The Kenda Full Gas Sprint Enduro Series presented by PRI Powersports Insurance kicked off its 2017 schedule with the opening round of the season at MotoVated Sports Complex near Gaston, South Carolina, where Coastal Racing’s Ryan Sipes claimed a 32-second victory over SRT Racing’s Steward Baylor.
Sipes’ win was his first in the Kenda Full Gas Sprint Enduro Series, however, in his defense, the Kentucky rider has spent the last year dealing with assorted injuries, the most recent – a broken arm – which kept him from competing in last year’s ISDE in Spain.
Determined to pick up the pace in the Enduro tests, Sipes spent most of Saturday evening walking the Enduro tests, checking out the lines and burning them into his memory. All the walking paid off, as the Husqvarna rider dominated Sunday’s competition, winning all six tests. Meanwhile Baylor finished second in each of the tests except for the fifth test, where he crashed heavily and nearly ripped off his radiator.
After two days of racing, Sipes picked up 28 seconds on Baylor on Sunday to claim the overall win by a comfortable 32-second margin.
“It’s good to get my first win in this series – it’s a series and a format I like,” said Sipes. “Yesterday I struggled a bit in the Enduro tests and that didn’t sit well with me. I won all three of the Cross tests, but I feel like I should be winning those because of my motocross background. I wanted to win the Enduro test too, so I spent a little extra time looking at lines and it worked out.”
RESULTS OVERALL
- Ryan Sipes (Hsq) 1:10:44.703
- Steward Baylor (KTM) 1:11:16.688
- Jordan Ashburn (Bet) 1:12:05.633
- Russell Bobbitt (KTM) 1:12:07.261
- Cory Buttrick (KTM) 1:12:24.032
- Jesper Borjesson (Hsq) 1:12:47.527
- Ricky Russell (Yam) 1:12:49.600
- Ian Blythe (KTM) 1:12:58.707
- Craig DeLong (Hsq) 1:13:55.981
- Jesse Groemm (KTM) 1:13:12.530
