Round 3 of the IRC Tires Endurocross Presented by Progressive Series was a fun one for Canadian Enduro fans. Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing) bounced back from what he referred to as terrible Rounds 1 & 2 to take the overall win tonight, and to move up from 5th to 3rd overall in the series here in Idaho Falls, ID. Canadian Melissa Harten (Beta Racing Canada) kept things rolling in the Pro Women’s class with a P2 on the night that further solidified her hold on 2nd overall in the series with three rounds left.
Spenser Wilton (aka The People’s Champ) was ready to rumble for Round 3.The pits outside the arena were pretty chilly today, but at least it didn’t snow like the day before!Canadian Enduro legend, Shelby Turner, chatting here with 2023 AMA Hard Enduro Series champ, Hallie Marks (Sherco USA), was in the house for her TV commentating duties while she recovers from double ACL surgeries.Gus Riordan (FMF RPM KTM Racing) made a guest appearance fresh off his win at the final round of the GNCC series to wrench for his brother Will here at Round 3. We chatted briefly, and he’s thinking about possibly riding one or both of the upcoming Endurocross rounds in Redmond, OR and Reno, NV.The track was the story for the first part of the day here in Idaho Falls. Riders had voiced their opinions Thursday about the lack of a big technical feature that would help to separate the field. The promoters obliged by adding in a wicked log matrix, which ended up being almost non-race-able for the vast majority of the fields here. Changes were made to the matrix throughout the day, and a log was eventually removed to keep the obstacle flowing. Cody Webb (FactoryOne Sherco) chipped in to do a little shovel-work during the Pro track walk.A boil-over in the log matrix during Pro Women’s afternoon racing.This is German pro Tim Apolle (Beta Racing USA) doubling the last feature before the finish line in practice yesterday afternoon. It was, from my perspective, a really cool little section that would play to riders who could get on the throttle hard after exiting the final corner. Tim was rear-wheel tapping it on the way over, which just looked sick. This section was changed after practice/qualifying to slow things down over the jump. Not sure why, but in the end it may have been a bit too much of a huck-to-flat situation? Racers had to hit the revised section/feature blind when racing started. Rachel Gutish (P1 overall and winner of Round 3) described it as the ‘mystery feature’ when I interviewed her post-race.The rock garden was pretty good in Round 3. Just the right mix of speed and carnage! Canadian pro Spenser Wilton (HTR GasGas) showed good form and speed through here in practice.Branden Petrie (Sherco Enduro Racing) looked good in Round 3. His highlight was a P7 in Moto 2, but a broken tire bead in Moto 3 resulted in a DNF that likely dropped him out of the top 10 overall in the series.Rachel Gutish (Over & Out Racing / GasGas) continued her dominance of the Women’s Pro class with her third P1 in three rounds.Calgary-based Melissa Harten (Beta Canada Racing) had a great night with P2 on a gnarly course!Hallie Marks (Sherco USA) finished up P3 after having a titanic struggle with the feature that was added after practice and that had to be ridden blind for the race.Your Pro Women’s podium: Rachel Gutish P1, Melissa Harten P2, Haille Marks P3.Colton Haaker (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Racing), shown here taking the win in Moto 2, had a great Round 3. He went 4-1-5/P4 and wore a hot dog suit during the rider introductions. Style for miles!This was the key moment in Moto 2. Jonny Walker crashed on the exit of the log matrix while leading, allowing Colton Haaker (out of frame), Trystan Hart and Cody Webb to get by him. Those three would finish the moto in that order, with Walker race-managing his way to P4.Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing) takes first place checkers in Moto 3 to finish 1-2-1 on the night for 1st overall. He also moved himself up from 5th to 3rd in the Series overall standings.Did you even win the round if you didn’t do a burn-out?Jonny Walker had some very heated words with teammate Tim Apolle after Moto 3. Apolle took Walker out as Walker was lapping him behind Trystan, and Walker dropped from 2nd to 3rd in the Moto.It had been a rough night for Walker already, losing his first motos of the series and then getting taken out while racing Trystan for the win in the final moto.Your Pro Men’s podium: Tyrstan Hart (1-2-1) 1st, Jonny Walker (2-4-3) 2nd, Cody Webb (5-3-2) P3. That’s a lot of Red Bull up there…Aussie Will Riordan (FMF RPM KTM Racing) wasn’t happy with his 8-10-10/P9 night and was clearly feeling pretty bagged here at the end of it, but when I chatted with him post-race he was sounding pretty motivated to rectify things the next day in Round 4.Celebration time!The Robot is a really a big squishy lovebird underneath that world-class athlete exterior!
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