FMF KTM's Trystan Hart takes his first US Hard Enduro Series race win of the 2024 season at Battle of the Goats, presented by the Leaky Mushroom Moto Ranch, ahead of Cody Webb and Ryder Leblond.

Hosted by Tyler Mull at the Brushy Mountain Motorsports Park in North Carolina, the 2024 Battle of the Goats course, designed for both Amateur and Pro riders, and was substantially tougher than BOTGs in year’s past. This was the third round of the Bulletproof Designs US Hard Enduro Premier Championship, and the opening round of the AMA East Hard Series, Presented by IRC Tire.

The format of this race consisted of two Prologue qualifiers on Saturday that set row position, and then Sunday’s main race that consisted of two full 16 mile laps, and a smaller third lap.

The Prologue was the same course for the Pros and Amateurs in two separate races, and in the Pro race, FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Trystan Hart was swapping lead positions with FactoryONE Sherco’s Cody Webb. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Ryder LeBlond and GasGas Factory’s Will Riordan were also in the lead pack, all battling within 30 seconds of each other.

Hart ended up winning the Prologue, with Webb finishing in second place only 14 seconds behind. LeBlond, Riordan, and Beta USA’s Danny Lewis rounded out the top-5.

Watch the prologue onboard with Hart, Leblond and Will Riordan

Defending champ back on form

For Sunday’s main race, the 230+ racers started in rows of five based on Saturday’s Prologue results. This course featured incredibly slick waterfalls, off-camber trails, rock gardens, and very steep hills that traversed up and down the Brushy Mountain Motorsports Park. Wentzel’s Waterslide, Chicken Fight, and Little Romania were just a few of the many infamous sections that challenged both the Pros and Amateurs.

The lead pack from Saturday was duplicated on Sunday’s first lap, but slowly started to spread apart as the sections became heavier and heavier. On Little Romania, the top four were traversing back and forth up the never-ending hill, when LeBlond shot past everyone and took over the lead with about 20 seconds on Hart.

At the end of lap one, Trystan Hart had a nearly a three-minute lead over LeBlond, Cody Webb behind about three minutes in third.

Lap two had some splits that took in more difficult sections of the course, with no lapped traffic to work through for the Pro class and Hart took the chance to extend his lead to about five minutes ahead of Webb, who passed LeBlond in Moonshine Creek. Vying for the other top five spots was Will Riordan, Colton Haaker, Quinn Wentzel, James Flynn, and Kawelo Huddy.

Lap three consisted of the first five miles of lap two, but the top three held their spread, making up and losing time in different sections. Trystan Hart was the first one through the finish with a time of one hour and fifty minutes. Cody Webb finished five minutes behind for second, and Ryder LeBlond finished in third place only two minutes behind Webb. Riordan placed in fourth, and Colton Haaker held on and finished in fifth place.

Rider reactions, post-race

The top Amateur racers of the weekend were HTR GasGas’ Braxton Hintze, FactoryONE Sherco’s Riley Bender, and Roberto Isales. Bender had a mechanical issue during Saturday’s Prologue, starting in the 102nd position. He passed 80 racers today and finished in 21st overall.

The Battle of the Goats remains one of the toughest races in North America, and also one of the favourites of the year, as racers of all skill levels got plenty of ride time and got to race on some very technical terrain. The next USHE round will be the River Monster at Kairos Resort in Virginia on May 11.

Results (top 25):

For full results: www.moto-tally.com/USHE/Results.aspx

More information: www.ushardenduro.com

Photo Credit: Ryan McCasland