| March 21, 2016
Grant Baylor proved he is going to be the man to beat in the 2016 Kenda AMA National Enduro Championship by taking his second win in as many rounds, this time in Maplesville, Alabama. This marks the fourth career National Enduro win for the N-Fab AmPro Yamaha rider. It didn’t come easy for Baylor, fending off a stacked pro class with over 15 riders; he had to battle several former champions, as well as his older brother, for most of the day. Absent was Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider Andrew DeLong, who is due for wrist surgery and will be out for several months.
The Knuckle Buster National Enduro promised to live up to its name with plenty of tight Alabama woods to test the riders. Several days of rain caused a few shortened sections but on race day the trails were excellent. True to form, Baylor intentionally started his day a bit slow. He was fifth-fastest in test one, but picked it up in the remaining five sections. He topped test four, and by the time the sixth and final test rolled around, he was only five seconds down from FMF KTM’s Russell Bobbitt.
N-Fab AmPro Yamaha’s Grant Baylor is now two for two in the National Enduro Championship. Photography by Kenny King
“I felt pretty good all day,” Baylor said. “I was a little tight in the first test but I just tried to stay consistent. I never hit the ground all day. It was close between me and Russell [Bobbitt] all day. I was behind going into the last test and I knew I had to ride as hard as I could.”
Baylor took the win in test six over Bobbitt by 26 seconds giving him his second consecutive win.
Bobbitt had a good consistent ride to claim second on the day. The former champion never fell below fourth in any test, and won two of the six tests. Bobbitt thoroughly enjoyed the Maplesville course, but laments giving up the lead in the final test.
“This place is real cool because it has everything,” said Bobbitt. “Sand, rocky hills and they definitely lived up to their name the Knuckle Buster with plenty of tight trees. It was a good race. I felt pretty good off the start, I just wasn’t riding aggressive enough. Then I got stuck in a mud hole and it pissed me off—in a good way, I suppose, because I won the test. My favorite all day was test five. It flowed really well and felt like you could keep your momentum up. I just didn’t have enough at the end of the day.”
Rounding out the podium was another former champ, Steward Baylor Jr. Aboard an SRT Off-Road-backed KTM, Steward finished just 13 seconds behind Bobbitt to collect third. He stayed in the top-five in all six tests with second-place finishes in the last three.
“I really struggled early on,” Stew Baylor said. “I spent a lot of time on my head. I even got my bike lost; I was on the trail and it was stuck in a bunch of trees. It was a good day overall and we are third in points. I hope to pick things up in Louisiana and fight for a win.”
In fourth for the day was Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider Josh Strang. The Australian rider was coming off a win in both the Florida and Georgia rounds of the GNCC series. Strang managed a second-place finish in test two and third in the final test, never placing below sixth all day.
KTM rider Jake From topped the Expert AA class followed by Adam Bonneur on a Suzuki with Zac Brown rounding out the podium. In the Womens A/B class, FMF KTM’s Kacy Martinez took the win over Shawn Davidson with Rachael Gutish finishing third.
By Kenny King
Knuckle Buster National Enduro Results:
- Grant Baylor (Yam)
- Russell Bobbitt (KTM)
- Steward Baylor (KTM)
- Josh Strang (Hus)
- Charlie Mullins (KTM)
- Evan Smith (KTM)
- Jesse Groemm (Bet)
- Drew Higgins (KTM)
- Ryder Lafferty (Hus)
- Nick Fahringer (Hus)
Full Results: www.nationalenduro.com/results/
