The fact that Russell Bobbitt never gave up earned him his first overall win of the season in the Kenda AMA National Enduro Series this weekend at the Rad Dad National Enduro in Westpoint, Tennessee. Bobbitt went into the final test trailing his FMF/KTM teammate Kailub Russell by 44 seconds, but turned in a brilliant ride on the slippery, eight-mile stretch of single-track to edge Russell by a just 4 seconds to take the overall win.
Hard overnight rains left most of the course wet and slick, which played havoc with the trail, and after a tricky first test it was Russell with the early lead, beating out N-Fab/AmPro Yamaha’s Grant Baylor by 16 seconds. Bobbitt was third, just one-second back.
Russell also won the second test by 18 seconds over Bobbitt to extend his lead on his teammate. However, Bobbitt started to pick up his pace by test three, winning three of the four next tests, including his exceptional ride in the six and final test.
“I just kept pushing and never gave up,” said Bobbitt. “You can’t ever think you’re out of it or you will be.”
A disappointed Russell missed his first National Enduro win by just four seconds but he can take heart in the fact that he still owns the points lead by nine points over Bobbitt.
Third went to Steward Baylor, on the Moto-Tech KTM, who lost a lot of time when he took a scary crash in test five. However, his win in test four was enough to keep the South Carolina rider in the hunt.
Steward’s brother, Grant Baylor, was fourth on the N-Fab/Am Pro Yamaha, while Grant’s Aussie teammate Daniel Milner was fifth.
Sixth and seventh went to Beta USA teammates Cory Buttrick and Jesse Groemm, receptively. Buttrick ran as high as fourth, but a bit of a struggle in the final test cost the Ohioan to drop to sixth. Meanwhile, Groemm was making his return to racing after suffering a concussion before the season.
Eight was Steward Baylor’s Moto-Tech KTM teammate Trevor Bolinger, with Husqvarna’s Craig DeLong and AirGroup Racing Husqvarna’s Ryder Lafferty.
In the Rekluse Expert-AA class, KTM-mounted Drew Higgins won all six tests to take a big win over fellow KTM rider Evan Smith and Obermeyer Suzuki’s Jake Froman.
“I made s few mistakes in the last three tests,” said Higgins. “I was trying to get around lappers and kept getting hung up in the vines, but I was able to hold on to take the win.
Higgins finished the event four minutes and nine second ahead of Smith, with Froman another two minutes back.
The Kenda AMA National Enduro Series returns to action on May 17th in Park Hills, Missouri for the Lead Belt Enduro, round five of the series. For more information on the Kenda AMA National Enduro Series, go to www.nationalenduro.com.
Results
Kenda AMA National Enduro Series
Round 4
Westpoint, TN
April 19, 2015
1. Russell Bobbitt (KTM)
2. Kailub Russell (KTM)
3. Steward Baylor (KTM)
4. Grant Baylor (Yam)
5. Daniel Milner (Yam)
6. Cory Buttrick (Bet)
7. Jesse Groemm (Bet)
8. Trevor Bollinger (KTM)
9. Craig DeLong (Hus)
10. Ryder Lafferty (Hus)
