US Hard Enduro: Trystan Hart Wins Donner USHE “Challenge”
FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Trystan Hart won the Donner Hard Enduro in California, gaining valuable points over Cody Webb in the Bulletproof Designs US Hard Enduro Series as the Sherco riders hits electrical problems.
The 2024 Donner Challenge welcomed riders from across the off-road spectrum with AMA District 36 Hare Scrambles, California Motoclimb Series and the US Hard Enduro Championship races for an epic weekend.
The diverse terrain and event director Brian Garrahan’s winding course at the Donner Ski Ranch makes this venue one of the favorites for many. The 11-mile course takes in granite slabs, steep hills, thick forest trails, lava rock, creeks, shale, and sharp rocky climbs on top of the 7700ft. tall peak, overlooking the picturesque Donner Lake making for some great racing.
A new Prologue format was added to this year’s race on Saturday, giving the racers a chance to qualify for a better row position for Sunday’s main race.
Cody Webb of FactoryONE Sherco was the winner of the sprint race, finishing in four minutes and 23 seconds while some of the Amateur racers took nearly two hours to complete this course, which gave them plenty of extreme riding time and a taste of what was to come the next day.
After the AMA District 36 Youth Hare Scrambles wrapped up on Sunday, the Donner Hard Enduro main race kicked off with two laps around the mountain with six checkpoints, and each checkpoint had a Pro/A and B/C split, and a four-hour time limit.
Starting in rows of 10, leaving one minute apart, the front group battled from the off as they made their way through the famous Spectator Hill. Once the Amateur classes started, chaos ensued in that section, which made for an awesome viewing for the hundreds of fans perched up on the granite slabs.
Up front, Cody Webb and Trystan Hart were going back and forth, while Rockstar Husqvarna’s Ryder LeBlond and Factory GasGas’ Will Riordan were battling for the podium.
Hart gained a couple minutes on Webb, who hit arm pump and made mistakes early on that cost him. Going through AA Hills, Hart said he made it through nearly perfect, barely making any mistakes on the infamous rocky hill section gaining valuable. Simultaneously, Webb suffered an electrical issue that forced him to return to the pits and lose his second place.
After the first lap, Hart had a five-minute lead over Riordan, who was ahead of LeBlond by four minutes. Webb caught back up to fourth after his repair, and James Flynn was in fifth after lap one.
During lap two, the leaders had to get creative while passing through lappers, which were scattered throughout the entire course at this point. Hart began to extend his lead as he made his way through the field, cleaning lines and passing Amateur riders that were stacked up in certain sections.
The KTM rider and reigning USHE champion finished the two laps in 2 hours and 19 minutes, and was really happy with the race and how he made his way through the difficult course.
Trystan Hart: “It was a good day at Donner today. Cody [Webb] was riding really good in the Prologue, so I was a little stressed out, and then I got a good start and was able to take the holeshot. He made a really aggressive pass on me, but I picked it up a bit and was able to gap him after he made a mistake – I never saw anyone again after the first lap when I had a pretty big lead. It was good to get the win here at the penultimate round and we'll look to carry this into the next one.”
LeBlond eventually passed up Riordan, and finished 15 minutes behind Hart for second place, while Riordan finished in third place 5 minutes behind LeBlond. Branden Petrie and Colton Haaker were running solid races and finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Rider interviews...
With the result Hart gains valuable points over Webb in the USHE Premier Championship following the Sherco USA rider’s electrical sissues this weekend saw him well down the results.
It wasn’t all bad though as Webb ended up winning the AMA West Extreme Off-Road Championship by a wide margin at this final round.
In the Pro Women’s class, Louise Forsley was the only woman to complete two laps, winning the class. Katie Hall-Lead and Addy Albrecht finished second and third respectively. HTR Gas Gas’ Braxton Hintze won the A Class, while his teammate Kael Widdicombe was the overall Amateur winner on the B/C course.
Brian Garrahan’s Donner Challenge offered the mass of racers and spectators plenty of action all weekend long, and the racers of the Donner Hard Enduro seemed to be very happy about how enjoyable and difficult the race was.
The USHE Premier Championship heads for the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout at the Trials Training Center next weekend on August 22-25.
2024 Donner Hard Enduro results, top 30:
Full results: www.moto-tally.com/USHE/Results.aspx
More information: www.ushardenduro.com
Photo Credit: Jenny Keller
