Returning after a foot injury, Cody Webb and his “couch surfing” activities take the crown on the Kenda Tennessee Knockout event ahead of Manuel Lettenbichler and Mario Roman, and winning his six consecutive on the said event.
The challenging tracks, courses and slippery conditions this weekend fills up the intensity and excitement of this event.
262 Amateurs and 31 pre-qualified pro riders battled against each other on different course races during Saturday and final hit on Sunday. Kekoa Estrella took home the title on AMA Amateur Extreme Enduro Grand National Championship that brings his ticket to play on Sunday.
The Sunday morning program started with a ‘Hot Lap’ on a mile long tracks and trails. Cody Webb finishes first and earns first starting position on the next round with 4:33. Wade Young, the 2018 Red Bull Romaniacs winner, was second with 4:43, ahead of Manuel Lettenbichler (5:12), Mario Roman (5:26) and Colton Haaker in fifth (6:06).
Round two
The round two consists of 14 mile loop in thirty second intervals among riders to start. Wade Young and Manuel Lettenbichler speeds up the pace to battle with Cody Webb opening the gap to whoever wins in the last few moments.
Wade Young set the fastest time at 1:08:54, Manuel Lettenbichler finished with 1:09:30, and Cody Webb with the third place with 1:10:20. The fastest twenty-six riders moved on to round three.
Round three switched to a multi-rider head-to-head format for the fastest 25 riders split into five groups of five with a 26th rider was added to group six as the LCQ alternate. The second and third place finishers in each group also moved on to the fifteen-rider main event. The winners on each group earned starting front position on the third round. Lettenbichler, Roman, Webb, Enockl and Haaker won their respective groups.
Main event
The main event sets on a short course for a 30-minute plus one lap battle. Haaker jump into the lead as he showcase on the woods but still struggled on the tough climb exiting the waterfall that proved to be the most challenging part. Cody Webb took the advantage on Haaker’s error regaining the lead once again. The top five positions remained the same for almost every lap. Roman drafts back with Webb but at the halfway point, Roman began to fall back towards Manuel Lettenbichler ending up the final top five results. Cody Webb finished first ahead of Lettenbichler at 1:28 more. Roman, Young and Haaker complete the top five.
Cody Webb said: “I kind of conserved some energy in those early races and I think that helped me for the main, but I still felt like I was going to die out there.I was definitely worried, especially with all the competition coming over from Europe. Some of Hard Enduro’s biggest hitters came over here and I had eight weeks of doing something socially and only eight days on the bike since my injury so I was happy to get another win.” Webb broke his foot at Erzbergrodeo in June that gives him a limited time to prepare on this event.
Manuel Lettenbichler continues his great season with this second place and stepping up in the podium in his first TKO visit. Manuel said: “I am super proud of second place and I passed Mario a few laps from the end, so I am stoked about that. I really enjoyed it, the main event was super gnarly with the slippery rocks and humidity, and it is not like this in Germany. But overall, It was a nice event.”
Roman completes the podium finishing third at the TKO for the second consecutive year. “I came here with more preparation because last year I suffered a lot, so I prepared more for the short, sprint main event; I have to thank Sherco USA and the friends I met last year for helping me for this event.”
Women’s class
The Saturday Women’s Class event also put the women on an exciting race for the fans and also for the community of Enduro racing. Rachel Gutish took home the win ahead Nikki Russell and Allie Dorsey completing the podium.
2018 Kenda Tennessee, Knockout main event results:
- Cody Webb, KTM
- Manuel Lettenbichler, KTM
- Mario Roman, Sherco
- Wade Young, Sherco
- Colton Haaker, Husqvarna
- Trystan Hart, Husqvarna
- Lars Enockl, GasGas
- Jordan Ashburn, Beta
- Ben Kelley, KTM
- Chris Satterfield, KTM
- Benjamin Herrera Ried, Beta
- Casey Satterfield, Husqvarna
- Quinn Wentzel, Husqvarna
- Grayson Gonsalves, Husqvarna
- Chuck DeLullo, Husqvarna