The Donner Hard Enduro was originally scheduled to take place in June but was rescheduled to the weekend of September 16-17 due to 800-plus inches of snow clobbering the Donner Ski Resort in Norden, California this past winter. The promoter, Brian Garrahan, integrated the Hard Enduro into a full weekend of racing events, called the Donner Challenge. This included a Motoclimb race, an AMA District 36 Hare Scramble, in addition to the final round of the AMA West Hard Enduro Series, Presented by Beta.
Photos: Owen Gorsuch
The Saturday Hare Scramble was the qualifying race for the Donner Hard Enduro, mixing racers of both disciplines and providing more track time for the amateur hard enduro racers. In the hare scramble race, FactoryONE Sherco’s Cody Webb pulled away with the lead with ISDE gold medalist Anson Maloney trailing not too far behind. Rockstar Husqvarna’s Ryder LeBlond was in third the first couple of laps but eventually passed Anson to take second. Beta USA’s Danny Lewis and IRC Tire’s James Flynn rounded out the top five.
The Saturday qualifier determined the row position for all classes of Sunday’s main hard enduro race, which was not time-corrected.
Being that this was the final round of the AMA West Hard Enduro Championship, there were points battles in several of the classes, including the Pro class between Webb, LeBlond and RPM Racing Team’s Will Riordan.
Sunday’s race was 3.5 hours long, and the course was about 10 miles long, winding up and down through the granite slabs, thick pine forests, wet creeks and open ski runs of the Donner Ski Ranch. The race started in rows of 20 riders based on the hare scramble the prior day.
Keith Curtis grabbed the holeshot to lead the front pack into the “Spectator Hill” section, which attracted hundreds of spectators who were eagerly waiting the craziness soon to be unleashed. Webb grabbed the lead on the first lap and didn’t look back, limiting his mistakes and taking advantage of his trials skills in the very technical rock and log sections of the course.
Riordan was sitting in second place when he went down on a transfer trail and damaged his radiator. LeBlond moved into second and closed to within a couple of minutes of Webb by the end of the race but ultimately finished second.
James Flynn pushed his way to the third position by passing Curtis and was riding one of his best races of the year. But Riordan was moving up fast after repairing his radiator and managed to pass Flynn for third place just before the race hit the 3.5-hour cut-off time. Flynn finished fourth ahead of Curtis in fifth.
With the win, Webb wrapped up the AMA West Hard Enduro regional championship.CN
2023 Donner Hard Enduro/
AMA West Hard Enduro Finale Results
Overall
- Cody Webb (She)
- Ryder LeBlond (Hus)
- Will Riordan (KTM)
- James Flynn (GG)
- Keith Curtis (She)
- Branden Petrie (She)
- Tim Apolle (Bet)
- Kamakana Waiwaiole-Kahalepuna (KTM)
- Daniel Lewis (Bet)
- Ryder Guest (KTM)
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