AMA EXTREME’S MAD MOOSE WITNESSED A TIGHT CHALLENGE
Marquette, MI – Riders on the Kenda AMA Extreme Off-Road series returned to the east for round three at the Mad Moose Hard Enduro in the upper peninsula of Michigan. The action was intense over the course of the day with FactoryONE Sherco’s Cody Webb and FMF KTM’s Trystan Hart swapping moto wins over the first two but it would be Hart coming away with the overall win as he edged Webb by 10 seconds in the decisive final moto.
The three-moto format would see familiar faces at the pointy end of the field. Names like Hart, Webb, Ryder LeBlond, Colton Haaker, Taylor Robert and Nick Fahringer. The sextet would provide for some fierce battles in the lush Michigan countryside. Moto one would see Hart over Webb, then Haaker, Robert and Fahringer. Moto two, would see the top six finishing within 2:30 of each other with Webb beating Hart by a mere :10 second gap. Haaker, LeBlond and Robert would round out the top five. Nick Fahringer missed a consecutive top 5 by finishing only :19 seconds adrift of Robert. The third and decisive moto, we would see a flip flop of the moto two result with Hart edging Webb by the same :10 seconds. They were followed by LeBlond, Haaker, Robert and Fahringer.
On the Women’s side, Louise Forsley would take P1 over Factory Beta’s Rachel Gutish. She also claimed a top 25 overall finish with a final moto tally of P24. Louise is proving to be a force in the Pro Women’s class. She swept the 3 motos with the smallest gap to Gutush being over 16 minutes. She was the only female to finish the final moto in the time allotted, with each leg proving to be more and more difficult in nature.
Post-Race Comments
Cody Webb: “I was really looking forward to the Mad Moose this year, unfortunately, the weather held off and conditions were super dry, making for a much easier race than the year prior and not what we were expecting. That allowed for the pace to remain really high turning the race into a big sprint. With nothing to stop us or slow us down, it was hard to make up any lost ground. I did the best I could winning the second moto, but in moto one that Trystan won, I think he hit a really good line that I missed, and I lost a bunch of time in one section and I never could get him back again. In the second race I was able to pull away and pick my way through those guys one by one as I had a 4th place start. I knew I had to win the final moto but I put myself in terrible contention right off the bat with a bad start. I pushed really hard and picked riders off one by one and got right where I needed to be right behind Trystan early in the lap. I pushed the front right when I caught up to him but I fell back to third and had to battle with Ryder LeBlond, finally I was able to get around him getting back into 2nd place but I lost too much ground. I did all I could and caught Trystan in the end, but just ran out of track.”
Women’s Champ Louise Forsley: “Moto 1 started off a little rough I felt tight and was making lots of mistakes at the beginning. Rachel even took off for a bit and I lost touch, I just tried to slow down and keep forward momentum. Luckily, I was able to make a pass and then gain some ground. It seemed close for a while but when I finally got towards the end, I realized I had a decent gap. Moto 2 went much better. Rachel was on me at the beginning for what seemed to be a while, but I stayed patient and made sure I got through everything and finally I pulled away. I felt really good Moto 2, things were flowing and I was able to find good lines. I was definitely a little tired going into Moto 3 and knew it was going to be a harder one. But I stuck to my plan of just making sure I rode smart and got through everything. I had a slower pace, but it worked really well. Overall, I was really happy with the day! “
Men Podium:
Trystan Hart – FMF KTM – P1
Cody Webb – FactoryONE Sherco – P2
Colton Haaker – Rockstar Husqvarna – P3
Women Pro Podium:
Louise Forsley – FactoryONE Sherco – P1 and P24 Overall
Rachel Gutish – Factory Beta – P2
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