RENO, Nev. – Trystan Hart came out on top of an exciting night of racing during round three of the GEICO AMA EnduroCross series in Reno, Nev., Saturday.
It was the first win of the season for the FMF KTM factory rider and he did it with perfect 1-1-1 moto finishes. Rockstar Husqvarna’s Colton Haaker finished second overall with 2-2-3 scores and RPM KTM’s Cooper Abbott rounded out the podium with 3-3-2 results in the motos.
The top 14 pro riders ran hot-laps during the opening of the evening program to earn their gate picks for the first of the three motos and Haaker set the fastest time of 56.129 seconds. Abbott was second with a 57.789-second lap. Will Riordan rounded out the top three on his RPM KTM with a 58.101-second lap time. Max Gerston was fourth fastest with a 58.317-second lap and Beta rider Tim Apolle rounded out the top five with a 59.986-second lap. Hart had a fall that held him back to seventh fastest time, just enough to get onto the front row of eight riders.
Haaker, Hart and Gerston blasted to the front to start the first moto and Abbott had to fight his way up to fourth after a mediocre start. Haaker ended up going down to allow Hart to pass him and then Haaker had a second fall that allowed Hart to open a safe gap. Haaker was able to hold onto second place in the moto while Abbott made a late-race pass on Gerston for third. Gerston finished fourth and Cory Graffunder was fifth.
With the second moto gate picks in reverse order of the moto one finishing positions, the top riders started on row two. Utah’s Nick Thompson took the lead and led the first lap with Spencer Wilton and Ty Cullins chasing in second and third. Hart was the first of the top riders to work through the pack and was up to third by the end of the first lap. Hart took the lead on the second lap while Haaker took another lap to work his way into second. Hart held a safe gap over Haaker to take his second moto win of the night. Abbott, who crashed on the first lap worked his way through the field to take another third place. Gerston finished fourth again and Cullins finished a strong fifth.
In the third and final moto, Hart, Haaker and Will Riordan exited the first turn in the top three. Abbott was fourth and quickly around Riordan to join the battle for the moto win. Those top three riders were close for several laps and Abbott made a move past Haaker to take over second and applied heavy pressure on Hart for several laps. Haaker closed back in but got stuck at the bottom of the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC rock garden and lost touch with the top two. Abbott was the fastest rider on the track and pressured Hart for a few laps before a mistake in the firewood pit allowed Hart to get away for this third moto win of the night. Riordan finished fourth in the moto and Gerston rounded out the top five.
Hart’s perfect night took the overall. Haaker’s 2-2-3 was good enough for second and Abbott’s 3-3-2 rounded out the overall podium. Gerston’s 4-4-5 earned the GasGas rider fourth overall. Graffunder had a quiet night for fifth overall on his SRT Yamaha with 5-6-6 finishes.
Riordan was sixth overall with 8-8-4 moto finishes on his KTM and for the third race in a row was the top finishing rider in the Junior standing, which recognizes riders that are 21 and under.
Cullins finished seventh overall on his TM with 10-5-7 scores. Ryder LeBlond was eighth overall on his Husqvarna with 14-7-9 finishes. Ninth overall went to Thompson with 11-10-10 finishes on a KTM and Anthony Johnson rounded out the top ten on a Sherco with 7-13-11 results.
Hart was happy to get his first win of the season.
“I don’t take losing very well and my team manager was putting some pressure on me to get it done,” Hart said. “This track was technical and suited my style and I just rode really good. I had a lot of pressure on me from Colton and Cooper in that last moto but I was steady and it feels so good to win all three motos.”
Louise Forsley won the Women’s main event with a wire-to-wire win on her Sherco. It was her first win since returning to EnduroCross last season after several years away from the sport. Shelby Turner, the winner of the first two rounds put up a good fight but finished second on her KTM. Morgan Tanke rounded out the podium on her Beta.
Nathan Rector made a long drive from Missouri pay off with an intermediate class win on his KTM. Coleman Johnson finished second on a Sherco. The third position was not certain as the night wrapped up but it appeared that Anson Maloney made a last-lap pass on Agustin Pascal for the final podium spot.
Parker Smith won the amateur class on a KTM over GasGas rider Michael Taylor. Dan Hayakawa had one of two podium finishes for the night with a third on a Husqvarna.
Craig Thompson took his second win in a row in the Vet 35+ class and he dominated over a large field to do so on his Husqvarna. Michael Taylor finished second on a GasGas and Dan Hayakawa was third on a Husqvarna.
Riley Bender won the Junior Trials class, which is limited to riders that are 12 to 17 years old. He as riding an Electric Motion electric bike. Dylan Lozano finished second on a Sherco and Ruffin Dodson was third on another Sherco.