2024 Tennessee Knockout Results: Lettenbichler beats Hart for the TKO Win
Results from the 2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout where Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Mani Lettenbichler came out on top of a race-long battle with FMF KTM’s Trystan Hart for the TKO win with Wade Young rounding the podium at Hard Enduro World Championship round five.
The 14th annual TKO this weekend proved to be a happy hunting ground for Manuel Lettenbichler who takes his first win at the event since it elevated to become a round of the Hard Enduro World Championship.
In fact main race day proved to be KTM’s with Lettenbichler and his US-based ‘teammate’, FMF KTM’s Trystan Hart, dominating proceedings. The orange pair had a great fight, swapping the lead multiple times with Mani making it stick on the last lap to win by just five seconds.
Ominously for his FIM Hard Enduro championship rivals, Mani took another maximum points haul with two rounds remaining in the 2024 season.
Three race knockout format
Riders took on an 11-mile “long course” on Sunday for the first knockout round with only the top 30 riders moving on to round two. Lettenbichler again topped the results sheet with a time of 54 minutes and three seconds. Bulgaria’s Teodor Kabakchiev put in a strong ride just four hundredth of a second slower on his Sherco with Hart third, 15 seconds back.
Young and fellow South African Matthew Green rounded out the top five with a top 10 consisting former GNCC champ Jordan Ashburn, Ryder LeBlond, Will Riordan, David Cyprian and Colton Haaker respectively.
A last-chance qualification race on a straight rhythm course between four riders who just missed the top 30 and pro Trials rider Josh Roper was the last rider to make it to the second round.
The second-round saw those 31 riders split into five groups racing head-to-head, again on the long loop with another mile of difficult sections added in. The top four finishers from each group then earn spots in the 20-rider main event with the winners of each group earning front row starting positions.
Lettenbichler dominated group one to take the win in just under one hour and five minutes ahead of Mitch Brightmore, Ashburn and James Flynn earning qualifying spots from this group.
Kabakchiev topped the second group ahead of LeBlond, Cody Webb and Graham Jarvis, who was making a rare appearance at a race in the US.
Hart won the third group of riders in a time of one hour and one minute. Australia’s Will Riordan finished second and Ashton Brightmore was third. Cooper Abbott took the fourth and final main event qualifying spot from this group.
Young won group four with Mario Roman just over one minute adrift with Czech rider David Cyprian third and Hawaii’s Kawelo Huddy.
Colton Haaker won the fifth group to earn a front row starting spot for the main event alongside the other group winners. He topped Rieju’s Alfredo Gomez riding well this weekend and well clear of Green and Quinn Wentzel.
Main event showdown
The 20 riders who qualified for the main event moved back to the short and intense course for a 35-minute plus one lap race. From the flag drop Hart took the lead followed closely by Lettenbichler, Kabakchiev and Young five second back.
Lettenbichler took over the lead on the third of seven laps as Kabakchiev started to drop back, allowing Young to close in. Hart retook the lead on lap four and he held it until the penultimate lap when Lettenbichler capitalised on a mistake by the Canadian.
Both riders pushed hard on the final lap but the gap between them never dropped below five seconds and Lettenbichler held on for the win from Hart.
Privateer Young passed Kabakchiev for third position to finish a little less than a minute and a half behind the leading pair but nearly a minute ahead of Kabakchiev.
18-year-old Ashton Brightmore, the younger of the two brothers, rounded out the top five overall and took top junior HEWC honour to seal a very solid weekend for the TKO rookie.
Colton Haaker came into the finish area in sixth place but launched his bike for fun just before the finish line and handed the position to Gomez, who was close behind. Haaker dusted himself off to cross the line in seventh for what he says will be his last TKO.
Mario Roman will reflect on what could have been a better weekend for his championship challenge with a lowly eighth place on his Sherco ahead of US Hard Enduro top guns Ryder LeBlond, who crashed on the first lap, and six-time winner Cody Webb riding injured to complete the top 10.
“It’s been an incredible battle here at Red Bull TKO. Trystan has been riding so well and he really pushed me today.” Lettenbichler said. “I haven’t been feeling too good here – I got a little bit sick last week and I’ve been struggling to find my speed, especially in such an intense race and in the heat here in Tennessee. I had some good lines, and I was able to pass Trystan on the hill, so that set me up well.
“Other than that, I just tried to save some energy, but at the end, I was exhausted. I’m stoked to take another TKO win and happy that we have a reasonably chilled September now. My plan is to get a little rest before starting to get some training in for Sea to Sky.”
Hart won the AMA US Hard Enduro championship over Webb with his second-place finish but was disappointed to not take his fourth TKO win. “The race win was the goal today and the championship was a side thing because I was counting on that but the race win was my real goal but Mani is such a good rider that you have to be on point to beat him and I was a little off all day,” Hart said.
“I was just a little off all day but in the main I took the holeshot and passed Mani a couple of times and we both made mistakes and I made the last one.”
“The race was good, super intense as always,” Young said after his third place finish. “I kind of just paced myself and got into my own rhythm, controlled my heart rate. I gained momentum and I’m super stoked to get on the podium for the second time here at the TKO.”
2024 Red Bull Tennessee, Knockout Main Event Results
Complete Pro Class Results: https://www.moto-tally.com/USHE/Results.aspx
Women’s Pro Class
The Women’s pro class competed along with the top amateurs on the more difficult Saturday race two and Rachael Gutish took the win over fellow Sherco rider Louise Forsley. Nikki Russell rounded out the podium on a Rieju. All three women chose to take on the Sunday pro course and Gutish and Forsley both managed to complete a lap in the time limit.
Amateur championship races
Red Bull Tennessee Knockout crowned amateur champions in several classes this weekend alongside the Hard Enduro World Championship and US Hard Enduro premier titles.
Saturday included two rounds of amateur racing with race two serving as the AMA Grand championship-deciding race where Tennessee’s Chase Landers earned the number one spot. Coran Calvert finished second on a Sherco over seven minutes back and Tucker Miller rounded out the top three.
Other Saturday class winners among nearly 500 participants included Boogie Rivera in Amateur B, Jose Julian Hernandez Rios in Amateur C, Brandon Wakefield in A Vet 30+, Drew Kirby in A Senior 40+, Stephen Thaxton in A Master 50+, Karol Nasuta in B 40+, Jordan Ouzts in 4-Stroke Sportsman, Carly Paet in Women’s Amateur and Gage Hill in Youth Lites 12-15.
Complete Amateur Class Results: https://www.moto-tally.com/USHE/Results.aspx
Photo Credit: Future7Media
