Category Archives: Results

2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout Full Weekend Video Recap; From Thursday in Nashville to Sunday at the Trials Training Center

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.

Check out the full weekend recap video here:

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

Complete Pro Class results here.

2024 Red Bull Tennessee, Knockout Pro Women Results
1. Rachael Gutish, Sherco
2. Louise Forsley, Sherco
3. Nikki Russel, Rieju

2024 Red Bull Tennessee, Knockout Overall Amateur Results
1. Chase Landers, KTM
2. Coran Calvert, Sherco
3. Tucker Miller, KTM
4. Huck Jenkins, GasGas
5. Maverik Thaxton, KTM
6. Wil Loyd, Husqvarna
7. Brandon Wakefield, Beta
8. Boogie Rivera, KTM
9. Leiber Ponce, KTM
10. Devin Stephenson, Sherco

2024 Red Bull Tennessee, Knockout ECR eMoto Results
1. Spenser Wilton, Stark
2. Conor Hennessy, Custom
3. Joshua Long, Arctic Leopard
4. Noah Kepple, Electric Motion
5. Maxwell Beaupre, Surron
6. Scott Takara, Surron
7. Bridger Greenman, KTM
8. Joseph Van Roekel, Dust
9. Cole Clarkson, Electric Motion
10. Lukas Eddy, Surron

Complete Women’s Pro, Amateur and eMoto Class Results here.

Learn more about the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout event here.

Lettenbichler Outduels Hart for 2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout Win; Young rounds out the podium

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

Complete Pro Class results here.

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.

Complete Amateur Class results here.

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.

2023 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout Full Weekend Video Recap; Friday to Sunday at the Trials Training Center

The thirteenth annual Red Bull Tennessee Knockout included three days of Hard Enduro racing action, starting with the amateur Hot-Lap on Friday and wrapping up with three rounds of pro racing on Sunday.

Nearly 500 racers took on the 2023 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout and Canada’s Trystan Hart topped the field after three days of racing. The FMF KTM racer topped the UK’s Billy Bolt and Germany’s Mani Lettenbichler. Photo by Brandon Krause.

Nearly 500 riders took on the 2023 edition at the Trials Training Center in Sequatchie, Tennessee, and it was Canada’s Trystan Hart that stood on top of the podium on Sunday afternoon. The FMF KTM rider was joined by the UK’s Billy Bolt and Germany’s Mani Lettenbichler. Jonny Walker and Cody Webb rounded out the top five to make it four different countries and four different motorcycle manufacturers represented in the top five.

Check out the full weekend recap video:

2023 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout Main Event Results

  1. Trystan Hart, KTM, Canada
  2. Billy Bolt, Husqvarna, Great Britain
  3. Manuel Lettenbichler, KTM, Germany
  4. Jonny Walker, Beta, Great Britain
  5. Cody Webb, Sherco, USA
  6. Ryder LeBlond, Husqvarna, USA
  7. Will Riordan, KTM, Australia
  8. Alfredo Gomez, Rieju, Spain
  9. Jordan Ashburn, Husqvarna, USA
  10. Pat Smage, Sherco, USA
  11. Matthew Green, KTM, South Africa
  12. Colton Haaker, Husqvarna, USA
  13. Logan Bolopue, Sherco, USA
  14. James Flynn, GasGas, USA
  15. Quinn Wentzel, Rieju, USA
  16. Tim Apolle, Beta, Germany
  17. Daniel Lewis, Beta, USA
  18. Gauge Logan-Key, GasGas, USA
  19. David Knight, KTM, Great Britain
  20. Mason George, Rieju, USA

2023 Red Bull Tennessee, Knockout eMoto Final Results

  1. Spenser Wilton, Electric Motion
  2. Joseph Van Roekel, KTM
  3. Bridger Greenman, KTM
  4. Nathan Bilbrey, Surron
  5. Brett Baldwin, Surron
  6. Jesse Ziegler, Surron

2023 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout Overall Amateur Results

  1. Kamakana Waiwaiole-Kahalepuna, GasGas
  2. Mason George, Rieju
  3. Maverik Thaxton, KTM
  4. Dylan Santoro, KTM
  5. Hayden Mosa, Rieju
  6. Huck Jenkins, KTM
  7. Carter Bouwens, KTM
  8. Devin Stephenson, Sherco
  9. Jared Kuehnhold, Husqvarna
  10. Wil Loyd, KTM

2023 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout Women’s Pro Class Results

  1. Kirsten Landman, KTM
  2. Rachel Gutish, GasGas
  3. Nikki Russell, Husqvarna
  4. Hallie Marks, Sherco

Detailed results for all 2023 classes 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.

Hart tops Bolt at the 2023 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout; Lettenbichler rounds out the podium

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

  1. Trystan Hart, KTM, Canada
  2. Billy Bolt, Husqvarna, Great Britain
  3. Manuel Lettenbichler, KTM, Germany
  4. Jonny Walker, Beta, Great Britain
  5. Cody Webb, Sherco, USA
  6. Ryder LeBlond, Husqvarna, USA
  7. Will Riordan, KTM, Australia
  8. Alfredo Gomez, Rieju, Spain
  9. Jordan Ashburn, Husqvarna, USA
  10. Pat Smage, Sherco, USA
  11. Matthew Green, KTM, South Africa
  12. Colton Haaker, Husqvarna, USA
  13. Logan Bolopue, Sherco, USA
  14. James Flynn, GasGas, USA
  15. Quinn Wentzel, Rieju, USA
  16. Tim Apolle, Beta, Germany
  17. Daniel Lewis, Beta, USA
  18. Gauge Logan-Key, GasGas, USA
  19. David Knight, KTM, Great Britain
  20. 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.

Video Recap: 2022 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout Full Weekend, Thursday in Nashville to Sunday at the TTC

The 2022 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout included four days of Hard Enduro racing action starting with the Prologue Straight Rhythm Enduro in downtown Nashville on Thursday night.

The riders and fans moved to the Trials Training Center in Sequatchie, Tennessee for the weekend and Friday and Saturday featured nearly 500 amateur riders including the inaugural ECR eMoto electric motorcycle race.

And finally on Sunday, the top 62 riders competed in four rounds of racing on the tough terrain and Canada’s Trystan Hart topped Manni Lettenbichler and Mario Roman for the TKO crown and his first FIM Hard Enduro World Championship race win.

Check out the full weekend recap video here:

Red Bull TV released a longer video focused on the Sunday pro racing and you can check out that video here:

Photo: Future7Media

2022 Red Bull Tennessee, Knockout Main Event Results

  1. Trystan Hart, KTM, Canada
  2. Manuel Lettenbichler, KTM, Germany
  3. Mario Roman, Sherco, Spain
  4. Wade Young, Sherco, South Africa
  5. Todor Kabakchiev, KTM, Bulgaria
  6. Alfredo Gomez, GasGas, Spain
  7. Ryder LeBlond, Husqvarna, USA
  8. Graham Jarvis, Husqvarna, Great Britain
  9. Cody Webb, Sherco, USA
  10. David Cyprian, KTM, Czechoslovakia
  11. Taddy Blazusiak, GasGas, Poland
  12. Dominik Olszowy, GasGas, Poland
  13. Patrick Smage, Sherco, USA
  14. Suff Sella, KTM, Israel
  15. Keith Curtis, Sherco, USA
  16. Logan Bolopue, Sherco, USA
  17. Cory Graffunder, Husqvarna, Canada
  18. Tim Apolle, Beta, Germany
  19. David Garza, Beta, Mexico
  20. Jordan Ashburn, Husqvarna, USA

Detailed results for all classes can be found here:

Hart tops Lettenbichler at Red Bull Tennessee Knockout; Mario Roman rounds out the podium

Trystan Hart (center), Manuel Lettenbichler (left) and Mario Roman finished first through third at the 2022 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout. Photo: Future7Media.

FMF KTM Factory Racing-backed Trystan Hart topped the 2022 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout. The Canadian dominated the day by setting the fastest times in all four rounds of racing that totaled nearly three hours on the rocky and challenging terrain. Red Bull KTM’s Manuel Lettenbichler finished second. The German was one minute and nineteen seconds behind Hart in the main event. Sherco Racing-backed Mario Roman finished third at the TKO to maintain a one point lead over Lettenbichler in the championship. The event served as round six of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship (HEWC) and also served as the AMA Grand Championship for Extreme Off-Road racing so world championship points were earned and an AMA number one plate.

In addition to the pro racing, the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout crowned amateur champions. Saturday included two rounds of amateur racing with race two serving as the championship-deciding race. During that second race, Tennessee’s Drew Kirby earned the number one spot with a winning time of fifty-eight minutes and five seconds on his KTM. Rodrigo Lopes finished 4 minutes and six seconds behind and Tyler Soriano rounded out the top three. Sixteen-year-old Chase Landers won the morning race and finished fourth in the race two. The top thirty riders also earned the opportunity to compete with the thirty-two pre-qualified pro riders that included ten of the HEWC riders.

Also on Saturday, Sam Bird raced an Electric Motion to beat JoJo Toole to win the inaugural ECR eMoto electric motorcycle class. Toole was riding a prototype XE4 conversion that utilized a Yamaha YZ250F motocross chassis. Jason Smith rounded out the podium on another Electric Motion. A total of twenty-four riders competed with seventeen completing the full loop. .

Other Saturday class winners among nearly 500 participants included Riley Bender in Amateur B, Nicholas Trailer in Amateur C, Stephen Thaxton in 45+ Vet and Seth Steiner in Youth Lites 12-15.

Sunday’s format consisted of four rounds of racing for the sixty-one riders that earned a spot and it started with the hot lap on a 1.6 mile “short course”. Hart set the fastest time of 7:41.30 seconds. Lettenbichler was second with a time of 7:45.47 and Roman rounded out the top three with a time of 7:49.04. Poland’s Taddy Blazusiak was fourth with a 7:52.00 on the Factory GasGas and American Ryder LeBlond put in the fifth fastest time at 7:55.02.

Round two included all sixty-one riders competing on an eleven mile “long-course” in the order of the hot-lap results and only the top twenty-five riders earn a spot in the next round. Hart again set the standard with a 56:03.61 time. Blazusiak was next with a 57:07.33 lap. Bulgarian Teodor Kabakchiev made his mark with the third fastest time of 57:20.13. Lettenbichler was fourth with a time of 58:35.84. Spain’s Alfredo Gomez was fifth with a time of 1:00:06.55.

There was a last-chance qualification race among the four riders that just missed the cut and Arizona’s James Flynn took that spot to be the last rider to make it to the second round for the second year in a row.

That second round places the riders into five groups (four groups of five and one group of six that included the LCQ winner Flynn). Those groups would be racing another loop on the “long-course” with some additional difficult sections added. The riders are just competing with the riders in their respective groups to take the top four spots to make up the twenty riders that make it to the main event. Hart won group one ahead of Hard Enduro GOAT Graham Jarvis, LeBlond and Israel’s Suff Salla. Roman won group two ahead of American Jordan Ashburn, Blasuzisak and multi-time Trials champion Pat Smage. Group three was won by Kabakchiev followed by FactoryOne Sherco’s Cody Webb, Poland’s Dominik Olszowy, and Germany’s Tim Apolle. Lettenbichler took the win in group four with Czechoslovakia’s David Cyprian second, American Keith Curtis third and Canada’s Cory Graffunder fourth. In the fifth group, South Africa’s Wade Young finished first on a Sherco. Spain’s Alfredo Gomez was second, American Logan Bolopue was third and Mexican David Garza was fourth. The five group winners earn front row starting positions and the second-place finishers start on row two and so on.

The main event was back on the short course with a 30-minute plus one lap race, which ended up taking thirty-seven minutes and forty-one seconds to complete. Hart took the early lead and opened a small gap on Lettenbichler who kept it close for the entire race but was never able to get close enough to make any pass attempts. But with the difficult hill climbs, rocks and roots, it was always close enough to keep things interesting. In the end, Hart finished 1:19.58 ahead of his fellow KTM rider.

Roman had to make a couple of first lap passes to get up to third place but he too was never able to get close enough to Lettenbichler to make any pass attempts. Young put in a good ride on his Sherco to finish in fourth position 5:13.46 behind Hart. Kabakchiev started the race in third position and dropped back to fifth, 7:46.71 behind the winner.

Gomez had to pass a few riders and ultimately finished sixth, just ten seconds ahead of LeBlond, who was the top American on his Dellullo Racing Husqvarna in seventh position. LeBlond was the last rider on the lead lap and finished the main event in 46:12.34.

Jarvis, the winner of the 2022 Red Bull Romanics event two weeks before the TKO, finished eighth. Webb was ninth on his Sherco and Cyprian rounded out the top ten on a KTM.

“It feels amazing to be standing on the top of the podium,” said Hart. “I am stoked to get the win here in North America, these boys have been kicking my butt the last couple of weekends (Erzberg and Romaniacs).” The Canadian will now be looking for a second in his home country at the Outliers Hard Enduro on August 27-28 in Calgary.

“Pretty stoked to be back racing in the US,” said Lettenbichler. “I had a pretty hard day, I hurt my heel in Nashville at the straight rhythm which was a little frustrating but I fought through it. Congrats to Mario who was riding good today and also to first place Trystan Hart because he dominated today.”

“Thank you very much to the crowd who was yelling Mario all day,” said Roman. “I had a fantastic day and a good battle with the boys. Knockout one, I was riding too relaxed but Knockout two, I rode better and got a first row start. In the main event, Teo made an aggressive pass in the first turn and I almost crashed and had to overtake some riders and do a good job for the Sherco racing team.”

The Women’s pro class competed along with the top amateurs on the more difficult race two and FactoryOne Sherco rider Louise Forsley took the win ahead of Beta USA’s Morgan Tanke. Nikki Russell rounded out the podium on a Husqvarna. Forsley took the AMA Grand Championship number one plate and impressively finished thirty-second overall among all the amateur riders.

2022 Red Bull Tennessee, Knockout Main Event Results

    1. Trystan Hart, KTM, Canada
    2. Manuel Lettenbichler, KTM, Germany
    3. Mario Roman, Sherco, Spain
    4. Wade Young, Sherco, South Africa
    5. Todor Kabakchiev, KTM, Bulgaria
    6. Alfredo Gomez, GasGas, Spain
    7. Ryder LeBlond, Husqvarna, USA
    8. Graham Jarvis, Husqvarna, Great Britain
    9. Cody Webb, Sherco, USA
    10. David Cyprian, KTM, Czechoslovakia
    11. Taddy Blazusiak, GasGas, Poland
    12. Dominik Olszowy, GasGas, Poland
    13. Patrick Smage, Sherco, USA
    14. Suff Sella, KTM, Israel
    15. Keith Curtis, Sherco, USA
    16. Logan Bolopue, Sherco, USA
    17. Cory Graffunder, Husqvarna, Canada
    18. Tim Apolle, Beta, Germany
    19. David Garza, Beta, Mexico
    20. Jordan Ashburn, Husqvarna, USA

Detailed results can be found here.

Keep an eye on Red Bull TV for several videos featuring the 2022 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout.

Trystan Hart dominated the 2022 TKO to take his first ever FIM Hard Enduro World Championship race win. Photo: Future7Media.
Manuel Lettenbichler finished second at the TKO to close to within one point of the FIM Hard Enduro Championship lead. Photo: Future7Media.
Mario Roman tamed the Tennessee rocks to finish third at the TKO. Photo: Future7Media.
Ryder LeBlond was the top American finisher in seventh. Photo: Future7Media.
FactoryOne Sherco rider Louise Forsley won the women’s class. Photo: Andrew Nguyen

 

Bolt tops Lettenbichler at Red Bull Tennessee Knockout; Trystan Hart rounds out podium

Billy Bolt (center) took the 2021 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout win in his first-ever trip to the US. Lettenbichler (left) and Trystan Hart rounded out the podium with strong rides in a stacked field of the best hard-enduro riders in the world. Photo: Future7Media

Billy Bolt finished just two seconds ahead of Manuel Lettenbichler to take the win at the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout at the Trials Training Center in Sequatchie, Tennessee. The Rockstar Husqvarna rider from the UK was impressive in his first-ever race in the United States but Germany’s Lettenbichler pushed him all the way to the finish on his Red Bull KTM. Canadian Trystan Hart rounded out the podium on his FMF KTM Racing ride. The event served as round five of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship (HEWC) and also served as the AMA Grand Championship for Extreme Off-Road racing so world championship points were earned and an AMA number one plate.

In addition to the pro racing, the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout crowned amateur champions. Saturday included two rounds of amateur racing with race two serving as the championship-deciding race. During that second race, Jared Lambe earned the number one spot with a winning time of one hour, fifteen minutes, and thirty-seven seconds on his KTM. Tobin Miller finished just four seconds behind on a Beta for second and Sherco rider Jackson Davis rounded out the top three. The top thirty riders also earned the opportunity to compete with the thirty-two pre-qualified pro and riders that included ten of the HEWC riders.

New for 2021, there was a Red Bull Straight Rhythm Prologue event to give the top 24 riders an opportunity to earn a spot in a 16 rider bracket race. Bolt and Taddy Blazusiak worked their way to the final round to face off for the win, which ultimately went to Bolt. Bolt was impressive with a skip over a large log pile helping him to take the win. This allowed him to pick his starting spot for the Sunday morning Hot Lap and earn an extra $1000.

Sunday’s format consisted of four rounds of racing for the sixty riders that earned a spot and it started with the Hot Lap on a 1.5 mile “short course”. Lettenbichler set the fastest time with a 6:06.10 lap time. Bolt was second just 1.9 seconds behind and Hart was third with Jonny Walker and Blazusiak rounded out the top five.

The sixty riders moved on to Knock Out round one, which used an 18-mile “long-course” and only the top twenty-five riders would move on to the next round. Lettenbichler led the field that started in thirty-second intervals. Bolt managed to close the gap to Lettenbichler and finish right behind him but set the fastest elapsed time of fifty-five minutes and thirty-one seconds. Lettenbichler was just 14 seconds back on time for second place. Hart was again impressive with a third-place finish but was nearly two minutes behind Bolt. Pennsylvania’s Ryder LeBlond put in an impressive rider for fourth place and Cody Webb rounded out the top five.

There was a last-chance qualification race among the four riders that just missed the cut and Arizona’s James Flynn took that spot to be the last rider to make it to the second round.

That second round places the riders into five groups (four groups of five and one group of six that included the LCQ winner Flynn). Those groups would be racing another loop on the “long-course” with some additional difficult sections added. They were just racing among their respective groups for the top three spots to earn one of the fifteen spots in the main event. Bolt won group one ahead of Spain’s Alfredo Gomez and Australian Will Riordan. Lettenbichler won group two over Magna1 Husqvarna’s Jordan Ashburn, who is a Tennessee native, and GasGas rider Michael Walkner, who is from Austria. Canada’s Hart won group three ahead of Spain’s Mario Roman and Bulgarian Teodor Kabakchiev. Wade Young from South Africa won group four ahead of Pennsylvania’s Leblond and Ohio’s Nick Fahringer. And in the final group, Beta’s Jonny Walker from the UK edged out Webb with Canada’s Cory Graffunder taking the final spot in the main.

The main event was back onto the short course with a 30-minute plus one lap race, which ended up taking thirty-seven minutes and thirty seconds to complete. Bolt and Lettenbichler battled back and forth for all six laps with the two of them exchanging the lead after mistakes on the difficult course. Each rider made mistakes and handed over the lead but neither rider managed to open a gap. Lettenbichler made the last mistake on the final lap to allow Bolt to get ahead of him and they entered the finish straight, which included several logs nose to tail. Lettenbichler made a push to the finish that resulted in a crash as he crossed the finish line. The two Hard Enduro stars embraced on the track in celebration of the great battle.

Hart rode the entire race in third place and closed the gap a few times but never got close enough to challenge the top two, He instead had to worry about Sherco’s Wade Young, who pressured him throughout the main event and nearly passed him for the final podium spot on the last lap when Hart did not make it up a waterfall section. Hart recovered to hold on for third with Young fourth.

Roman and Gomez battled for fifth and sixth throughout the race with Roman taking the spot.

Walker and Webb had an equally exciting battle for eighth and ninth with Walker getting the upper hand when Webb did not make it up a tough uphill on the final lap.

LeBlond didn’t get the start he needed and had to fight back for a ninth-place finish on his Dullulo Racing Team Husqvarna. Teodor Kabakchiev rounded out the top ten.

Ashburn finished eleventh. Walner was twelfth, Riordan finished thirteenth, Fahringer was fourteenth and Graffunder finished fifteenth.

“It was hard work, the first and second races were harder than I expected,” Bolt said. “I finished the first one and thought, oh, this is going to be a long day. Then we had another long race before the main event. The main event is a little different than many hard enduros but I enjoyed it and if you look around, you can see that none of us have anything left so it is harder than it sounds. I enjoyed my first race here in the US.”

“The pace was really high today. In the main, Billy and I got a good start with Billy right behind me. I think everyone got super tired at the end,” Lettenbichler said. “It was really nice to race in front of the American fans. That finish was a bit crazy as I was trying to whip it a little bit at the finish and turned into a pretty big high side but we put on a good show for the fans here. I will need to beat Billy at the next one in Poland to hopefully get some more points back on him.”

“I am actually probably happier about this podium than I was with the win last year,” Hart said. “This field was so stacked so to get a podium among these riders was great. I got third off the start and those first two just sprinted so hard that I lost some time but then I was able to ride a really strong race until the last lap when I didn’t make it up a waterfall and had to turn around and try again. I could see that Wade (Young) was right there so it was close.”

The Women’s classes had a total of eleven amateur riders and three pro riders. The amateur women competed along with the Saturday Amateur race one and Samantha McLeod took the win on her Yamaha and qualified to move on to race two. Mesa Lange finished second on a KTM ahead of fellow KTM rider Stephanie Daniels.

The Women’s pro class competed along with the top amateurs on the more difficult race two and KTM rider Shelby Turner took the win over Sherco’s Louise Forsley and Georgia Eversol on a KTM. Turner took the AMA Grand Championship number one plate and impressively finished seventeenth overall among all the amateur riders.

2021 Red Bull Tennessee, Knockout Main Event Results

  1. Billy Bolt, Husqvarna
  2. Manuel Lettenbichler, KTM
  3. Trystan Hart, KTM
  4. Wade Young, Sherco
  5. Mario Roman, Sherco
  6. Alfredo Gomez, Husqvarna
  7. Jonny Walker, Beta
  8. Cody Webb, Sherco
  9. Ryder LeBlond, Husqvarna
  10. Teodor Kabakchiev, Husqvarna
  11. Jordan Ashburn, Husqvarna
  12. Michael Walkner, GasGas
  13. Will Riordan, KTM
  14. Nick Fahringer, Sherco
  15. Cory Graffunder, Husqvanra

The 2021 TKO will again be featured on Red Bull TV with more details to be announced.

The sprint format of the TKO final suited Bolt’s strengths. Photo: Future7Media
Manuel Lettenbichler managed to hang onto a small lead over Bolt in the FIM Hard Enduro world championship with a second place. Photo: Future7Media
Canadian Trystan Hart was the top North American rider at the 2021 TKO. The defending champion put in a strong ride among a world class field. Photo: Future7Media
Wade Young and his Sherco teammate Mario Roman finished fourth and fifth at the TKO. Photo: Future7Media