Grant Baylor told Dirt Rider that he rides his best when he's having fun, and he did so at the Rattlesnake Enduro. "I made a couple mistakes throughout the day, but things turned out pretty good," Grant said. "This is one of my favorite tracks, and I always have a lot of fun here. Today was perfect. The dirt was perfect—nice and loamy [with] tons of traction. I just had a good day riding my bike."Shan Moore
Tely Energy Racing KTM's Grant Baylor won every test en route to a dominating win at the Rattlesnake Enduro this past weekend, round 5 of the Kenda AMA National Enduro Series in Cross Fork, Pennsylvania. After over 60 miles of racing and six tests, Grant finished the event with a 57.867-second margin of victory over Steward Baylor, making his second win in three races.
Steward Baylor reinjured his knee in the rocks and was forced to back his pace down afterwards. “It was one of those things where I could push harder and potentially tie Grant out, but I knew going into the last two I just needed to ride smooth and smart and keep my head on straight,” Steward noted. “Hopefully everything would click and I would make it to the finish in second. With the lead that we had, luckily I could ride smooth and smart and click off some decent times.”Shan Moore
His brother and teammate, Steward Baylor, rode a consistent race and was just out of reach of Grant. Although his runner-up finish keeps him sitting 36 points ahead of Grant in the series standings. Steward crashed in a rocky section in test 4, reinjuring his knee and forcing the South Carolina rider to back his pace down.
Left: Andrew DeLong rode his Phoenix Racing Honda CRF450RX and came away with third. "I'm trying a new riding style with riding the 450. I've been really working hard on riding differently and today was a good test," DeLong shared. "Test 4 it pulled me along a little bit. I had a couple of mistakes, but I didn't tip over or anything. I just lost my flow and once that happened, I just sort of struggled my way through it. I didn't lose by a lot, but it was enough to get a gap where I couldn't catch back up to Stew." Right: Cory Buttrick turned in his best performance of the year with a fourth overall on his XC Gear/Enduro Engineering/Husqvarna. "I really felt like I struggled in that first test," Buttrick admitted. "I was like, man, it might end up being a long day. Luckily, we got her in gear for the second test and the next couple went pretty well. I had a couple little falls, tip-overs, just silly things, but I just kept digging the entire day. I'm happy with fourth; it's satisfying. We'll keep plugging away. Hopefully [we can] snag a podium at the next one.Shan Moore
Andrew DeLong hadn't ridden a National Enduro in four years, but the 2014 AMA National Enduro Champion showed up on his Phoenix Racing Honda CRF450RX GNCC bike and came away with an impressive third overall. XC Gear/Enduro Engineering/Husqvarna's Cory Buttrick was fourth overall, his best performance of the season. Just over seven seconds behind Buttrick came Evan Smith, who put his Max Motorsports/FXR Racing/Husqvarna into fifth.
Left: New Zealander Liam Draper ran as high as third overall, but in the end settled for seventh, which was good enough to win the Pro2 class. "It started off good," Draper said. "I enjoyed the first cross test. Then I didn't really find a good groove all day in the rocks, but I was having fun. It was good. I finally got a win in Pro2, which is what I've been trying to get all year. I had some good test times, [and] a lot of fun up here. It's my first year up here, so it was good. I enjoyed it." Right: Beta USA's Mike Witkowski was sixth overall and solidified his fifth place status in the series standings.Shan Moore
Beta USA's Mike Witkowski captured sixth, just ahead of Tely Energy Racing's Liam Draper. Draper's finish was also good enough for first in the Pro2 class, which marked his first win in the division. Ninth and 10th went to Beta-mounted Kyle McDonal and Noah Clark on his Yamaha. Eight-time AMA National Enduro champion Mike Lafferty showed up and finished 11th overall and second AA rider.
Left: GasGas North America's Thorn Devlin struggled with the terrain and finished eighth on his XC 300. Right: Mackenzie Tricker took the win in the Women's Elite class. The MEPMX/Fly Racing/Grizzly Peak/Travelers Rest Speedway/KTM rider finished 2 minutes 31 seconds ahead of runner-up Beta USA's Rachel Gutish. Tayla Jones was third on her Rockstar Energy/Moose Racing/Husqvarna.Shan Moore
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