Zanesville, Ohio, August 28, 2011 – Nick Fahringer made it three wins in a row with a dramatic come from behind win at the Big Muskie National Enduro in Zanesville, Ohio – round nine of the AMA/Rekluse National Enduro Series.
Heading into the final test of the 65-mile, six-test event, Fahringer sat in third position behind FMF/KTM teammates Cory Buttrick and Charlie Mullins. However, after being prodded by team manager Antti Kallonen to “go for broke”, the Ohio rider did just that and made up nearly a full minute on the leaders to take a one-second victory over Am Pro Yamaha’s Thad DuVall, who also eclipsed Buttrick and Mullins in the final test to finish second.
“Heading into that last test I realized I had nothing to lose, so I just started hitting the RPMs, found the right gears and starting hitting my lines and I pulled off a fast time and won the thing by a second,” said Fahringer. “That last test was a long and technical one and that’s what I do.”
DuVall became the last of the top Pros to make the switch to a two-stroke and borrowed a Yamaha YZ250 to race in the Ohio event and the move was obviously a good one.
“I felt really good on the bike and I got better and better on it as the day went on as you can tell by my final test,” said DuVall.
In the meantime, Buttrick rode his best race of the year to finish third, 14 seconds behind DuVall, while Mullins rounded out the top four another nine seconds back.
FMF/KTM’s Russell Bobbitt came into the race with a one-point lead in the series standings, but finished a disappointing fifth, which leaves him sitting one point behind Mullins with one race to go on the schedule, which is the series finale at Matthews, Indiana, on October 1, 2011.
After nine events, Mullins holds the standings with 210 points, followed by Bobbitt with 209, Fahringer with 198, and Buttrick with 181. Eight-time national champ Mike Lafferty sits fifth overall with 144 points after finishing sixth in Ohio
