Last Man Standing Update

Paul Carruthers | October 19, 2005
 The following release is from Red Bull…

Scores of the toughest motorcycle riders in the country have officially accepted invitations to compete in next month’s inaugural Red Bull Last Man Standing, a multi-stage, off-road elimination event near the Texas-Oklahoma border.

On November 12, 2005, under the nocturnal skies above North Texas, only one of the more than 100 entered riders will earn the newly-coveted “Last Man Standing” title. The entry list represents the best of various off-road racing series across the country, including such notable riders as current seven-time AMA National Enduro champion Mike Lafferty and nine-time AMA Trials champion Geoff Aaron. Former Baja 1000 winner Jimmy Lewis and select additional wildcard riders from Canada and the World Enduro Championship series also plan to compete.

“The rider list cuts across the disciplines of Enduro, Hare Scramble, Cross Country and Desert racing,” says Josh Whitaker of KTM North America, a leading manufacturer of off-road motorcycles. “Rider response to the format has been phenomenal.”

MAN AND BIKE VERSUS NATURE

Located northwest of Dallas/Fort Worth, the Red River Motorcycle Trails near Bulcher, Texas offer riders a unique opportunity to ride a variety of North America’s most difficult terrain in a single race environment. The 40-mile competition loop features steep, rocky uphill climbs, breathtaking descents, rocks the size of cars, trees so tight you can barely walk through them, 100 mph straight-aways, hard packed, perfect loamy dirt and sugar sand.

“I can’t begin to explain how stoked I am to be a part of Red Bull Last Man Standing,” said 34-year-old Karl Harris (Springfield, MO), who has competed across Texas and the Mid-South for nearly a decade. “I have preached, harped, and pitched how badly our sport needs events of this type in the middle of the country for years. It is a great honor to me to be invited.”

IT’S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY

Red Bull Last Man Standing is comprised of four elimination stages (one lap each) and starts by pitting all invited riders on the 40-mile circuit. The first two 40-mile laps are run during the day, the second two laps at night and in reverse. Only the top half of the riders move on after each lap until 25 are left for the fourth and final stage lap and the rider who wins is crowned “Last Man Standing,” staking a claim to a majority share of $18,000 in total prize money.

For event information and updates, please visit http://www.redbulllastmanstanding.com/.

Paul Carruthers | Editor

Paul Carruthers took over as the editor of Cycle News in 1993 after serving as associate editor since starting his career at the publication in 1985. Carruthers has covered every facet of the sport in his near-28-year tenure at America's Daily Motorcycle News Source.