Sherco backed Quinn Wentzel topped the 2020 Iowan Hard Enduro results over the weekend. The inaugural event took place in Spragueville, Iowa. Wentzel narrowly beat eleven-time US Trials champion Pat Smage. The two riders battled to the finish with Wentzel taking the win by just nine seconds after two hours of racing. And another Sherco rider rounded out the podium as Nich Fahringer finished third.
KTM rider Ryder LeBlond finished fourth and Chuck Dulullo rounded out the top five on a Husqvarna.
The Iowan was originally scheduled for early April but was pushed back to May 10th, due to the Covid-19 stay in place orders. About 100 riders participated in the event that featured a three-round format. There was a morning hot-lap, which was won by LeBlond in a time of 21 minutes and 5 seconds. Next up was an elimination race, which Wentzel won over Smage with a time of 59 minutes and 13 seconds. The top fifty riders moved onto the main event.
Only Wentzel and Smage completed 3.5 laps as Fahringer missed the cutoff to start that last lap.
“The first two laps, I had about a 45 second lead on Pat. He caught up to me when I made a mistake at the end of lap two and then we battled all the way to the finish. I knew he was there as he almost passed me a few times,” said Wentzel. “The course was really good. When I walked it on Saturday, I thought it might be a little too easy, but it rained on Saturday night and that made it much more difficult,” Wentzel continued.
For Smage, this was the first-ever Hard Enduro event for the top US Trials rider. “Had a bunch of time and energy-wasting mistakes early in the main that set me back but ended up battling Quinn for the lead from about the halfway point to the end…I have a lot to learn, change and work on if I want to do any more of this wild racing,” Smage said.
2020 Iowan Hard Enduro Results
- Quinn Wentzel, Shr
- Pat Smage, Shr
- Nick Fahringer, Shr
- Ryder LeBlond, KTM
- Chuck Dulullo, Hus
- Daniel Lewis, Hus
- Jackson Davis, Shr
- Tobin Miller, Bet
- Austin Wells, Hus
- Brad Swailes, KTM
Full results: https://www.livelaps.com/clients/?3080
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