Shan Moore | June 20, 2022
Tension was high for title contenders Josh Toth (FMF/KTM) and Layne Michael (AmPro Yamaha), as the two riders came into the eighth and final round of the 2022 U.S. Sprint Enduro Series in Harleywood, Virginia, June 18-19, with the championship still very much up for grabs. However, the fight wouldn’t be settled just by Toth and Michael since Coastal Racing GasGas’ Johnny Girroir was hot off of a win at the previous round and could possibly be a spoiler for one of the two contenders.
Toth and Michael spent the first seven rounds of the series taking turns exchanging the lead, while also each dealing with multiple injuries throughout the season. Coming into the eighth and final round in Virginia, Michael held a slight seven-point lead over Toth. Meanwhile, Girroir had split wins with Michael at the previous round and took the overall despite missing most of the season with a broken pelvis.
Toth came out swinging on Saturday, winning all three enduro tests, topping Girroir by 16 seconds for the win. Tely Energy Racing’s Liam Draper had one of his best days of the season with a third on Saturday, dropping Michael to fourth by 28 seconds.
Toth’s win on Saturday moved him into the lead in the title chase by five points over Michael going into Sunday’s round, in addition to the 16 seconds he had on Girroir for the weekend overall.
On Sunday, it was Girroir’s turn to shine, as he won five of the six tests for Sunday’s win. The rider from Massachusetts also made up the 16 seconds he had given up the day before to Toth, beating out the KTM rider by three-tenths of a second to claim the overall win for the weekend. Toth finished second for the day, which was more than enough to claim take the championship title ahead of Michael, who was fourth again behind Draper for the day.
“Man, it’s such a relief,” said Toth. “It was stressful coming into this weekend. I had such a bad round the last one and put myself in the hole when I had the points lead. Coming into this weekend down, I knew I needed to beat Layne both days. Like I said, it is stressful, but I knew what I needed to do. Just a huge relief, really.”
Girroir’s overall win was his second in a row since returning from injury.
“I rode good Saturday, but I just couldn’t stay off the ground and ended up having three crashes,” said Girroir. “Josh was riding phenomenal. He aced it and did what he had to do. I was sixteen seconds down coming into Sunday and I went to sleep last night knowing that I had to come out swinging today. That’s exactly what I did. I had a little four-second cushion going into the last test, and Josh beat me by 3.7. It was as close as racing gets.”
Michael put up a valiant fight all year, dealing with a shoulder injury for much of the season.
“Unfortunately, at the last GNCC I banged my other shoulder up and the pain was pretty bad so I definitely struggled with it yesterday,” said Michael. “I tried to keep it close until the end, and I did, but unfortunately, there in the last cross test I had a crash that kind of flustered me a bit. Went into the last test and just had another error and pretty much knew that was it.”
Draper’s third overall marked his ninth podium finish of the year.
Phoenix Honda Racing’s Cody Barnes’ finished fifth overall, giving him the win in the Pro 2 class and completing a sweep of all eight overall victories in the division, although RPM Racing’s Angus Riordan beat Barnes out for the day-win on Sunday.
Riordan’s win on Sunday was his first day-win of the season and netted him sixth overall.
Sebastian Taverne of Chile was seventh overall and first in the Pro-Am class.
“Yesterday was very good and I finished first, but only by two seconds,” said Treverne. “Today I finished first again, but with more margin. I am very happy because I had a big crash in April. I had a big surgery to my collarbone and scapula, but now I am okay.”
GasGas rider Neil Enman was eighth overall and second in the Pro-Am class, while Drew Callaway was ninth overall on a KTM and third in the Pro-Am division.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Tayla Jones won the Women’s Pro overall, topping 10 of the 12 tests, also collecting 10th overall. It was her second Women’s Pro title in a row.
“Yeah. It was a sick weekend. The tracks got very gnarly. I had a lot of fun. I only crashed once, so that was a positive. We sent it,” said Jones.
Trail Jesters Racing KTM’s Korie Steede accounted for the other two test wins and was second in the Women’s Pro class. FMF/KTM’s Shelby Turner was third.
Shan Moore
OVERALL RESULTS
- Johnny Girroir (GG)
- Josh Toth (KTM)
- Liam Draper (KTM)
- Layne Michael (Yam)
- Cody Barnes (Hon)
- Angus Riordan (KTM)
- Sebastian Taverne (Hon)
- Neil Enman (GG)
- Drew Callaway (KTM)
- Tayla Jones (Hus)
Click here for more US Sprint Enduro news.