The Red Bull Tennessee Knockout is the longest-standing U.S. Hard Enduro race, and the 2025 event marked its 15th running. The race also served as the final round of the AMA U.S. Hard Enduro Premier Championship, with Red Bull KTM’s Mani Lettenbichler conquering the tough trails at the Trials Training Center in Sequatchie, Tennessee, for his third victory in the past seven years.
Watch the 2025 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout video highlights here:
Photography by Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool & Ryan McCasland
FMF KTM’s Trystan Hart finished second, marking his second straight runner-up finish at the TKO. More importantly, Hart wrapped up his fifth U.S. Hard Enduro title.
The UK’s Billy Bolt completed the podium on his Husqvarna.
A total of 535 entries kicked off three days of racing on Friday, with the Amateur hot laps setting the starting order for two rounds of Saturday’s racing, followed by four rounds of pro-class racing that started on Saturday afternoon and concluded on Sunday afternoon.
The pro class racing started on Saturday afternoon with the hot laps, and Lettenbichler set the top mark with a time of 6:22.339. Hart was just three seconds behind, and Bolt was 7.5 seconds behind the fastest time. Husqvarna’s Ryder LeBlond finished fourth, and Sherco’s Will Riordan rounded out the top five. Cody Webb, Ryder Guest, Jordan Ashburn, Danny Lewis and James Flynn rounded out the top 10, respectively.
The top 55 riders started the first of three knockout rounds of racing on Sunday morning on the 14-mile “long course,” and the top 30 earned a trip to the TKO Knockout race two. Lettenbichler kept the pressure on and set the fastest time of 1:02:57. Hart finished second, 56.084 seconds behind, and Bolt rounded out the top three just nine seconds behind Hart. Riordan was fourth, and Eddie Karlsson earned his way into the pro class with the fifth fastest overall time while racing the ECR eMoto class. Ashburn, Webb, Niko Piazza and Flynn rounded out the top 10.
The next round changed formats, and a total of 31 riders lined up—the top 30 plus one rider, who earned a spot into TKO two via an LCQ Straight Rhythm Duel win. The riders are split into four groups of six and one group of seven (including the LCQ winner), and they ride another lap on the long course, which has additional hard sections compared to TKO one. Only the top four riders in each group qualify for the main event. Lettenbichler won group one, followed by Ashburn, Kawelo Huddy and Ryder Guest. Hart won group two, followed by Ryder LeBlond, Quinn Wentzel and Coran Calvert. Bolt won group three, followed by Webb, Lewis and Maverik Thaxton. Riordan won group four, followed by Niko Piazza, Branden Petrie and Braxton Hintze. Karlsson won group five to become the first rider to make the main on an electric bike. Flynn, Gauge Logan-Key and Creed Kisling rounded out the top four.
The top 20 riders advanced to the main event on the short course for a multi-lap race lasting 35 minutes plus one lap. Bolt quickly took the lead at the start and guided the riders into the Red Bull Ravine for the first pass at three tough hillclimbs. A small mistake allowed Hart to take the lead, and he maintained it at the end of the first lap with Lettenbichler following. On the second lap, Hart made a mistake that let Lettenbichler take the lead. Lettenbichler kept a small gap for several laps until another mistake by Hart let him extend the lead to over a minute. Lettenbichler completed a total of seven laps in the main event with a time of 47:53.3 (his combined time for all three races was nearly three hours and seven minutes). Hart finished 52.769 seconds behind in second place but wrapped up the title.
“My day went pretty well, honestly,” Hart said. “I recovered from pneumonia, which I was dealing with in July, so that month was a write-off. I went backwards, actually, because I was really sick and didn’t think I was going to be here, so it’s been a struggle, but I don’t think it affected me too much today. Mani and Billy were riding well, and I was stoked to have them here. I missed out on the win after losing the tow to Mani in the end, but we were all super-close, so it was fun. This season was a huge challenge with a finger injury early on, plus breaking my collarbone, and then followed by pneumonia, but all in all, I am stoked to seal title number five this year.”
Bolt held third for most of the race despite crashing on the final lap, ultimately finishing 2:26 behind the winner. “My experience here was great, as always,” Bolt said. “I feel very welcomed when I come to the United States, so it’s nice. It’s a challenge, as logistically it takes a bit to head over here, but I enjoy it so much, and the crowds are awesome. Hard enduro really seems to be trending in a positive direction on this side of the world. All in all, it was a good trip, but third isn’t exactly what I wanted, and it’s not what I came here for, but I was happy with how I rode, and that was all I had in the tank. The intensity was super high, and everyone rode well, so that made it hard. It was a good weekend.”
Riordan finished in fourth on his Sherco after making a last-lap pass on Rockstar Husqvarna’s LeBlond, who held on for fifth. The move helped Riordan lock up second place in the AMA U.S. Hard Enduro Premier Championship.
“I got good starts and was in a solid position, so it was fun,” LeBlond said. “We battled hard, and I wanted a little more than P5, but fifth was the result, and it’s a decent way to finish the championship. It was a good season, with lots of ups, as well as a couple of downs, which held me back in the points a bit, but I need to clean my consistency up, and we’ll be in there for the title on a more continual basis next season.”
Webb finished sixth on his Yamaha. The American held fourth position for most of the race, but a crash dropped him back two spots. Karlsson worked his way back up to seventh position on his Stark after a first-lap crash had dropped him back to 15th. Flynn finished in eighth on his Beta. Hawaii’s Kawelo Huddy finished ninth on a KTM ahead of fellow Hawaiian Ryder Guest, who was also on a KTM.
“This is my third win here at TKO, so that is pretty cool,” Lettenbichler said. “It was a long day in the office, to be honest. The morning started with Knockout One, which was unreal to win; then Knockout Two was super tough, and it was pretty tiring. I needed to take my goggles off, and I was sweating a lot. I felt a bit smoked before the final, but I was able to find my rhythm after a good start in third, and then I just tried to keep smooth, especially on the hills. Billy and Trystan both made a mistake on lap two, and I was able to get some time there and just tried to control the race from the front, which I think we managed. I’m so stoked to add another win in 2025, and the crowd was awesome, so it was a great experience.”
Women’s Pro Class
The Women’s Pro class competed along with the top Amateurs in Saturday’s two long-course races. Rieju’s Rachel Gutish took the class win in 26th overall. Louise Forsley finished second in her first race for the Beta team. Nikki Russell (Rieju) rounded out the podium.
Amateur Racing
In addition to the pro racing, the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout crowned Amateur champions in several classes. Saturday included two rounds of Amateur-class racing, with race two serving as the AMA Grand Championship-deciding race. During that second race, Idaho’s Niko Piazza (Husqvarna) was the overall and A class winner with a winning time of 1:04:36. Coran Calvert (Sherco) finished second just under 41 seconds back, and Maverik Thaxton (KTM) rounded out the top three. The top 30 riders also earned the opportunity to compete with the 27 pro riders, which kicked off their racing on Saturday afternoon, followed by three rounds of racing on Sunday. All three of the teenagers qualified for the Sunday main event.
Other Saturday class winners among nearly 500 participants included Ryan Odom in Amateur B, Neels Uys in A Vet 30+, Drew Kirby in A Senior 40+, Alexander Badilla in B Vet 30+, Chad Evans in A Master 50+, Karol Nasuta in B 40+, Jeffrey Husted in B Super Senior 50+, James Arnold in Four-Stroke Sportsman, Carly Paet in Women’s Amateur and Graham Kobak in Youth Lites 12-15, who also finished in 32nd overall.
ECR eMoto
On Saturday morning, the ECR eMoto riders started first with their qualifying race. There were 33 participants—eight Expert riders and 25 Amateur-class riders—and the top 20 overall moved to the Sunday main event. Eddie Karlsson, who traveled to Tennessee from Sweden, dominated the eMoto Expert class on his Stark Varg EX. Karlsson qualified for the pro class and won his group during the second TKO knockout round, putting an electric bike on the front row for the main event. Max Beaupre rode a Surron Ultra Bee to second place. Dustin Foudray rounded out the podium riding a Zero XE. In the eMoto Amateur class, Osvaldo Neto took the winning ride on an Arctic Leopard. Tucker Neary finished second on a Surron and Nathan Bilbrey rounded out the podium on a Surron.CN
2025 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout Main Event Results
- Manuel Lettenbichler, KTM, Germany
- Trystan Hart, KTM, Canada
- Billy Bolt, Husqvarna, United Kingdom
- Will Riordan, Sherco, Australia
- Ryder LeBlond, Husqvarna, USA
- Cody Webb, Yamaha, USA
- Eddie Karlsson, Stark, Sweden
- James Flynn, Beta, USA
- Kawelo Huddy, KTM, USA
- Ryder Guest, KTM, USA
- Jordan Ashburn, GasGas, USA
- Branden Petrie, Beta, Canada
- Daniel Lewis, Beta, USA
- Niko Piazza, Husqvarna, USA
- Coran Calvert, Sherco, USA
- Quinn Wentzel, Rieju, USA
- Gauge Logan-Key, GasGas, USA
- Maverik Thaxton, KTM, USA
- Creed Kisling, GasGas, USA
- Braxton Hintze, Fantic, USA
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