Cycle News Staff | November 1, 2019
The World Enduro Super Series, WESS, has a new name for 2020 and will also include a US round for the first time during. The new name is WESS Enduro World Championship and it will include eight events. The sixth round will be the Kenda Tennessee Knockout. The following was provided by the pomoters of the Kenda Tennessee Knockout:
The tenth annual Kenda Tennessee Knockout (TK0) will be part of the WESS Enduro World Championship in 2020. The TKO will be round six of the eight round WESS series and take place on the weekend of August 14-16, 2020 at the Trials Training Center in Sequatchie, Tennessee. The racing format will be like past years with a Friday amateur Prologue to set starting positions followed by two rounds of amateur racing on Saturday and a four round Sunday competition. The event will also continue to serve as the AMA Grand Championship for Extreme Off-Road.
“We started the TKO in 2011 and it was a huge success and has grown in popularity each year along with the worldwide growth in Extreme Enduro events,” said Eric Peronnard, co-producer of the Tennessee Knockout. “We are proud to be chosen to be part of the WESS Enduro World Championship for 2020.”
Manny Lettenbichler finished second in his first attempt a the TKO in 2018 and then came back to win in 2019, becoming the first International rider to take the top step of the podium. Photo: Mary Rinell mjsmotophotos
Red Bull has been a partner with the TKO for several years and that will continue for 2020. The WESS Enduro World Championship has a partnership with Red Bull Media House, which provides extensive coverage of all of the championship rounds via Red Bull TV and social media platforms.
The Tennessee Knockout is one of the premier off-road motorcycle races in the US, attracting the top American and International riders. Tennessee Native Mike Brown won the first two events with Cody Webb close behind both times. Webb then went on a six-year run of winning the TKO, topping many of the best riders in the world in the process. Jonny Walker, Graham Jarvis, Wade Young, Mario Roman and Manuel Lettenbichler gave Webb a good challenge but the American was unbeatable. A knee injury forced Webb to miss the 2019 TKO and Germany’s Lettenbichler became the first International rider to win the event. It will be amazing to see many of these riders joined by other top International and American riders facing off at the 2020 TKO.
The TKO will again pre-qualify the top riders to the four round Sunday competition. This will include top riders from major US and International off-road racing series and events. Any rider that finished in the top 26 on Sunday at the 2019 TKO, as well as riders that have qualified for a previous TKO Sunday main event, will be qualified directly into the 2020 TKO Sunday program. The expert riders will be competing for a $10,000 purse.
The Tennessee Knockout has attracted several top international riders in the past. It will now be part of the WESS Enduro World Championship, which will likely attract even more international riders. Manuel Lettenbichler (center), won the 2019 Kenda Tennessee Knockout over Mario Roman (left) and Wade Young. Photo: Mary Rinell mjsmotophotos
The Saturday program will include two rounds of racing and will serve as the Extreme Off-Road AMA Grand Championship for Amateur riders. Amateur riders can earn spots directly into round two via several AMA regional championship events. Riders that do not qualify via one of the AMA regional events can sign up for one of 400 open spots that will compete in a morning qualifying race that can earn a spot in the championship final on Saturday. The top 30 finishers from Saturday will earn a spot in Sunday’s expert program.
Amateur registration opens at 6:00 pm CST on Thursday, December 5, 2019. There are just 400 spots available and entries sold out in just a couple of hours in the past so please plan to get your entry in as soon as it opens. The registration link will be available on the http://tennesseeknockoutenduro.com/ website.
There will also be a Women’s class with a Saturday morning qualifying session and Saturday afternoon main event. This is also an AMA Grand Championship class.
Indiana’s Rachel Gutish won the 2019 Women’s class championship. For 2020, the women’s class will again compete in a Saturday morning qualification race and the final will take place on Saturday afternoon. Photo: Mary Rinell mjsmotophotos
Check out video for highlights of some of the previous Kenda Tennessee Knockout events here:
2019 Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0uTxSM8XEA
2018 Highlights: https://youtu.be/DUOE0z7q42o
2017 Highlights: https://youtu.be/z8-RuVTbXjQ
2016 Red Bull TV Tennessee Knockout show: https://www.redbull.tv/video/AP-1QAU6F7C92111/recap-slick-and-muddy?playlist=AP-1QAU6F7C92111
2016 Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJfGKieHOYQ
2015 Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99Yqa9Uh-nw
2014 Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JZQAsUa1rk
2013 Highlights: http://youtu.be/VqJZnQBdTZ8
2012 Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Moyylu0KN68&feature=plcp
You can learn more about the WESS Enduro World Championship here: https://iridewess.com/
Get all of the latest off-road motorcycle racing news and results here.
