Cycle News Staff | November 20, 2022
The GEICO AMA EnduroCross Championship Series visited Reno, Nevada for the championship deciding final round of the 2022 series. Beta rider, Jonny Walker, narrowly clinched the championship with a second-place overall finish for the night. FMF KTM rider Trystan Hart, finished second in the series, just three points behind Walker. FactoryONE Sherco backed Cody Webb won the overall in Reno and secured third in the series championship.
Hart held a one-point lead over Walker coming into the final round and the championship was not settled until the final moto. Hart went 6-1-1 across the three motos, but his sixth place in moto one was the decider as Walker went 3-2-2 in the three motos to edge out Hart for second overall by a single point. Webb took the top spot on the podium for the final round with 1-3-3 moto scores.
To kickstart round six, the defending champion and Rockstar Husqvarna racer, Colton Haaker, set the fastest hot-lap time to set the starting order for the first of three motos with a time of 59.768. Webb had the second-fastest time of 1:00.194. Blazusiak took the third fastest hot lap at 1:02.050. Hart set fourth fastest time and Walker was sixth.
Haaker started off moto one strong with the Moose Holeshot to take the early lead, ahead of Walker and Webb. Hart crashed in the early laps of the moto leading to his sixth-place finish. Haaker and Webb battled for the top spot for the duration of the race. On the last lap, Webb made an aggressive pass in the final turn to take the win ahead of Haaker. Walker finished third. Australia’s Will Riordan finished fourth in the moto and Ryder LeBlond was fifth.
The second moto inverts the sixteen riders’ finish positions from race one for gate picks, so the top eight riders start on the second row. Beta rider Tim Apolle took the early lead out of the gate ahead of Webb, Hart and Walker. Webb took the lead from Apolle early on but was passed by Hart on the third lap. Walker passed Webb soon after Hart did and move into second place. Walker and Hart spent the remainder of the race neck-in-neck for the top spot, with Walker making multiple attempts to take the lead in an exciting race for the moto win. He made one brief pass on Hart, who quickly retaliated with an aggressive pass to take the lead back. Hart held on for the second moto win to put some pressure on Walker going into the final moto. Webb finished third in the moto followed by Haaker and Cooper Abbott.
In the championship deciding final moto, Walker took the lead when the gate dropped with Hart quickly moving into second. Walker made a mistake in the matrix on the second lap to allow Hart to close in and another mistake in the same section on lap three allowed Hart to take the lead. Walker had to hold onto second in the moto to beat Hart in the overall for the evening and the championship. Hart hung on for the win and Walker took second, a few seconds ahead of Webb, who had his hand full with Blazusiak not far behind in fourth. Haaker took fifth in the final moto.
For the night’s overall results, Haaker finished fourth with 2-4-5 moto finishes. Abbott came in fifth overall with 7-5-6 moto finishes. Blazusiak finished sixth overall ahead of Riordan who took seventh on a KTM. LeBlond came in eighth overall on a Husqvarna ahead Tim Apolle on a Beta in ninth. Ty Cullins rounded out the top ten overall on a TM.
2022 Reno EnduroCross Pro Overall Results
- Cody Webb, 1-3-3, Sherco
- Jonny Walker, 3-2-2, Beta
- Trystan Hart, 6-1-1, KTM
- Colton Haaker, 2-4-5, Husqvarna
- Cooper Abbott, 7-5-6, Sherco
- Taddy Blazusiak, 8-7-4, GasGas
- Will Riordan, 4-9-7, KTM
- Ryder LeBlond, 5-8-9, Husqvarna
- Tim Apolle, 11-6-8, Beta
- Ty Cullins, 10-10-10, TM
2022 AMA EnduroCross Pro Series Championship Overall Results
- Jonny Walker, Beta, 137 points
- Trystan Hart, KTM, 134 points
- Cody Webb, Sherco, 125 points
- Taddy Blazusiak, GasGas, 111 points
- Colton Haaker, Husqvarna, 108 points
- Cooper Abbott, Sherco, 98 points
- Ryder LeBlond, Husqvarna, 84 points
- Tim Apolle, Beta, 78 points
- Will Riordan, KTM, 68 points
- Max Gerston, GasGas, 68 points
In the Women’s Pro class, KTM rider Shelby Turner won the race to take her sixth series championship, the most ever in the history of the sport. Rachel Gutish took second spot on the night and in the series on her GasGas. FactoryONE Sherco backed Louise Forsley finished the final race in third and in the championship.
Brandon Petrie won the Expert class main event ahead of Anthony Johnson in second and Daniel Blanc-Gonnet, a top Trials rider in third. Nick Tolman won the Expert Series Overall ahead of Dustin Hedwall in second and Spenser Wilton in third.
The intermediate class main event and series overall was won by Coleman Johnson ahead of Braxton Hintze in second on the night, and overall, and Jack Williford in third for both the night and championship.
David Kamo won the Vet 35+ class in Reno with a last lap pass on Tyler Kinkade, who finished second for the night and in the series. Ryan Gouveia came in third in the race and championship.
The Novice class was won by Austin Daniels. Ray Amos came in second and Fernando Pascal in third. Amos claimed the series championship in Novice ahead of Pascal in second and Michael Taylor in third.
Jack Williford won the Junior class, which is limited to riders that are 12 to 17 years of age. Braxton Hintze came in second place ahead of Riley Bender in third. Williford took Junior series overall title with Hintze in second and Fernando Pascal in third.
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