The top three riders at the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout (TKO) earn some of the most unique trophies in motorsports. Preston Farabow, a Knoxville, Tennessee-based artist, constructs the trophies on-site during the TKO weekend.
Farabow scavenges the racecourse for rocks with evidence of the race. Rocks with tire marks or scrapes from footpegs, frames, and skidplates get used in the hand-made trophies that he designs each year. See the video here:
Mani Lettenbichler, Trystan Hart, and Wade Young were the lucky podium finishers that could barely lift the trophies overhead for the podium celebration following three rounds of tough racing at the 2024 TKO.
Farabow has made the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout pro rider trophies for the past five years, and he applies the proceeds to his nonprofit organization that teaches welding and metalwork skills to needy teens and adults. The organization is called inSPYRE – the institute of fire.
You can contact Preston at Preston@PrestonFarabow.com or learn more about his design studio at PrestonFarabow.com.
The 2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout (TKO) included four days of Hard Enduro racing action. The event served as round five of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship and the seventh and final round of the AMA US Hard Enduro Championship.
The fourteenth annual TKO started on Thursday, August 22 for the Red Bull TKO Prologue in downtown Nashville where Sherco’s Cody Webb beat Husqvarna’s Colton Haaker in a three-race head-to-head battle on the man-made straight rhythm course on Broadway Street.
On Friday, nearly 500 amateur riders competed in a qualifying Hot Lap to determine starting positions for Saturday.
Saturday had two amateur racing rounds with the second determining the AMA Grand Championship for Extreme Enduro. Tennessee’s Chase Landers was the overall winner of the Saturday race two and he was among the top 31 amateur riders that earned the opportunity to compete with the top Hard Enduro riders from around the world on Sunday. Indiana’s Rachael Gutish won the women’s pro race that took place during Saturday race two.
The pro riders competed in a Saturday afternoon Hot-Lap to set their starting positions for the first Knockout race on Sunday.
Sunday included three rounds of racing for the top 66 riders that qualified for the final day of racing plus the top twenty Electric Cycle Rider eMoto (electric motorcycle) racers from a Saturday qualifying race. The first round of racing was an elimination race for the pro riders and the AMA Grand Championship race for the eMoto racers.
Race two was another Knockout round and only the top twenty riders moved into the final race. Red Bull KTM’s Manuel Lettenbichler won the final race after an epic battle with FMF KTM’s Trystan Hart. Wade Young finished third on a GasGas, Teodor Kabakchiev finished fourth on a Sherco and Ashton Brightmore rounded out the top five. It was a truly international event with seven countries represented in the top ten of the pro class.
2024 Red Bull Tennessee, Knockout Main Event Results
1. Manuel Lettenbichler, KTM, Germany
2. Trystan Hart, KTM, Canada
3. Wade Young, GasGas, South Africa
4. Teodor Kabakchiev, Sherco, Bulgaria
5. Ashton Brightmore, Husqvarna, Great Britain
6. Alfredo Gomez, Rieju, Spain
7. Colton Haaker, Husqvarna, USA
8. Mario Roman, Sherco, Spain
9. Ryder LeBlond, Husqvarna, USA
10. Cody Webb, Sherco, USA
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing backed Mani Lettenbichler came out on top of a race-long battle with FMF KTM’s Trystan Hart to win the 2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout (TKO) at the Trials Training Center in Sequatchie, Tennessee. This was the fourteenth annual TKO and it was Lettenbichler’s second win at the event and his first since 2019.
The victory allowed the German to increase his lead in the FIM Hard Enduro championship, which has two remaining rounds for 2024. Hart put up a great fight and led multiple times but a mistake on the penultimate lap allowed Lettenbichler to take the lead back. South Africa’s Wade Young rounded out the podium riding a GasGas.
Mani Lettenbichler (center) celebrates his 2024 TKO win with Trystan Hart (left) and Wade Young. Photography Future7Media.
The long weekend of racing kicked off in downtown Nashville on Thursday night where American Cody Webb won the prologue straight rhythm event that took over Broadway Street with a man-made enduro course. Fellow American’s Colton Haaker and Ryder LeBlond rounded out the podium despite a strong list of riders representing seven different countries.
Cody Webb topped longtime rival Colton Haaker to win the Nashville TKO Prologue in downtown Nashville on Thursday night.
The pro racing kicked off on Saturday afternoon with a Hot-Lap on a nearly two-mile “short course” where Lettenbichler set the fastest time of six minutes and five seconds. Young was second fastest with a time of six minutes and fourteen seconds. Canada’s Hart was third fastest with a six minute and fifteen second lap. The UK’s Ashton Brightmore was fourth in six minutes and nineteen seconds and Spain’s Mario Roman rounded out the top five with a time of six minutes and twenty-two seconds. A total of sixty-six riders completed the Hot-Lap to move on to the three rounds of racing on Sunday.
On Sunday morning, the riders took on an eleven mile “long course” with the first knockout round. Only the top thirty riders moved on to the second knockout round. Lettenbichler again topped the results sheet with a time of fifty-four minutes and three seconds. Bulgaria’s Teodor Kabakchiev put in a strong ride that was just four hundredth of a second slower on his Sherco. Hart was again third, fifteen seconds back. Young and fellow South African Matthew Green rounded out the top five times. Jordan Ashburn, LeBlond, Will Riordan, David Cyprian and Colton Haaker finished sixth through tenth respectively.
There was a last-chance qualification race on a straight rhythm course among the four riders that just missed the top thirty and pro Trials competitor Josh Roper took that spot to be the last rider to make it to the second round.
The second-round changes format to place the thirty-one riders into five groups that race head-to-head. Four of those groups include six riders while the fifth group has seven riders including the LCQ winner. The riders take on the long loop with another mile of extremely difficult sections added. The top four finishers from each group earn spots in the twenty-rider main event with the winners of each group earning front row starting positions.
Lettenbichler dominated group one to take the win in just under one hour, which was over five minutes ahead of Mitch Brightmore. Ashburn and James Flynn earned the other two qualifying spots from this group.
Kabakchiev topped the second group ahead of LeBlond, Webb and Graham Jarvis, who was making a rare appearance at a race in the US. Kabakchiev and LeBlond battled throughout the entire
Hart won the third group of riders in a time of one hour and one minute. Australia’s Will Riordan finished second and Ashton Brightmore was third. Cooper Abbott took the fourth and final main event qualifying spot from this group.
Young won group four with Mario Roman just over one minute behind. Spain’s David Cyprian finished third and Hawaii’ Kawelo Huddy punched the final ticket to the main from group four.
Haaker won the fifth group to earn a front row starting spot for the main event alongside the other group winners. Spain’s Alfredo Gomez finished second, well clear of Green and Quinn Wentzel.
The twenty riders that qualified for the main event moved back to the short-course for a 35-minute plus one lap race that ended up taking forty-seven minutes and fifty-three seconds for the winner to complete. Hart took the early lead followed closely by Lettenbichler and Kabakchiev. Young was just about five second back in fourth position The order remained the same until Lettenbichler took over the lead on the third of seven laps. Kabakchiev started to drop back from the leading duo, which allowed Young to close in. On the fourth lap, Hart took the lead back and he held it until the penultimate lap when Lettenbichler capitalized on a mistake by the Canadian. Both riders pushed hard on the final lap and the gap between them held at five seconds, which proved to be enough for Lettenbichler to hold on for the win.
Young found his way past Kabakchiev take over third position on the fifth lap and he finished a little less than a minute and a half behind second and nearly a minute ahead of fourth placed Kabakchiev.
Eighteen-year-old Ashton, the younger of the two Brightmore brothers rounded out the top five on his Husqvarna. Colton Haaker came into the finish area in sixth place but mistakenly slowed down and launched his bike for fun just before the finish line, which handed the position to Rieju-backed Gomez, who was close behind. Haaker rolled across the line in seventh. Roman finished eight on his Sherco. LeBlond recovered from a crash on the first lap to finish ninth on a Husqvarna and Webb rounded out the top ten.
The second place finish by Trystan Hart earned him his fourth AMA US Hard Enduro Premier championship ahead of Cody Webb.
“We had a really good ride and Trystan was riding unbelievably good”, Lettenbichler said. “I didn’t do too good this week and got a little sick and was struggling to get the speed up for the intensity and I knew that this was super intense so it was not an easy one. I had a really good line at the hill-climb, but I was dead at the end, so I am definitely stoked to take the win here and get another TKO win.”
Germany’s Mani Lettenbichler came out on top of a great battle with Canada’s Trystan Hart to take the win at the 2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout. It was the KTM riders second TKO win and first since 2019. Photography Future7Media.
Hart won the AMA US Hard Enduro championship over Webb with his second-place finish but was disappointed to not take his fourth TKO win. “The race win was the goal today and the championship was a side thing because I was counting on that but the race win was my real goal but Mani is such a good rider that you have to be on point to beat him and I was a little off all day,” Hart said. “I was just a little off all day but in the main I took the holeshot and passed Mani a couple of times and we both made mistakes and I made the last one.”
Trystan Hart pushed hard to take the win at the TKO but a mistake on the penultimate lap cost him a chance at taking his fourth TKO win. He still clinched his fourth AMA US Hard Enduro championship. Photography Future7Media.
“The race was good, super intense as always,” Young said. “I kind of just paced myself and got into my own rhythm, controlled my heart rate. I gained momentum and super stoked to get on the podium for the second time here at the TKO.”
South Africa’s Wade Young put in a solid ride to round out the podium on his GasGas. He had to make a pass on Bulgaria’s Teodor Kabakchiev to take the position. Photography Future7Media.Colton Haaker was the top American finisher at the 2024 TKO in seventh. An early celebration cost him a spot just before the finish line.
2024 Red Bull Tennessee, Knockout Main Event Results
1. Manuel Lettenbichler, KTM, Germany
2. Trystan Hart, KTM, Canada
3. Wade Young, GasGas, South Africa
4. Teodor Kabakchiev, Sherco, Bulgaria
5. Ashton Brightmore, Husqvarna, Great Britain
6. Alfredo Gomez, Rieju, Spain
7. Colton Haaker, Husqvarna, USA
8. Mario Roman, Sherco, Spain
9. Ryder LeBlond, Husqvarna, USA
10. Cody Webb, Sherco, USA
11. Will Riordan, GasGas, Australia
12. Mitch Brightmore, Husqvarna, Great Britain
13. Jordan Ashburn, GasGas, USA
14. Graham Jarvis, Husqvarna, Great Britain
15. Matthew Green, KTM, South Africa
16. Francesc Moret Clota, Sherco, Spain
17. David Cyprian, KTM, Spain
18. Cooper Abbott, Sherco, USA
19. Quinn Wentzel, Rieju, USA
20. Kawelo Huddy, KTM, USA
The Women’s pro class competed along with the top amateurs on the more difficult Saturday race two and Rachael Gutish took the win over fellow Sherco rider Louise Forsley. Nikki Russell rounded out the podium on a Rieju. All three women chose to take on the Sunday pro course and Gutish and Forsley both managed to complete a lap in the time limit.
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 Gand championship-deciding race. During that second race, Tennessee’s Chase Landers earned the number one spot with a winning time of fifty-four minutes and forty-six seconds on a KTM. Coran Calvert finished second on a Sherco over seven minutes back and Tucker Miller rounded out the top three riding a KTM. The top thirty riders also earned the opportunity to compete with the forty-six pre-qualified pro riders, which kicked off their racing on Saturday afternoon followed by three rounds of racing on Sunday. Landers managed to finish thirty-third in the first round, just missing a top 30 spot to move to round two.
Other Saturday class winners among nearly 500 participants included Boogie Rivera in Amateur B, Jose Julian Hernandez Rios in Amateur C, Brandon Wakefield in A Vet 30+, Drew Kirby in A Senior 40+, Stephen Thaxton in A Master 50+, Karol Nasuta in B 40+, Jordan Ouzts in 4-Stroke Sportsman, Carly Paet in Women’s Amateur and Gage Hill in Youth Lites 12-15.
The ECR eMoto class was recognized for an AMA Grand Championship and the riders completed three rounds of racing over three days. Thirty-two electric motorcycle racers took on the course and the top twenty earned a spot in the championship deciding Sunday final, which was on course with the pro riders. Canada’s Spenser Wilton took the ECR eMoto AMA Grand Championship number one plate for the second time and was riding a Stark. Australian Conor Hennessy finished less than a minute behind riding a hybrid KTM chassis with custom an electric motor. Canada’s Joshua Long rounded out the podium riding an Arctic Leopard. Noah Kepple finished fourth on an Electric Motion and Maxwell Beaupre rounded out the top five riding a Surron. Five different manufacturers had bikes in the top five showing growing interest in the class. Several hundred people took the opportunity to test ride bikes in the Surron eMoto demo ride area throughout the weekend.
Learn more about the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout event here.
Carson Brown (@carsonbrown_910), a two-time winner of the 125 class at the Red Bull Straight Rhythm motocross events, will take on the 2024 Red Bull TKO Hard Enduro. The Washington native is known for epic bike builds and he selected a Kawasaki KDX200 for this one.
Former Red Bull Straight Rhythm Motocross winner Carson Brown will take on the 2024 Red Bull TKO Enduro Prologue in Nashville on a Kawasaki KDX 200. Check out his bike build and come watch him race in Nashville on Thursday, August 22nd for the prologue or the full TKO in Sequatchie, Tennessee on August 24-25.
He bought the bike on Facebook Marketplace and added some logical parts that didn’t come on the standard KDX including an electric start and cooling fan. You can check out his bike build video here: KDX200 Tennessee Knockout Build Breakdown
Brown is a wild card entry for the Thursday night Nashville Red Bull Straight Rhythm prologue and will also take on the full TKO in the pro class on Saturday, August 24-25 in Sequatchie, Tennessee.
The Red Bull Tennessee Knockout prologue in Nashville will be 100% free and open to the public and for all ages. Spectators will be able to have trackside and rooftop access on select rooftops. Please reach out directly to those venues before arriving.
Also:
Check out the 2024 Red Bull TKO Prologue preview video here
On Thursday, August 22, Red Bull will transform Downtown Nashville for the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout (TKO) Prologue.
Sixteen of the best Hard Enduro racers representing seven countries will compete in a head-to-head bracket format race on a man-made straight rhythm inspired enduro course on lower Broadway Street. The course will launch out of a bar on lower Broadway Street and then hit several man-made obstacles including logs, rocks, k-rails and innovative X-Track synthetic jumps. The side-by-side out and back racing will include a best two out of three racing format.
The Red Bull Tennessee Knockout prologue in Nashville will be 100% free and open to the public and for all ages. Spectators will be able to have trackside and rooftop access on select rooftops. Please reach out directly to those venues before arriving.
Learn more about the event on the Red Bull site here.
2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout Prologue Invited Riders:
Mani Lettenbichler: Germany. Red-Bull KTM. Three time and defending FIM Hard Enduro World Champion. Three-time Erzbergrodeo, Five-time Red Bull Romaniacs winner and 2019 TKO winner.
Trystan Hart: Canada. FMF KTM. 2023 AMA US Hard Enduro Champion. 2023 AMA EnduroCross Champion. Three-time TKO winner.
Cody Webb: United States. FactoryONE Sherco. Multi-time EnduroCross champion and FIM Super Enduro champion. Six-time TKO winner.
Wade Young: South Africa. GasGas. The youngest winner of the Roof of Africa. 2018 Red Bull Romaniacs winner and multi-time TKO podium finisher.
Mario Roman: Spain. Sherco Factory. Third at 2023 Erzbergrodeo and winner of several international Hard Enduros.
Colton Haaker: United States. Rockstar Husqvarna. Multi-time AMA EnduroCross champion. Multi-time FIM Super Enduro world champion.
Teodor Kabakchiev: Bulgaria. Sherco Factory. Former FIM Junior Hard Enduro champion and multi-time FIM Hard Enduro podium finisher.
Ryder LeBlond: United States. Rockstar Husqvarna. Third in AMA US Hard Enduro Championship. Multi-time podium finisher in AMA US Hard Enduro series.
Alfredo Gomez: Spain. Rieju. Winner of 2022 Red Bull TKO Prologue. Former winner of the Erzbergrodeo and runner up in the 2019 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship.
Will Riordan: Australia. GasGas. Fourth in AMA US Hard Enduro Championship.
Mitch Brightmore: United Kingdom. Husqvarna. 2023 FIM Hard Enduro Junior Champion.
Cooper Abbott: United States. FactoryONE Sherco. Sixth in 2023 AMA EnduroCross Championship.
Matthew Green: South Africa. KTM. Former FIM Junior Hard Enduro champion.
Francesc Moret: Spain. Sherco. 2022 Spanish Hard Enduro Champion and three-time Spanish Trials champion.
James Flynn: United States. IRC Beta. Currently fifth in 2023 AMA US Hard Enduro Championship.
Carson Brown: United States. KTM. Two-time Red Bull Straight Rhythm 125cc champion.
Riders can enter the 2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout here. (If you are signing up via a smartphone, it will help if you close other tabs that are open in your website browser software.)
The fourteenth annual Red Bull Tennessee Knockout (TKO) will take place at the Trials Training Center on the weekend of August 23-25, 2024. The event will be the only FIM Hard Enduro World Championship race in North America this season and it will also serve as the seventh and final round of the AMA US Hard Enduro Championship.
One of the unique features of the TKO is that the top pro Hard Enduro racers from around the world as well as the top riders in other off-road disciplines earn an invitation that gets a free entry into pro class. The top 35 finishers from the 2023 TKO automatically make that list as well. Past TKO main event qualifiers also earn an invitation. A total of 120 riders have earned a spot on the Sunday prequalified list and 35 of those riders are expected to compete.
The 2024 TKO will attract the top international riders such as Mani Lettenbichler, Mario Roman, Wade Young and Teodor Kabakchiev from the FIM championship who will take on the top North American riders including Trystan Hart, Cody Webb, Ryder LeBlond and Will Riordan.
Mani Lettenbichler just won his fifth Romaniacs Hard Enduro to go along wins at the Erzbergrodeo and Valleys Hard Enduro. The German won the TKO back in 2019 and finished on the podium in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The Red Bull KTM rider will be looking for his second TKO win in 2024. Photography by Future7Media.
Lettenbichler has dominated the FIM Hard Enduro championship for the past two years, but Hart has managed to beat him at the last two TKO events, so we can expect an epic battle for TKO supremacy between those two.
FMF KTM’s Trystan Hart will be aiming for a third consecutive TKO win in 2024. The Canadian will have to beat a strong group of riders to get his fourth career win at the prestigious event. Photography by Sean Finley.
And don’t count out six-time TKO winner Cody Webb for the win. The FactoryONE Sherco rider is having a great season and currently leads the AMA US Hard Enduro Championship series.
Cody Webb won the TKO six times in a row from 2013 through 2018. Injuries and tough competition have kept him off the top step of the podium for a few years, but the Sherco rider is having a strong season in 2024 and leads the AMA US Hard Enduro Championship. Perhaps he can get his seventh TKO win. Photography by Ryan McCasland.
Graham Jarvis has also added his name to the list of pro riders planning to compete at the TKO in 2024.
Graham Jarvis prefers longer races than the sprint format of the TKO but the 49-year-old British rider finished fourth at the Erzbergrodeo in June and plans to be back for another shot at a TKO podium. Photography by Future7Media.
Top 120 2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout Prequalified Pro Riders
1. Trystan Hart
2. Manuel Lettenbichler
3. Cody Webb
4. Wade Young
5. Will Riordan
6. Mario Roman
7. Ryder LeBlond
8. Teodor Kabakchiev
9. Colton Haaker
10. Billy Bolt
11. Graham Jarvis
12. James Flynn
13. Alfredo Gomez
14. Mitch Brightmore
15. Jonny Walker
16. Matthew Green
17. Cooper Abbott
18. Logan Bolopue
19. Danny Lewis
20. Quinn Wentzel
21. Branden Petrie
22. Jordan Ashburn
23. Pat Smage
24. Tim Apolle
25. Josh Roper
26. Gauge Logan-Key
27. KAMAKANA WAIWAIOLE-KAHALEPUNA
28. Dominik Olszowy
29. David Cyprian
30. William Hoare
31. Steward Baylor
32. Josh Toth
33. Hayden Mosa
34. Craig DeLong
35. Michael Walkner
36. Liam Draper
37. Grant Baylor
38. Max Gerston
39. Mason George
40. KAWALO HUDDY
41. David Knight
42. Taddy Blazusiak
43. Francesc Moret Clota
44. Spenser Wilton
45. Marc Riba Lazaro
46. Suff Sella
47. CREED KISLING
48. Ryder Guest
49. Ricky Russell
50. Didier Goirand
51. Dan Peace
52. Adam Hartnagel
53. Anthony Johnson
54. Vaclav Nedved
55. Mark Fortner
56. Vaclav Nedved
57. Cody Barnes
58. Nick Fahringer
59. Ben Kelley
60. Jarrett Mohn
61. Ruy Barbosa
62. Jack Price
63. Ryder Lafferty
64. Radford Ghugg
65. Michael Witkowski
66. Cory Graffunder
67. Justin Hoeft
68. Angus Riordan
69. Alexander Myers
70. DYLAN SANTORO
71. Mason Semmens
72. Jackson Davis
73. Dante Oliveira
74. Josh Strang
75. Will Myers
76. Norbert Zsigovits
77. Wanja Morlinghaus
78. Jonathan Johnson
79. JARED LAMBE
80. Thorn Devlin
81. Ryan Surratt
82. Mateo Oliveira
83. Alexander Niederer
84. Varga Zsolt
85. Grant Davis
86. Austin Walton
87. Tyler Lynn
88. Jonathan Girroir
89. Daniel Blanc-Gonnet
90. Casey Satterfield
91. Chris Satterfield
92. Marc Font Torres
93. Milos Novakovic
94. DEVIN STEPHENSON
95. Jesse Ansley
96. Evan Smith
97. Cole Martinez
98. Zach Bell
99. Cole Culins
100. Cody Miller
101. Ashton Brightmore
102. Nathaniel Tasha
103. Ali Ai Hiasat
104. LOGAN CIPALA
105. Mitch Carvolth
106. Tallon LaFountaine
107. Samuel Fastle
108. George Kowalski
109. Kyle Flanigan
110. Noah Kepple
111. Ryan Sipes
112. Daryoush Ghorbani
113. Travis Teasdale
114. Keith Curtis
115. Wally Palmer
116. Chuck DeLullo
117. Alex Bedley
118. Russell Bobbitt
119. Ty Tremaine
120. Mike Brown
In addition to the top pro riders, up to five hundred amateur riders will take on the TKO course aiming for the AMA Grand Championship titles and class wins. The top thirty amateur riders will also earn the opportunity to compete with the world’s best riders during the Sunday pro racing. The ECR eMoto (electric motorcycle) class will also be back for the third year with riders and electric motorcycle manufacturers competing for an AMA Grand Championship title.
The free electric motorcycle demo rides, sponsored by Surron, will be back again in 2024 and open to anybody that wants to give one of the bikes from multiple brands, including Surron and Electric Motion a test ride.
To kick off the weekend, the top sixteen pro riders will compete in a head-to-head prologue on a man-made straight rhythm inspired enduro course in downtown Nashville on Thursday, August 22nd. The 2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout will again be a three-day format with a Hot-Lap on Friday to set amateur racer starting positions followed by two rounds of amateur racing on Saturday. The pro riders will kick off their weekend with a Hot-Lap on Saturday afternoon and a three round Knock Out format on Sunday. The multiple rounds of racing and course layout provide a full weekend of exciting, spectator-friendly racing.
Riders can enter the 2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout here. (If you are signing up via a smartphone, it will help if you close other tabs that are open in your website browser software.)
KTM, Husqvarna and GasGas have confirmed contingency award programs for the 2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout event. The top finishers in the pro, pro women, Amateur A, A Vet 30+, A Vet 40+, A Vet 50+, Sportsman 4-Stroke, Amateur B, B 40+, Amateur C, Amateur Women and Youth Lites classes will be eligible for awards. The pro riders are eligible for cash and the amateur riders will be awarded dealer credit.
Amateur and pro riders can earn contingency payments at the 2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout event from KTM, Husqvarna and GasGas. Pro riders earn cash while amateur riders can earn dealer credits. Photo by Brandon Krause.
Pro Contingency:
$2500
$1500
$1000
$750
$500
Women Pro Contingency:
$750
$500
$400
Amateur A, A Vet 30+, A Vet 40+, A Vet 50+ Contingency (dealer credit):
$300
$200
$150
Sportsman 4-Stroke, Amateur B, B 40+ Contingency (dealer credit):
$200
$150
$100
Amateur C, Amateur Women and Youth Lites Contingency (dealer credit):
$150
$100
$75
Riders can register for contingency at the following links:
The 2024 TKO will serve as round five of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship and the seventh and final round of the AMA US Hard Enduro Championship. So the top international riders such as Mani Lettenbichler, Mario Roman, Wade Young and Teodor Kabakchiev will take on the top North American riders including Trystan Hart, Cody Webb, Ryder LeBlond and Will Riordan. Lettenbichler has dominated the FIM Hard Enduro championship for the past two years, but Hart has managed to beat him at the last two TKO events, so we can expect an epic battle for TKO supremacy between those two.
In addition to the top pro riders, up to five hundred amateur riders will take on the TKO course aiming for the AMA Grand Championship titles and class wins. The top thirty amateur riders will also earn the opportunity to compete with the world’s best riders during the Sunday pro racing. The ECR eMoto (electric motorcycle) class will also be back for the third year aiming for an AMA Grand Championship.
The free electric motorcycle demo rides, sponsored by Surron, will be back again in 2024 and open to anybody that wants to give one of the bikes from multiple brands, including Surron and Electric Motion a test ride.
To kick off the weekend, the top sixteen pro riders will compete in a head-to-head prologue on a man-made straight rhythm inspired enduro course in downtown Nashville on Thursday, August 22.
The 2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout will again be a three-day format with a Hot-Lap on Friday to set amateur racer starting positions followed by two rounds of amateur racing on Saturday. The pro riders will kick off their weekend with a Hot-Lap on Saturday afternoon and a three round Knock Out format on Sunday. The multiple rounds of racing and course layout provide a full weekend of exciting, spectator-friendly racing.
Riders can enter the 2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout here.
The world’s best Hard Enduro motorcycle racers will take on the tough Trials Training Center terrain for the fourteenth annual Red Bull Tennessee Knockout (TKO) on August 23-25.
To kick off the weekend, the top sixteen pro riders will compete in a head-to-head prologue on a man-made straight-rhythm-inspired enduro course in downtown Nashville on Thursday, August 22nd. The 2022 Nashville prologue was a huge spectacle and there will be more exciting details to share about the 2024 version in the coming weeks.
The 2024 TKO will serve as round five of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship and the seventh and final round of the AMA US Hard Enduro Championship. So the top international riders such as Mani Lettenbichler, Mario Roman, Wade Young and Teodor Kabakchiev will take on the top North American riders including Trystan Hart, Cody Webb, Ryder LeBlond and Will Riordan.
Lettenbichler is currently on a ten race FIM Hard Enduro win streak, but Hart has managed to beat him at the last two TKO events, so we can expect an epic battle for TKO supremacy between those two.
In addition to the top pro riders, up to five hundred amateur riders will take on the TKO course aiming for the AMA Grand Championship titles and class wins. The top thirty amateur riders will also earn the opportunity to compete with the world’s best riders during the Sunday pro racing. The ECR eMoto (electric motorcycle) class will also be back for the third year aiming for an AMA Grand Championship.
The free electric motorcycle demo rides, sponsored by Surron, will be back again in 2024 and open to anybody that wants to give one of the bikes from multiple brands, including Surron and Electric Motion a test ride.
The 2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout will again be a three-day format with a Hot-Lap on Friday to set amateur racer starting positions followed by two rounds of amateur racing on Saturday. The pro riders will kick off their weekend with a Hot-Lap on Saturday afternoon and a three round Knock Out format on Sunday. The multiple rounds of racing and course layout provide a full weekend of exciting, spectator-friendly racing.
Riders can enter the 2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout here.
The ECR eMoto (Electric Motorcycle) class was introduced at the 2022 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout (TKO) and has rapidly grown in popularity. Twenty-six riders competed in year one and that number jumped to thirty-eight riders in 2023 when eMoto was recognized as an AMA Grand Championship class. The ECR eMoto class will be back again in 2024 as an AMA Grand Championship class and the format will again provide a path for electric motorcycles to earn their way into the Sunday TKO final. Canadian Spenser Wilton came up just short of qualifying for the final, riding an Electric Motion last year.
For 2024, Surron motorcycles has increased their involvement to become a TKO presenting sponsor with the goal to further expand the participation level and build awareness for how capable and fun electric motorcycles are. Nearly half of the ECR eMoto participants raced a Surron motorcycle at the 2023 TKO and hundreds of riders got to test ride a Surron on the free demo course. The free electric motorcycle demo rides will be back again in 2024 and open to anybody that wants to give one of the bikes a test ride.
The popular electric bike demo rides will be back again at the 2024 TKO event. Hundreds of riders test rode Surron and Electric Motion electric bikes at the 2023 event.
The ECR eMoto AMA Grand Championship will include three rounds of racing, starting with a hot lap on Friday to set the Saturday morning starting order. On Saturday morning, the eMoto riders will compete in a qualification race. Up to the top fifteen riders that complete the course in two and a half hours will qualify to compete in the Sunday championship race, which will utilize the tougher pro course.
Thirty-eight riders competed in the ECR eMoto class at the 2023 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout. There will again be an AMA Grand Championship #1 plate on the line for the eMoto class in 2024. Photo Brandon Krause.
The ECR eMoto class is an open format that will allow electric motorcycles of all power levels with a minimum rear wheel size of 16 inches. Trials style motorcycles (but no Trials tires) are allowed for the eMoto class. Riders of all skill levels that are 16 years of age and older will be eligible to enter the ECR eMoto class.
The 2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout will again be a three-day format with a Prologue on Friday to set amateur racer starting positions followed by two rounds of amateur racing on Saturday and a multi round Sunday competition for the pro riders, which will include the top thirty finishers from Saturday.
Riders can enter the 2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout here.
The 2023 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout at the Trials Training Center was another epic battle between the world’s best Hard Enduro racers. Top American riders including Cody Webb, Colton Haaker, Pat Smage and Ryder LeBlond took on, Canada’s Trystan Hart, the UK’s Billy Bolt and Jonny Walker, Germany’s Mani Lettenbichler and Spain’s Alfredo Gomez.
MAVTV was on hand to capture the action and has a show focused on the four rounds of pro racing that will air this Thursday, November 16th at 6:30 PM ET.
You can learn more by checking your local listings or check MAVTV’s website.
The pro racing action from the 2023 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout was an exciting event for the racers and fans. Trystan Hart (pictured) faced off against the best Hard Enduro racers in the world, including Billy Bolt, Mani Lettenbichler, Cody Webb, Ryder LeBlond, Alfredo Gomez and Colton Haaker. Photo by Brandon Krause.
Detailed results for all classes at the 2023 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout can be found HERE.
Trystan Hart (center), Billy Bolt (left) and Mani Lettenbichler celebrate a tough day of racing at the 2023 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout. Photo by Brandon Krause.
For the second year in a row, FMF KTM Factory Racing backed Trystan Hart topped the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout (TKO). This was Hart’s third TKO win in the last four years and the Canadian dominated the 2023 event with wins in three of the four rounds of racing on the rocky and hilly Trials Training Center terrain. The win also earned Hart the AMA Grand Championship for Extreme Off-Road racing to go along with his US Hard Enduro Series championship.
Trystan Hart earned his third Red Bull Tennessee Knockout win in the last four years. The FMF KTM team rider won three of the four rounds of racing, including the main event. Photo by Brandon Krause.
Husqvarna Factory Racing backed Billy Bolt was closest to Hart in the main event and finished twenty-three seconds back.
The UK’s Billy Bolt won the 2021 TKO and put up a good fight with Hart to take the 2023 win for his second win in two races on US soil. But the Husqvarna rider could not quite match the pace of Hart on this day. Photo by Brandon Krause.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Mani Lettenbichler rounded out the podium.
Mani Lettenbichler had to chase back to the front after a big crash on the first lap. He caught Bolt but was unable to make a pass to move up any further than third. Photo by Brandon Krause.
The pro racing kicked off on Saturday afternoon with a Hot-Lap on the approximately two-mile “short course” and Rockstar Husqvarna’s Ryder LeBlond set the fastest time of five minutes and fifty-two seconds. Trystan Hart finished second, a little over six seconds behind. Lettenbichler finished third, just a second behind Hart. FactoryONE Sherco’s Cody Webb was fourth and Bolt rounded out the top five.
The top sixteen pro riders wrapped up the Saturday racing with a Straight Rhythm bracket-race prologue to entertain the fans and Bolt topped Lettenbichler for the win while Hart beat out Beta’s Jonny Walker to finish third.
Sunday’s format consisted of three rounds of racing for the fifty-six riders that earned a spot and it started with Knockout round one on the eleven mile “long course”. Hart set the fastest time with a time of forty-seven minutes and seventeen seconds. The relatively dry conditions provided a lot more traction than normal on the rocks and that contributed to quicker times than normal. 2022 GNCC Champion Jordan Ashburn turned some heads with a second-place time of forty-eight minutes and twenty-nine seconds on his Magna 1 Husqvarna to finish second. Lettenbichler was third in a time of forty-eight minutes and fifty-four seconds. RPM KTM rider Will Riordan put in a strong ride to finish fourth with a time of forty-nine minutes and two seconds. Cody Webb rounded out the top five with a time of forty-nine minutes and thirteen seconds. Bolt, LeBlond, South Africa’s Matthew Green, Walker and Alfredo Gomez finished sixth through tenth respectively.
There was a last-chance qualification race on the straight rhythm course among the four riders that just missed the top thirty and pro Hillclimb racer Logan Cipala took that spot to be the last rider to make it to the second round.
The second-round changes format to place the thirty-one riders into five groups that race head-to-head. Four of those groups include six riders while the fifth group has seven riders including the LCQ winner. The riders take on the long loop with another mile of extremely difficult sections added. The top four finishers from each group earn spots in the twenty-rider main event with the winners of each group earning front row starting positions.
Hart won group one over Bolt after a back forth battle. Fourteen-time US Trials Champion Pat Smage and James Flynn finished third and fourth to get into the main event.
LeBlond won group two in a tight battle with Ashburn. Colton Haaker and Gauge Logan-Key also earned tickets to the main.
Lettenbichler dominated group three. Green finished second and Rieju’s Quinn Wentzel and Beta’s Tim Apolle finished third and fourth respectively.
Group four was won by the UK’s Walker. Riordan finished second. Sherco rider Logan Bolopue and Beta’s Daniel Lewis took the last two spots in this group.
Webb won group four over Spain’s Gomez. Multi-time Erzberg winner David Knight finished third and Mason George earned the final spot in the main event in his first ever TKO. George was the only rider from the thirty riders that qualified into the Sunday program via the Saturday races to qualify for the main event.
The main event moves back to the short course for a 35-minute plus one lap race, which ended up taking forty-four minutes and thirty-four seconds for Hart to complete. Lettenbichler took the lead heading into the woods with Hart and Bolt close behind. Hart and Bolt found a way past Lettenbichler before hitting the critical Red Bull Ravine hill climb, which proved to be pivotal as Bolt lost momentum at the top and Lettenbichler hit his rear wheel and flipped over backwards. The German rider lost several positions when his bike tumbled down the hill. Hart made a quick break from the field and had a twelve second gap on Bolt as they started the second lap. The KTM rider methodically opened that up to as much as forty-five seconds before backing off on the final lap to win by twenty-four seconds.
Bolt held second place throughout the race but had pressure from Walker for several laps and then Lettenbichler, who recovered from his crash. Bolt, Lettenbichler and Walker started the final lap separated by less than ten seconds, which is not safe with the difficult obstacles but the order remained the same to the finish.
Webb had a strong ride to finish fifth. LeBlond got held up on the first lap behind the carnage of the Lettenbichler tumble on the hill climb but recovered for a sixth-place finish. Riordan was the last rider on the lead lap in seventh.
Gomez finished eighth on his Rieju. Ashburn finished ninth after recovering from a first turn crash with Green. Smage rounded out the top ten in his first Hard Enduro event of the season after wrapping up the US Trials championship.
Hart said, “On lap two, I threw my bike up the Kenda waterfall and luckily no one was behind me and I just picked up the bike and went on my way but that was a little scare. From that point on, I just chilled out and nailed the hill climb and water fall every lap and just cruised on and maintained the gap which was really good.”
Bolt said, “It’s awesome, the crowd was insane the whole way around the track and you could barely hear the bike out there so that was pretty sick to see so many people out here supporting the race. As far as the race went, it was a struggle, I felt the pressure from behind just about the whole race to be honest. Jonny and Mani were on my wheel and that made it hard to concentrate and not make any mistakes. Trystan was nearly mistake free and opened a gap early on and I could not make it back to him.”
Lettenbichler said, “Billy made a small mistake at the top of the hill climb on the first lap and I could not avoid him so I was back to sixth and had to work hard to move back to third, so I am really stocked on that. It was crazy good thanks to the fans cheering so loud in the woods and I didn’t expect that. Now I am glad that we are finished so we can get out of the heat.”
2023 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout Main Event Results
Trystan Hart, KTM, Canada
Billy Bolt, Husqvarna, Great Britain
Manuel Lettenbichler, KTM, Germany
Jonny Walker, Beta, Great Britain
Cody Webb, Sherco, USA
Ryder LeBlond, Husqvarna, USA
Will Riordan, KTM, Australia
Alfredo Gomez, Rieju, Spain
Jordan Ashburn, Husqvarna, USA
Pat Smage, Sherco, USA
Matthew Green, KTM, South Africa
Colton Haaker, Husqvarna, USA
Logan Bolopue, Sherco, USA
James Flynn, GasGas, USA
Quinn Wentzel, Rieju, USA
Tim Apolle, Beta, Germany
Daniel Lewis, Beta, USA
Gauge Logan-Key, GasGas, USA
David Knight, KTM, Great Britain
Mason George, Rieju, USA
The Women’s pro class competed along with the top amateurs on the more difficult Saturday race two and South Africa’s Kirsten Landman took the win riding a KTM over American Rachel Gutish, who was racing a GasGas. Nikki Russell rounded out the podium on a Husqvarna. Landman took the AMA Grand Championship number one plate and finished fortieth overall among all the amateur riders.
Kirsten Landman made the long trip from South Africa pay off with a win in the women’s pro class. She thrived in the tough high temperatures and tough conditions. Photo by Brandon Krause.
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 championship-deciding race. During that second race, Hawaii’s Kamakana Waiwaiole earned the number one spot with a winning time of forty-six minutes and forty-four seconds on his rented GasGas. Mason George finished just two seconds behind and Maverik Thaxton rounded out the top three. The top thirty riders also earned the opportunity to compete with the twenty-six pre-qualified pro riders, which kicked off their racing on Saturday afternoon followed by three rounds of racing on Sunday.
Hawaii’s Kamakana Waiwaiole used a rented GasGas to take the overall Amateur Grand championship win during the Saturday racing. Photo by Brandon Krause.
Other Saturday class winners among nearly 500 participants included Jared Kuehnhold in Amateur B, Leiber Adrian Ponce in Amateur C, Will Presson in Vet 40+, Travis Wilson in 45+ Vet and Coran Calvert in Youth Lites 12-15.
For the first time, the ECR eMoto class was recognized for an AMA Grand Championship and the riders completed three rounds of racing over three days. Thirty-four electric motorcycle racers took on the course and the top eleven earned a spot in the championship deciding Sunday final, which was on course with the pro riders. Seven riders completed the difficult course. Spenser Wilton took the ECR eMoto AMA Grand Championship number one plate riding an Electric Motion with a time of one-hour and four minutes. Joseph Van Roekel finished second on a KTM about twelve minutes behind and Bridger Greenman rounded out the podium riding another KTM about eighteen minutes behind the leader.
Spenser Wilton (center) won the ECR eMoto electric motorcycle championship on an Electric Motion and finished twenty-eighth overall in the pro class Knockout round one to move on to the second round. Joseph Van Roekel finished second on a KTM and Bridger Greenman finished third on another KTM. Photo by Brandon Krause.
Detailed results for the 2023 TKO can be found here.
Keep an eye on MAVtv for two shows featuring the 2023 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout. The network will have one show featuring the Straight Rhythm Prologue event that took place on Saturday afternoon and a second show featuring the Sunday pro TKO racing.