Cycle News Staff | August 28, 2024
German rider Mani Lettenbichler claimed his second career Red Bull Tennessee Knockout (TKO) victory after a race-long battle with Canadian Trystan Hart. Lettenbichler’s last win in Tennessee was in 2019 (he finished third last year), and his latest success padded his points lead in the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship with two rounds left on the schedule. Hart won his fourth AMA U.S. Hard Enduro Premier Championship, with Cody Webb finishing runner-up.
Germany’s Manuel Lettenbichler celebrates his second career win at the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout.
Photography by Future7Media
Lettenbichler, of the Red Bull KTM Factory Team, and Hart, of the FMF KTM Factory Team, battled back and forth, but a bobble by the defending TKO champ, Hart, on the penultimate lap ultimately sealed the deal for the German.
GasGas-mounted Wade Young of South Africa Wade Young finished on the podium in third.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Colton Haaker was the top-finishing American in seventh overall.
Lettenbichler is cheered on by the large crowd.
The long weekend of racing kicked off in downtown Nashville on Thursday night before the main racing got underway Friday at the Trials Training Center. Webb won the prologue straight rhythm event, which took over Broadway Street with a man-made enduro course. Fellow Americans Haaker and Ryder LeBlond rounded out the podium despite a strong list of riders representing seven countries.
The pro racing kicked off on Saturday afternoon with a hot-lap on a nearly two-mile “short course” where Lettenbichler set the fastest time of six minutes and five seconds. Young was second fastest, with a time of six minutes and 14 seconds. Hart was third fastest with a six-minute and 15-second lap. The UK’s Ashton Brightmore was fourth in six minutes and 19 seconds and Spain’s Mario Roman rounded out the top five with a time of six minutes and 22 seconds. Sixty-six riders completed the hot-lap to move on to the three rounds of racing on Sunday.
Cody Webb won the straight rhythm prologue, which was held in downtown Nashville.
On Sunday morning, the riders took on an 11-mile “long course” with the first knockout round. Only the top 30 riders moved on to the second knockout round. 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-hundredths of a second slower on his Sherco. Hart was again third 15 seconds back. Young and fellow South African Matthew Green rounded out the top-five times. Jordan Ashburn, LeBlond, Will Riordan, David Cyprian and Haaker finished sixth through 10th, respectively.
Trystan Hart battled Lettenbichler for the win. The defending TKO champ finished just a few seconds behind the German.
There was a last-chance qualification race on a straight rhythm course among the four riders that just missed the top 30 and pro trials competitor Josh Roper took that spot to be the last rider to make it to the second round.
The second round changes format to place the 31 riders into five groups that race head-to-head. Four of those groups include six riders, while the fifth group has seven riders, including the LCQ winner. The riders take on the long loop with another mile of extremely difficult sections added. The top four finishers from each group earn spots in the 20-rider main event, with the winners of each group earning front-row starting positions.
Lettenbichler dominated group one and won in just under one hour, over five minutes ahead of Mitch Brightmore. Ashburn and James Flynn earned the other two qualifying spots from this group.
In the second group, Kabakchiev and LeBlond battled throughout the entire loop, with Kabakchiev coming out ahead of LeBlond, Webb and Graham Jarvis, who was making a rare appearance at a race in the U.S.
Hart was best of the third group of riders, in a time of one hour and one minute. Australia’s Will Riordan finished second, and Ashton Brightmore finished third. Cooper Abbott took the fourth and final main-event qualifying spot from this group.
South African Wade Young filled out the podium.
Young won group four with Mario Roman just over one minute behind. Spain’s David Cyprian finished third and Hawaii’s Kawelo Huddy punched the final ticket to the main from group four.
Haaker won the fifth group to earn a front-row starting spot for the main event alongside the other group winners. Spain’s Alfredo Gomez finished second, well clear of Green and Quinn Wentzel.
The 20 riders that qualified for the main event moved back to the short course for a 35-minute-plus-one-lap race that took 47 minutes and 53 seconds for the winner to complete. Hart took the early lead, followed closely by Lettenbichler and Kabakchiev. Young was just about five seconds back in fourth position. The order remained the same until Lettenbichler took over the lead on the third of seven laps. Kabakchiev started to drop back from the leading duo, which allowed Young to close in. On the fourth lap, Hart took the lead back and held it until the penultimate lap when Lettenbichler capitalized on a mistake by the Canadian. Both riders pushed hard on the final lap and the gap between them held at five seconds, which proved enough for Lettenbichler to hold on for the win.
Young found his way past Kabakchiev to take over the third position on the fifth lap. He finished a little less than a minute and a half behind second-placed Hart and nearly a minute ahead of fourth-placed Kabakchiev.
Eighteen-year-old Ashton, the younger of the two Brightmore brothers, rounded out the top five on his Husqvarna. Haaker came into the finish area in sixth place but mistakenly slowed down and launched his bike in celebration just before the finish line, which handed the position to Rieju-backed Gomez, who was close behind. Haaker rolled across the line in seventh. Roman finished eight on his Sherco. LeBlond recovered from a crash on the first lap to finish ninth on his Husqvarna and Webb rounded out the top 10.
Colton Haaker was the top-finishing American in seventh overall.
“We had a really good ride, and Trystan was riding unbelievably good,” Lettenbichler said. “I didn’t feel too good this week and got a little sick. I was struggling to get the speed up for the intensity. I knew that this was super intense, so it was not an easy one. I had a good line at the hillclimb, but I was dead at the end, so I am definitely stoked to get another TKO win.”
Despite winning the AMA U.S. Hard Enduro Championship, Hart was disappointed not to 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,” said Hart. “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. “But in the main, I took the holeshot and passed Mani a couple of times, and we both made mistakes. I made the last one.”
“The race was good, super intense as always,” Young said. “I kind of just paced myself and got into my own rhythm, controlled my heart rate. I gained momentum and super stoked to get on the podium for the second time here at the TKO.”
Mani Lettenbichler (center) celebrates his 2024 TKO win with Trystan Hart (left) and Wade Young.
2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout Women’s Pro Class
The Women’s Pro class competed along with the top amateurs on Saturday’s more difficult race two, and Rachel 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 completed a lap in the time limit.
Rachel Gutish (pictured) took the win over fellow Sherco rider Louise Forsley. Photo Ryan McCasland
2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout Amateurs Class
In addition to the pro racing, the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout crowned amateur champions in several classes. Saturday included two rounds of amateur racing, with race two serving as the AMA Gand championship-deciding race. During that second race, Tennessee’s Chase Landers (KTM) earned the number-one spot with a winning time of 54 minutes and 46 seconds. Coran Calvert (Sherco) finished second over seven minutes back and Tucker Miller (KTM) rounded out the top three. The top 30 riders also earned the opportunity to compete with the 46 pre-qualified pro riders, who kicked off their racing on Saturday afternoon followed by three rounds of racing on Sunday. Landers managed to finish 33rd in the first round, just missing a top 30 spot to move to round two. 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
2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout E-Champions
The ECR eMoto class was recognized for an AMA Grand Championship and the riders completed three rounds of racing over three days. Thirty-two electric motorcycle racers took on the race-one course, and the top 20 earned a spot in the championship-deciding Sunday final, which was run on the same course as the pro riders. Canada’s Spenser Wilton took the ECR eMoto AMA Grand Championship number-one plate for the second time and was riding a Stark. Australian Conor Hennessy finished less than a minute behind riding a custom bike with a KTM chassis and an electric motor. Canada’s Joshua Long rounded out the podium riding an Arctic Leopard. Noah Kepple finished fourth on an Electric Motion and Maxwell Beaupre rounded out the top five riding a Surron. Five different manufacturers had bikes in the top five, showing growing interest in the class. Several hundred people took the opportunity to test ride bikes in the Surron eMoto demo ride area throughout the weekend.CN
MAIN (Top 10)
- Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM)
- Trystan Hart (KTM)
- Wade Young (GG)
- Teodor Kabakchiev (She)
- Ashton Brightmore (Hus)
- Alfredo Gomez (Rie)
- Colton Haaker (Hus)
- Mario Roman (She)
- Ryder LeBlond (Hus)
- Cody Webb (She)
- Will Riordan (GG)
- Mitch Brightmore (Hus)
- Jordan Ashburn (GG)
- Graham Jarvis (Hus)
- Matthew Green (KTM)
- Francesc Moret Clota (She)
- David Cyprian (KTM)
- Cooper Abbott (She)
- Quinn Wentzel (Rie)
- Kawelo Huddy (KTM)
