The 2026 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout (TKO) included three days of action at the Trials Training Center in Sequatchie, Tennessee. The sixteenth annual TKO served as the eighth and final round of the AMA National Hard Enduro Championship and attracted over five-hundred and forty entries from around the world. Most of those riders are just trying to finish one round, but the serious racers aim to be one of the top twenty that qualify for the Sunday main event.
Check out the full weekend recap video here:
If you want to see what the pro short-course looks like from a pro’s POV, check out Mani Lettenbichler’s full-main event GoPro video here:
TKO 2026 started on Friday, August 28, with kids classes for the first time. That was followed by nearly 500 riders competing in the amateur Hot-Lap qualifying session to set the starting positions for the two Saturday races.
Saturday had two amateur racing rounds with the top two-hundred and fifty riders moving on to round two. Hawaii’s Boogie Rivera was the overall winner in both races riding a Bullet Proof Designs-backed KTM. Fellow Hawaiian Makana Barger finished second in both races on a KTM, and Ayden Marinchek rounded out the top three riding a KTM. All three of those riders were competing in the A class. The top thirty riders from race two, plus an LCQ winner, also earned the opportunity to compete with the thirty-three pro riders, who kicked off their racing on Saturday afternoon, followed by three rounds of racing on Sunday.
The Women’s pro class competed along with the top amateurs on Saturday with two rounds of racing. Rachel Gutish took the win on her Rieju and finished twenty-seventh overall. Katie Hall-Leah finished second riding a TM. Nikki Russell rounded out the podium on a GasGas.
In the eMoto Sportsman class, Australian Adam Giles took the win riding an RFN with a total time of 1:17:00. Brett Baldwin finished just six seconds behind riding a Bonnell, and Isaac Johnston rounded out the podium on a Zero, just over two minutes behind.
Sunday included three rounds of racing for the top sixty-six riders who qualified for the final day of racing. The first round of racing was an elimination race with only the top 30 moving on to the second round along with one more LCQ winner to make it thirty-one.
Race two was another Knockout round with the top thirty-one riders racing in five groups, and only the top twenty riders moved into the final race. Red Bull KTM’s Manuel Lettenbichler, Trystan Hart, Eddie Karlsson, Kamakana Waiwaiole-Kahalepuna and Billy Bolt won their respective groups to earn front row starts.
Red Bull KTM’s Lettenbichler won the final race after a pass on Hart midway through the first lap. Hart finished second with Bolt third. Karlsson and Jonny Walker rounded out the top five. The top five finishers included three two-strokes, one electric bike and one four-stroke.
Special thanks to IRC Tires, Motorex, USWE, Surron, Fox Racing, AXP, ZERO Motorcycles, Electric Cycle Rider, RFN motorcycles, Yozma, Decal Works, Heybike, Yamaha, Triumph and Rugged Radios.
Video edited by Ryan McCasland with filming by McCasland, Max Gerston, Owen Gorsuch, Benton Drones, Matt Musgrove and Josh Schaecher.
2026 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout Main Event Results
Mani Lettenbichler won the sixteenth annual Red Bull Tennessee Knockout on his Red Bull KTM. It was the German rider’s fourth TKO win at the Trials Training Center in Sequatchie, Tennessee and his third in a row. FMF KTM’s Trystan Hart finished second. It was the Canadian’s third consecutive runner-up finish at the TKO to go along with three wins in prior years. The UK’s Billy Bolt rounded out the podium on his Husqvarna.
Mani Lettenbichler (center), Trystan Hart (left) and Billy Bolt finished first, second and third respectively at the 2026 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout. Photo by Christian Pondella, Red Bull Content Pool.
A total of 535 entries kicked off three days of racing on Friday with five youth and peewee classes taking on a special course in the morning. That was followed by the amateur hot laps to set the starting order for two rounds of Saturday racing followed by four rounds of pro-class racing that started on Saturday afternoon and concluded on Sunday afternoon.
The pro class racing started on Saturday afternoon with the hot-laps and Lettenbichler set the fastest time of 6:10.528. Sweden’s Eddie Karlsson was closest with a 6:42.455 lap on his Stark. Hart was third with a 6:44.756 lap, and Bolt was fourth with a 6:56.682. Husqvarna’s Ryder LeBlond finished fifth in 6:56.719. Toby Martyn, Cody Webb, Jonny Walker, Matthew Green and Kawelo Huddy rounded out the top ten respectively.
Germany’s Mani Lettenbichler took his third consecutive Red Bull Tennessee Knockout win. The KTM Factory Racing rider dominated all four rounds of racing. Photo by Christian Pondella, Red Bull Content Pool.
The top sixty-six riders started the first of three knockout rounds of racing on Sunday morning on the 14-mile “long course” and the top 30 earned a trip to the TKO Knockout race two. Lettenbichler topped the time sheets again with a time of 1:01:24. Hart was just 34 seconds slower and Karlsson continued to show good form to finish just 59 seconds behind Lettenbichler. Walker was impressive on his Triumph 450 four-stroke with a time just 1:33 from the top spot and the fourth fastest time. Bolt was 3:23 behind in fifth. South African Matthew Stevens was sixth followed by Martyn, Webb, Hawaii’s Kamakana Waiwaiole-Kahalepuna and fellow Hawaiian, Kawelo Huddy rounded out the top ten.
Trystan Hart held off a strong pack of riders to finish second at the 2026 TKO. The Canadian made a few costly mistakes during the main event. Photo by Christian Pondella, Red Bull Content Pool.
The next round changes format: a total of 31 riders (the top thirty plus one rider who earned a spot via an LCQ Straight Rhythm Duel win) are split into four groups of six and one group of seven including the LCQ winner and ride another lap on the long course with some additional hard sections added. Only the top four riders in each group qualify for the main event. Lettenbichler won group one followed by Stevens, Beta-IRC’s Branden Petrie and James Flynn. Hart won group two followed by Martyn, Braxton Hintze and Riley Bender. Karlsson won group three followed by Webb, Ryder Guest and Green. Waiwaiole-Kahalepuna won group four followed by LeBlond, Walker and Makana Barger, who qualified in via the Saturday amateur racing. Bolt won group five ahead of Huddy, Niko Piazza and Coran Calvert.
Husqvarna’s Billy Bolt put in a late race charge to try to take second but ultimately had to settle for third. This was still a good result in his second race back from an arm injury. Photo by Christian Pondella, Red Bull Content Pool.
The top twenty riders moved on to the main event on the short course for a multi-lap race of 45 minutes plus one lap. Hart launched into the lead at the start and led the riders into rocky creek bed, but Lettenbichler quickly took over the top spot leading into the Red Bull Ravine, which included a new obstacle called Bad Behavior followed by a technical downhill, some massive boulder sections and three technical hill climbs.
Eddie Karlsson had the speed to contend for a podium spot, but a derailed chain forced him to play catchup on his Stark Varg EX. He recovered for fourth position. Photo by Calafia Concepts.
Lettenbichler led for all eight laps and finished with a total time of 59:55.957. The battle for second was intense with Karlsson pressuring Hart during the early laps before a derailed chain dropped him outside the top five. Hart took a tumble that allowed Lettenbichler to open a gap, and a crash in Bad Behavior later cost Hart the position to Bolt. Hart fought his way back to second, but Bolt kept the pressure on to the finish. Hart ended up finishing nearly three minutes behind Lettenbichler and just six seconds ahead of Bolt, who rounded out the podium.
Jonny Walker crashed at the start but came back strong to finish fifth on the Triumph 450 four-stroke. Photo by Christian Pondella, Red Bull Content Pool.
Karlsson fought back from his derailed chain to take fourth position, just over four minutes behind Bolt. Walker crashed on the first straight but managed to work his way back up to fourth position before a small crash on the last lap dropped him back to fifth.
Cody Webb was the top American finisher in sixth position. The Yamaha YZ250X rider was in contention for the top five for most of the race. Photo by Christian Pondella, Red Bull Content Pool.
Webb finished sixth on his Yamaha. He held fourth position early in the race before Karlsson and Walker found a way by. Martyn, the former British and US Trials champion, finished seventh on a Stark. Nineteen-year-old Stevens finished eighth on a KTM. LeBlond finished ninth on his Husqvarna and Huddy rounded out the top ten on a KTM.
2026 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout Main Event Results
The Women’s pro class competed along with the top amateurs on Saturday with two rounds of racing. Rachel Gutish took the win on her Rieju and finished twenty-seventh overall. Katie Hall-Leah finished second riding a TM. Nikki Russell rounded out the podium on a GasGas.
Amateur classes
In addition to the pro racing, the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout included several amateur classes. Saturday included two rounds of amateur racing. Hawaii’s Boogie Rivera was the overall winner in both races riding a Bullet Proof Designs-backed KTM. Fellow Hawaiian Makana Barger finished second in both races on a KTM and Ayden Marinchek rounded out the top three riding a KTM. All three of those riders were competing in the A class. The top thirty riders also earned the opportunity to compete with the thirty-three pro riders, which kicked off their racing on Saturday afternoon followed by three rounds of racing on Sunday.
Other Saturday class winners among nearly 500 amateur participants included Robert Cornwell in A Vet 30+, Drew Kirby in A Senior 40+, Shawn Tescher in A Super Senior 50+, Karsen Fulton in Amateur B, Adam McCluskey in 4-Stroke Sportsman, Phillip Arnold in Schoolboy B 12-17, Benson Hickman in Youth SM-BW 12-15 and Alexis Burback in Women’s Amateur.
In the eMoto Sportsman class, Australian Adam Giles took the win riding an RFN with a total time of 1:17:00. Brett Baldwin finished just six seconds behind riding a Bonnell and Isaac Johnston rounded out the podium on a Zero, just over two minutes behind.
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.
