into four groups of six and one group of seven including the LCQ winner and ride another lap on the long course with some additional hard sections added. Only the top four riders in each group qualify for the main event.
Lettenbichler won group one followed by Ashburn, Kawelo Huddy and Ryder Guest. Hart won group two followed by Ryder LeBlond, Quinn Wentzel and Coran Calvert. Bolt won group three followed by Webb, Lewis and Maverik Thaxton. Riordan won group four followed by Niko Piazza, Branden Petrie and Braxton Hintze. Karlsson won group five to become the first rider to make the main on an electric bike. Flynn, Gauge Logan-Key and Creed Kisling rounded out the top four.
The top twenty riders moved on to the main event on the short course for a multi-lap race of 35 minutes plus one lap:
Bolt launched into the lead at the start and led the riders into the Red Bull Ravine for the first pass at three challenging hill climbs. A small mistake allowed Hart to take the point and he held the lead at the end of the first lap followed by Lettenbichler. On the second lap, Hart made a mistake that allowed Lettenbichler to take the lead. Lettenbichler held a small gap for a few laps until another mistake by Hart allowed him to open the lead to over one minute. Lettenbichler completed a total of seven laps in the main event in a total time of 47:53.3 (His combined time for all three races was nearly three hours and seven minutes). Hart finished 52.769 seconds behind in second. Bolt held third for most of the race despite a crash on the final lap and he finished 2:26 behind the winner.
Riordan finished in fourth on his Sherco after making a last lap pass on Rockstar Husqvarna’s LeBlond, who held on for fifth. The move helped Riordan lock up second place in the AMA US Hard Enduro Premier Championship. Webb finished sixth on his Yamaha. The American held fourth position for most of the race but a crash dropped him back two spots. Karlsson worked his way back up to seventh position on his Stark after a first lap crash had dropped him back to fifteenth. Flynn finished in eighth on his Beta. Hawaii’s Kawelo Huddy finished ninth on a KTM ahead of fellow Hawaiian Ryder Guest who was also on a KTM.
2025 Red Bull Tennessee, Knockout Main Event Results
- Manuel Lettenbichler, KTM, Germany
- Trystan Hart, KTM, Canada
- Billy Bolt, Husqvarna, United Kingdom
- Will Riordan, Sherco, Australia
- Ryder LeBlond, Husqvarna, USA
- Cody Webb, Yamaha, USA
- Eddie Karlsson, Stark, Sweden
- James Flynn, Beta, USA
- Kawelo Huddy, KTM, USA
- Ryder Guest, KTM, USA
- Jordan Ashburn, GasGas, USA
- Branden Petrie, Beta, Canada
- Daniel Lewis, Beta, USA
- Niko Piazza, Husqvarna, USA
- Coran Calvert, Sherco, USA
- Quinn Wentzel, Rieju, USA
- Gauge Logan-Key, GasGas, USA
- Maverik Thaxton, KTM, USA
- Creed Kisling, GasGas, USA
- Braxton Hintze, Fantic, USA
Complete TKO Results at MyLaps SpeedHive:
The Women’s pro class competed along with the top amateurs on the Saturday race two long course. Rachael Gutish took the win on her Rieju and finished in twenty-sixth overall. Louise Forsley finished second in her first race for the Beta team. Nikki Russell rounded out the podium on a Rieju.
In addition to the pro racing, the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout crowned amateur champions in several classes. Saturday included two rounds of amateur racing with race two serving as the AMA Grand championship-deciding race. During that second race, Idaho’s Niko Piazza was the overall and A class winner with a winning time of 1:04:36 on a Husqvarna. Coran Calvert finished second on a Sherco just under 41 seconds back and Maverik Thaxton rounded out the top three riding a KTM. The top thirty riders also earned the opportunity to compete with the twenty-seven pro riders, which kicked off their racing on Saturday afternoon followed by three rounds of racing on Sunday. All three of the teenagers managed to qualify for the Sunday main event.
Other Saturday class winners among nearly 500 participants included Ryan Odom in Amateur B, Neels Uys in A Vet 30+, Drew Kirby in A Senior 40+, Alexander Badilla in B Vet 30+, Chad Evans in A Master 50+, Karol Nasuta in B 40+, Jeffrey Husted in B Super Senior 50+, James Arnold in 4-Stroke Sportsman, Carly Paet in Women’s Amateur and Graham Kobak in Youth Lites 12-15, who also finished in thirty-second overall.
On Saturday morning, the ECR eMoto riders started first with their qualifying race. There were 33 participants (eight expert riders and 25 amateur class riders and the top twenty overall moved to the Sunday main event. Karlsson, who traveled all the way from Sweden, dominated the eMoto Expert class on his Stark Varg. Max Beaupre finished second riding a Surron Ultra Bee. Dustin Foudray rounded out the podium riding a Zero XE. In the eMoto Amateur class, Osvaldo Neto took the winning ride on an Arctic Leopard. Tucker Neary finished second on a Surron and Nathan Bilbrey rounded out the podium on a Surron.
