Gnarliest Hard Enduro Race In The US | Red Bull Signature Series Kenda Tennessee Knockout 2020

hard enduro comes to america blood sweat and gears man and machine taking on an unrelenting course through the great smoky mountains one by one the field is eliminated succumbing to the unforgiving terrain stifling heat and humidity this is the kenda ama tennessee knockout and you are watching the red bull signature series hey everybody i'm selema masikela your host of the red bull signature series and welcome to the trials training center in sequachi tennessee near chattanooga for the kenda tennessee knockout aka tko now what has been predominantly popular across the continents of europe south america and africa hard enduro's fandom is gaining major traction in these united states prior to the entire series being put on hold west enduro world championship series sanctioned and included tko in its 2020 schedule the event continues today and is slated to be a part of west in 2021. now what is the allure of this most brutal of motorsports a competitor not only needs to possess the skills to navigate a hard enduro course which includes trials motocross desert racing and enduro but they must also have the will to push themselves and their machines beyond their limits the man to beat cody webb this guy has become somewhat of a local celebrity this being the 10th edition of this competition webb has dominated here winning a record six times in a row but he was unable to defend his title last year due to a bum knee he's looking to return to the top of the podium but chasing him is a multitude of talented up-and-coming riders including benjamin herrera from chile usa's max gersten keith curtis noah keppel and a man unafraid to take on any motorcycle discipline the one and only ryan sipes however all eyes are on canada's tristan hart who finished fifth year last year and recently beat webb at the battle of the goats in north carolina that win combined with riding 2019 tko champion manny letten bigler's factory ktm ride make him a dangerous threat to the multi-time champion four grueling events will whittle down the field to determine the 2020 tko champ and for the call we turn it over to jack nichols and the legend grant langston thanks dilemma here's a look at how the format is going to work knockout number one has happened already 50 riders the top 25 advancing through to knockout number two then we will have 25 riders starting in five rows of five and the top three riders from each row will advance through to the final with 15 riders starting all together in three rows of five this was knockout number one grant and a huge amount of riders trying to compete that was tristan hart he was looking very very strong out front but for a lot of these pretty experienced riders it's a really really tough course well just qualifying is obviously one of the toughest things you can do out there these guys the best of the best but on a course like this it'll make any rider look just average at times tristan hart obviously has to be one of the favorites coming into this event he's been riding very strong and on that factory ktm they have not been beaten in this event so will that continue as you see cody webb one of our top riders as well also having his troubles through the rock section yeah really difficult times for all of them how no matter your experience as we see a little backflip there that would get uh good scores from the judges but maybe not in a competition like this and like you say we saw cody webb struggling and he's one of the guys that's in contention to win this event you could choose either to go the harder shorter route or the easier longer route at a new hill climb and tristan hart was first on the scene he decided to go straight up it no one basically had been up this hill climb yet and tristan pulled it off a very gutsy move from him and obviously enabled him to get that advantage get out front early and on some of these tight and twisty courses being out front is part of the battle clear track you don't get held up cody webb taking the other option and you see a few riders and this is still early in the day struggling with this heat and humidity yeah the heat is going to be something to keep an eye out on throughout the entirety of the event today there you see a couple of other riders thinking they'll have a go at the hill climb this is what happens if you don't manage to pull it off you have to come around and have another go or take the shorter route and even just the physicality of picking these bikes up grant is not easy oh they weigh over 200 pounds these are heavy machines and i kid you not as the day goes on they feel like they get heavier and heavier you see on some of these hills the best option is just to turn around go back down start over again but from a little bit of rain they had early in the week some of those sections in the trees had moss on the rocks makes it very slick so just what seems to be an average rock or boulder way more difficult these days you can see riders having drinks having rests and they're going to need a lot of them over the course of the day if they do manage to get through to knock out number two where they will bring in more difficult elements of the course as well so even if you manage to get through the first round of the knockout the next course you're gonna face is going to be even tougher so we are ready on the line for the start of group one in the second knockout round tristan hart is there as is keith curtis will riordan dustin mccarthy and nick dudakovich they are going to get going in the second round all five of them heading down towards the first obstacles let's go down to the course and join tina dix thanks jack now as we head into the second race of the day riders will actually start on that exact same track but we'll come across some big surprises along the way you see the organizers want to make things more difficult so they've redirected where the riders will go and that will put them on some challenging more difficult terrain just like the one i'm standing on this ironically is called a walk in the park but it is anything but as you can see big boulder field no definitive line in fact it's covered in moss so it's going to be incredibly slick for the guys uh challenging yes a walk in the park not at all well here come the race leaders and it is tristan hart the canadian who has got out in front then and this is at burke's corner and tristan hart the leader of group one quite comfortably at the moment but these are some really really tricky rocks and terrain that these riders have got to negotiate out there as tristan hart makes his way clear and he's followed by the 7-eleven bike of keith curtis now he's a hugely successful snowmobile racer but he has been riding motorbikes since he was four so good to see him out here fascinated see what he can do today grant well one of the only things you won't find out here is snow but you'll find all the other elements as uh we get ready for group two to take off cody webb oh didn't quite get a great start that's going to hurt him a little bit remember top three will it bounce so he's going to have to make a few passes he's up against some tough riders in this one noe keppel and corey grafender on the husqvarnas troy de simone and ryan wells but as they come into this long left-hander at the circle maze tristan hart is still leading six-time tennessee knockout champion this man cody webb is on the chase and we are still very much in the early stages of the second race here in the great smoky mountains you are watching the red bull signature series welcome back to the red bull signature series this is the kenda ama tennessee knockout tko what makes up a hard enduro rider a grueling test of how far one can push themselves both physically and mentally along with their machines to outperform and outlast their competitors the terrain conditions and distances make hard or sometimes extreme enduro the ultimate test elite riders have skill sets across all disciplines the precision of trials the speed and endurance of motocross the navigation of desert racing and obstacle wrestling of enduro now add grueling courses in harsh weather and even the most skilled competitors are not exempt from going down and at times having to actually push their bikes uphill you can definitely come to this race and do well but you have to buddy up with someone that's done it a couple times and know where all the tough stones are otherwise you're going to see it blind and you can struggle and take a bad line and up in a hole we walk some of the course and you might have a line picked out but when you get there there might be riders there might be the rocks are changed or whatever it's all split second decisions if you don't have that ability to change your mind last second and pick somewhere else and get around that ride or get over that rock then you're not you're just not you're not going to cut it some of our other events they're just not as rocky and slick as these ones you know here i mean the creeks are so slippery and the rocks even if it's dry it's like they sweat the humidity here is crazy traction is everything here in tennessee it's slippery everywhere especially when it's raining like crazy slippery finding for that last little bit of traction is the difference of making it up something or not making up something i'm actually pretty new to hard enduro if i ride it like it's a motocross track there's no traction but if i do the right things with the bike get the rpns lower weight the bike in certain ways now there's traction but it takes a lot of practice to figure that out my training's been pushing my bike up a hill uh literally i i go ride and then i find a hill and i push my bike up at three or four times i have to push a lot because i'm not a trial rider so sometimes i don't have the technique to clean the uphills or clean the sections i didn't grow up being a troused rider that's definitely one of the most important things with this sport so i knew my weakness was my technical ability so this winter i rode my child's bike maybe like 50 days at a 60 or 70 day period like i lived on it every day no days off i want to win that's what i want and i took the challenge upon myself to get good at trials and it paid off well things certainly going well for tristan hart at the moment he is leading the first group the third group is now at the start line ready to begin remember the top three from each group will advance through to the final and we've got some big hitters in this one benjamin herrera the chilean on the beta bike as well as ronnie como ryan sipes on a ktm quinn wenzel and adam hartniggle are out there as well and we are on board with herrera as he comes into the first corner just shuffled down to fourth position at the moment but meanwhile tristan hart is entering four logs and tina dixon is down there guys right now i have eyes on tristan hart he is now entering that section known as four logs now i caught up with him earlier said his weakness was his trials riding so out of 60 days spent 50 on his trials bike honing in his skills and remember he is coming into this event after beating cody webb just a few weeks ago and let's see how he handles this section well here he is coming through four logs now tristan hart the canadian and him and cody webb are going to have a really entertaining battle today i think they're not in the same group here and he makes it look very straightforward doesn't he grant yeah all that training obviously paying off tristan looks very cool calm collected out front in fact stretching his lead out and remember these guys are still going to want to save a little bit of their energy as we see keith curtis entering the log section so he slides down the entry and tina is still there coming off that first line it's the snowmobile racer keith curtis now entering this section he's a crossover athlete but don't let that fool you because he's been on a dirt bike since the age of four he's raced in romaniacs he has finished airsburg says he feels comfortable here guys see how he does so the 32 year old with 30 world championship titles under his belt in snowmobile racing makes fairly light work of four logs as he comes up and out and the next rider to drop in there is will riordan on bike 4d and he's taking his time before making it out of this section as well so how tough is it to find a line in sections like this ground or is it fairly straightforward where there's only one line i think of these sections at the moment you can tell there definitely is more than one line um and the writers will tell you this probably not the most technical part of the track and well if it's wetter there definitely is but at the moment not as much dustin mccarthy dropping in now just behind him is nick dudovic and getting a little bit of a help of exactly where to go and where to follow is it easy to follow if in a situation like this i think it definitely depends on who you're following if it's someone that might have a slightly better skill set in a section like this whoops as we see a little mistake you got to go back set up all over again uh but yeah it can be easier to follow sometimes because you see the line but should the right in front of you get stuck it could definitely hold you up quite a bit this is really tough isn't it for nick dudakovich trying to get over this log he's gonna have another run at it you can see how much time he's lost to the right ahead of him already but in these tough enduros you can lose time quickly but there's no need to panic because you obviously make it up by picking very smart lines group four on their way now cooper abbott in the ktm you got max gersten in there as well on the beta who's going to be one to watch out for later on i would have thought jordan ashburn and jarrett moan all in this group of four making their way through burke's corner wrestling with the bikes as hard as they can to try and make some progress and advance through to the second knockout and we're now riding with cody webb the leader of group two very very steep descent picks his line and heads towards tina dixon and now leading that second group it is american cody webb remember the six time champion here but he missed last year due to the injury i talked to him earlier he said he feels the pressure to get back up on the podium but we are still very early in the racing and cody set his strategy conserve energy till the final well that's a good point actually isn't it grant because this is a long day for these riders oh absolutely and uh no matter how fit and strong you are uh when you get on race day and you're in unfamiliar territory you just seem to burn more calories work harder than usual cody webb obviously been around the block a few times before has dominated this event but one thing we've got to remember those were all done on ktm now on the shuriko can you get it done this time round yep new bike for him this year meanwhile tristan hart is entering walk in the park a brand new section specifically added for this 10th anniversary race awaits our lead group hardly a walk in the park zero traction over mossy covered slick rocks you're watching the red bull signature series welcome back to the red bull signature series this is the kenda ama tennessee knockout tko from the great smoky mountains the smokies get their name from the natural fog that lingers over the range and gives the appearance of smoke plumes from a distance this fog is caused by the dense forest vegetation exhaling volatile organic compounds exacerbated by the copious amounts of annual rainfall in this region perfect recipe if you are trying to devise a treacherous course for hard enduro if you didn't know any better you would think every hard enduro race's organizer's main goal is to devise the most diabolical course and find ways to torture the competitors relentlessly the draining heat and humidity and constant dampness make this terrain exceedingly slick and will deplete the fittest of athletes in no time it is no wonder the west series sees this competition worthy of its world championship tour the trials training center here in sequachi tennessee is always so treacherous the rocks are super slippery i'm convinced there's no place more slippery than this place here there's just absolutely no traction you could stop on flat ground and spin your tire and not move it's like an insane crazy dirt mixture here that just it's hard to find traction it depends on how big the root is and how big the rock is there's some big flat rocks out here that are just infinitely slippery there's been numerous times out here where i've been going up a hill and then all of a sudden my tire is turning forwards and i'm going backwards down the hill and there's just nothing you can do about it so you're just going from one beat down to the next to the next to the next and it's just that progressive beat down the heat on the east coast is a whole other animal you can say it's hot in arizona it's hot in texas it ain't hot like it is here it's okay to sweat like you're gonna sweat here no matter what so it just got accepted when it gets really humid in these hills and hollers out here it's almost like you can't breathe and you get so hot you sweat so much that it's not cooling you off anymore i don't think i've ever been hotter than when you're pushing your bike up a hill when you're stuck for five minutes and you know don't feel like you're gonna be able to get out that's tough that's when the heat really gets to you the heat very much a defining factor of the tennessee knockout this is cody webb the american who is leading group two at the moment as he's getting a little bit beached on this log and manages to haul the bike over and then carry on his way it's just so physical this this hard enduro grant well these are the things you want to try and avoid because it just really saps the energy out of you you're in this dense forest where you've got just humid air it's sticky it's heavy there's no breeze on you and you're just sweating profusely but cody webb got those long legs very talented rider so for him to be struggling just showed you how big and how difficult those logs are you can hear huge cheers for cody webb as he tries to get through this feature at a walk in the park very popular around these parts cody webb and here is ryan sipes who's in a bit of trouble and is actually getting passed by the number five bike there of quinn wenzel so ryan sipes uh struggling a little as he tries to get on top of this hard enduro style of riding well wenzel came in there with a whole head of steam and actually made a bit of contact with scythes who now is waiting for wenzel to move so he can have an opportunity but you can tell just how it's getting difficult look at the bike just wheel spinning no traction and as they do this digging deeper and deeper into the ground it creates deeper ruts you get tree roots becoming exposed it just makes things tougher for the the riders that follow sipes was saying earlier on that he practices by just pushing his bike up hills and he's putting that practice to good use at the moment oh he's gonna need all that extra strength and that's not a not a bad training program it'll definitely help you because in sections like this you have no option as we see group five coming in yep they're at burke's corner then ryder lebron nick farringer danny lewis spencer wilson and chuck delulo are in this group and they are pulling away is ryder leblanc moving into first place in group five at the moment this is one of those sections where you definitely can make some passes remember you don't have to win but the better you qualify the better your starting position is and you want to be in the top three cody webb still at a walk in the park we go on board with him here just trying to pick a line through here must be so tough you look at it and it all just looks like blank rock all the way across and these rocks are extremely slippery you can see the green moss on top and no matter what tire compound you pick you might have some traction and then it leads to that or you end up wheel spinning yep ryan's type's there still struggling to get away from four logs that's the same spot that we saw him a moment ago when quinn wenzel came and passed him and he is still there still struggling to to get out of this section and he's been joined there by another rider as well so he's losing places here ryan sites you've got to be in the top three in your group if you would want to advance through to the final knockout round so it's going to be a long long old afternoon for ryan sipes he's back with cody webb using those long legs to his advantage just paddling up this treacherous hill not the same size uh crowd attendance as we used to in the past due to the 2020 situation but still some of the event organizers out there and a few officials helping these guys whether it's cheering them on and every now and then just point them in the right direction there's also been amateur competition and women's competition this weekend as well so a lot of family and friends watching the action obviously not the huge crowds that we usually see at tennessee knockout as here race leader tristan hart is about to start the hill climb he did it in the earlier first knockout round how smooth is he gonna be this time around look at that breezes up it really impressive stuff tina and guys we are back at walk in the park we talked about this earlier just this rock garden that's so technical but really the big thing here is how slippery the rocks are if you take a closer look there's all that moss on the rocks and it just makes it really hard for those athletes to get traction cody webb he's won this six times and he's been having trouble in this section so cody webb makes it through a walk in the park no huge rush for him he just needs to be in the top three of this second group and that's something he's achieving at the moment well in the lead and that will see him advance through to the final knockout round but there's still many challenges ahead including the hill climb that he opted out of in the first knockout round now he can't avoid that obstacle because it's mandatory you're watching the red bull signature series welcome back to the red bull signature series this is the 10th annual kenda tennessee knockout the usa's most grueling hard enduro race we're on board with six-time champion cody webb as he navigates this riverbed he and the other riders are only partially through the second knockout round of the day which qualifies them for the final race webb is now at this mandatory hill climb which we saw one of his rivals tristan hart breeze up earlier on grant let's see how he does well i wonder if it's gotten into his head he didn't do it earlier now he has no choice he's fully committed you can hear the rpm on that machine going up the hill oh little mistake there but i think he's going to be able to continue using those long legs once again so not quite as efficient as tristan hart to that might be a big deciding factor when we get into the final rounds yeah he'll have to do that multiple times once he gets through to the final but he's got up the hill climb this time around now we are with benjamin herrera at a walk in the park the oh chilean's struggling there bike dropping down he's going to have to haul that one up turns 26 next week does the youngster as he looks to improve his standings around the hard enduro world had a podium last year in rebel override in texas and at the inca hard enduro in peru and he has now been joined by corey graffinder who struggles a little bit earlier here but you can see from this camera angle just how big these logs are that they've got to try and get over well the nice thing for herrera was at least he got over the log before dumping the bike so corey griffin got a little extra work for him to do so benjamin herrera pulls away group five meanwhile are at four logs we've got the 901 back there on the left hand side that's nick farringer five one three facing backwards down the hill that is ryder lebland and then spencer wilton is in there somewhere as well but even just trying to you go back around to have another go at it and even turning the bike around to go back around looks like it's a challenge but tristan hart meanwhile is coming into lampkin falls named after dougie lampkin and he is looking very very comfortable out in front and is this a pressure off situation for him really has he just got to kind of try and learn the course and perfect his lines for the final knockout round later on oh he's definitely in a comfortable position out front and no pressure coming from behind and he's just look very comfortable never uh flustered at any moment he's taken a quick breather every now and then to really uh suss the line out that he's gonna take on the bigger hills look at him very methodical everything he's doing is with purpose and at the moment it's working out because he's not making the big mistakes doubles back on himself and then continues climbing the hill you can see the rugged landscape for the tennessee knockout we're riding with cody webb now as he comes through a flatter slightly more straightforward part of the terrain but this is where it starts to get tough on some of these descents you think of the ascents as being the tricky part but that does not look easy either well it's very easy to get carried away you want to make up some ground you can carry a little extra speed but these are the sections that will bite you those rocks are constantly moving and you've got to be very respectful here comes noah keppel the 24 year old on his husqvarna about to take on the hill climb second in group two at the moment you hear a bit more wheel spin compared to the other riders but he makes it up to the top corey grafender is stopping for a little bit of a bit of a break i think and well earned he's uh running in group two at the moment max gersten here the group four leader is coming to pass corey wow just showing you how much this course is taking out on the riders cannot believe that cory grafunda is just going to take a little breather during a race but when you're tired and you can't make the good decisions you've got to catch a breath and regroup max kirsten then going past on the beta from scottsdale arizona we're on board with him now he missed tko last year after picking up a hand injury so he's hoping to get a good result this time around and he's made up a place although it was against a rider in a different group so it doesn't really count for anything he should still be advancing through here's benjamin herrera now the group three leader he is at the hill climb wanting a bit of a cheer asking for a bit of advice from the from the crowd there can that really help yeah he probably actually asked what the riders ahead of him which lines they took he saw him almost signaling should i go more to the right and wow he gets up there very nicely so maybe the advice from the spectator is really helping him out so good work from benjamin herrera he gets to the top of the hill climb and he's on his way he then drops down the other side of that crest not a lot of flat ground around here you notice the riders are either going up or down and this would be maybe one of those sections you could say that gives them a chance to catch their breath but you see how many big tree roots and boulders they are if you're not careful those can jump out and bite you and also create damage which could lead you to not finish the event if there's too much damage to a bike you mentioned it earlier with the descents but how hard do you have to push on these kind of flatter parts or do you not have time to take a breath because this is the time you've got to be going flat out well you only want to go as fast as you can read the terrain in front of you the minute you're going ahead of that is when problems can arise but there's always someone out there trying to find a few tenths or a few seconds all the way around this course well here's ryan sipes he is stuck at a walk in the park or taking a rest and he's having a bit of a altercation there isn't he troy de simone is trying to get around him ryan saying well no you can either go around me i'm not moving out of the way for you and i think they're all stuck up behind jordan ashburn on the on the 48 bikes so that's why ryan sipes is waiting because he's waiting for the for the route to be clear in front and that's one of the things we've seen with ryan sipes earlier on actually is how close these riders get to each other and if there's a bit of a blockage oh there's the blockage the bikes on its side that can cost you so much time almost through no fault of your own oh and that's the problem seifs is dealing with didn't get a clear run at it until getting war out but doesn't want to move over and lose a position remember these guys are trying to qualify for the final so every position is critical so a battle in slow motion at the moment for qualifying spots there's a look at some of the rocks as well we mentioned it earlier on but they're all kind of coated in that green moss that makes it so difficult to get traction because you look at that it looks like there's plenty of rocks a little bit of mud you should be able to get something on that but just nothing oh you've heard the writers talk about it all week about just how slick it is and deceiving it looks like it shouldn't be a problem to get up there but they're just wheel spinning so much uh makes it really tough to figure out which tyre compounds to use because you've got so many variations of surface so jordan ashburn has got through then he's got over that log and got away a little bit it looks as though ryan sipes is getting a bit of encouragement and he sends it straight over nice job from ryan sipes and the crowd show their appreciation oh and you can tell sipes is relieved and then unfortunately just throws the bike down you can see by the body language he's getting to that point where he's maybe questioning getting into hard enduros this guy has done everything on two wheels but at the moment this is really taken out of him and we know sipes is a really fit athlete so to see him struggle like this you know it's got to be extremely tough what is it that makes you a rider want to swap disciplines what is it is it to sort of prove themselves or a new challenge or a variation of things well i often say these enduro riders they're a special breed they're the only ones that spend their time and money to sign up for punishment like this but there's something to be said about it uh you know i think a lot of people could relate whether it's running a marathon or doing a triathlon it's the same thing it's man and machine just testing themselves and the strength the willpower and trying to not just given mentally at times when you cross that finish line it is so rewarding you feel like you've just accomplished something huge well who will overcome the heat humidity and treacherous terrain to advance to the final and which riders will succumb and be knocked out cody webb navigating this section but we've still got plenty of racing ahead you're watching the red bull signature series back to the red bull signature series this is the kenda tennessee knockout from the trials training center in saquatchi the rocky terrain combined with the moss heat and humidity makes this the toughest hard enduro in the usa six-time champion and favorite cody webb normally the hunted has now become the hunter still chasing current leader canadian tristan hart we're on board with cody webb as he comes down through lampkin falls going through the bushes and the undergrowth coming out at him and then you just turn around and you look up and you see that ahead of you grant it's this is so tough extremely difficult this section was named after dougie lamkin just an absolute legend in trials from the uk and this place has lent itself before this sort of terrain and training and cody webb fortunately that is one of his stronger points you can see him very comfortable in this tough tough section max gersten is the group four leader he's got ahead of uh quinn wetzel who's third in group three at the moment as they approach the hill climb not too far to go before they have to take on that treacherous obstacle still got to get through these rocks first of all as quinn wenzel but here now is max gersten about to throw it up the hill let's see how smoothly he can do it the leaders got through it fairly well gersten the 28 year old it gives it some revs and then fires it up and guys we just saw max gerstin go up this hill climb in fact this was one of the big unknowns coming into this race no rider had ever attacked it it was an option earlier in the racing now it is mandatory and one of the reasons is the weather these are ideal conditions in fact it rained a few days ago but since then the dirt has dried up nicely it's still nice and tacky but the race director he said couldn't ask for anything better here's benjamin herrera then he is now in lampkin falls he is making his way through this difficult section of course you can see him just constantly looking around as well to try and see where to place the bike where to place his feet and which direction to take well you always need a good starting point when you want to you know attack a tough section like that he is leading his group so in a comfortable position enables you to take that little extra couple seconds to really pick your line out and not be in a panic situation look at that just wheel spinning over the rocks but herrera getting through there maneuvering the bike saw him even using the power to get the rear to spin and sort of do a bit of a slide out change the angle of the bike and keep on going here's tristan hart though he's in the finish area he's going to be first across the line and that will see him advance through to the final very impressive ride from the canadian but he's still got one more race to run if he wants to win the tennessee knockout section got the best of me ryan sipe saying that section got the best of him and he needs a rest for a minute and he looks like he's in a bad way at the moment to be perfectly honest getting a little something to drink there and uh man i just never thought i would see this out of ryan sipes the guy is an absolute animal on them on the motorcycle and you can see right now just doing anything he can to try and get himself to that finish line max kirsten the next rider to come into lampkin falls on bike number 15 down in group four but he's actually progressed pretty well as i say that he gets a little bit stuck as the back end of the bike swings around on him but he's uh had a pretty impressive run i think in this one gersten despite being in that fourth group at the start but he's very much going to advance because he's been running at the front of group four for pretty much the entirety of his run ice put himself in great position it'll give him a good qualifying spot putting him in the front row come the final and that is huge we've seen track position can play a large factor clear track in front of you enables you to pick your lines and go at your own pace so gersten up through lampkin falls meanwhile the second rider from group one is coming to the finish line keith curtis is going to finish second and that advances him through to the final along with tristan hart here comes ryder leblond up the hill climb sort of has a little bit of a moment three quarters of the way up and then it's gonna be tough to get up from there cody webb first from group two is going to advance to the final as well as he takes the finish line and well corey corey grafender with a with a new air conditioning solution hey you know guys have sponsors but every now and then desperate times call for desperate measures and if you're wondering just how hot it was this picture says it all benjamin herrera is the winner from group three he's the first from the third batch of five to come across the line and book himself a place in the final knockout race and jordan ashburn now is at lampkin falls we saw him a little bit earlier on getting involved well he was the man holding up ryan sipes but i don't think sipes minded too much that uh that jordan was in his way and now he's coming through lampkin looking quite smokey that bike there but now max gersten he is going to finish first from group four so he books himself a place on the front row for the final knockout race later on well let's go down and catch up with tina dixon who's found cody webb uh cody coming in second throughout the day's race in the earlier rounds are you concerned at all about that not too bad right now um that first time a little bit tight and then the second one i felt like i rode really good but i just super conservative and took my time and once i got on the lead there really wasn't a panic so uh basically was saving energy to go full gas here in the final when you are trying to save energy and you see that guy in front of you how do you hold back how do you keep it held back well luckily i got that uh that last tko around uh i got in the lead down the first creek and once that happened i just wrote smart and but uh you know some of the other races when you see that guy in front of you it's hard to like relax but still push to get by him so i got lucky that time but in the main you know we don't know yet what's gonna happen but you know it's 30 minutes and it's gonna be a suffer fest yeah we're all looking forward to it thanks so much well these are the riders that advance through then to the final round of the tennessee knockout tristan hart cody webb herrera gersten and farringer will be on the front row the final 15 are set hart has bettered webb twice today can he maintain this momentum or is the six-time champion just waiting to make his move and unleash on the young canadian the final knockout when we return you're watching the red bull signature series welcome back to the red bull signature series i am your host salemma masikela from the trials training center this is the kenda ama tennessee knockout tko it has been a grueling day of competition with three races knocking out competitors to determine the final 15 riders will race on the short course now starting in three groups of five from a dead engine start it will be an all-out sprint for seven laps to the checkered flag tristan hart shows no signs of slowing down and the six time winner is right there within striking distance of a win but in hard enduro it is anyone's guess who will cross the finish line first and in one piece the green flag is about to drop for the main event so we're gonna throw it back over to jack nichols and grant langston for the call thank you salemma this is how they will line up them for the grand final of the tennessee knockout tristan hart cody webb benjamin herrera max gersten and nick farringer are the five riders on the first row as we wait for the race to get underway 30 minutes plus one lap who's gonna get the whole shot now you see the dead engine starts there they hit the start button get it going now we're going to get to see cody webb and tristan hart going head to head remember and the qualifiers that were in separate groups this is the view from max gersten and it looks as though tristan hart has got the whole shot gerston getting shuffled back and it is indeed the canadian who's out in front cody webb is in second spot benjamin herrera in there as well as they come over that jump for the first time and there come the lead two out and away and it is actually noah keppel who's got him into third place right at the start he started on row two but he's managed to climb up the order very quickly on board further back with benjamin herrera who's dropped to fifth position but the top two right together now this isn't a long race 30 minutes plus one lap but you still need to not lose too much ground at the start oh these riders were probably exhausted coming into the final and you can see already look at the intensity between the front two cody webb he's won the six times but he wants to do it on the sure co which has not been done ktm have dominated this event tristan hart's been riding fantastic all weekend long he's had good results in the past but now finds himself leading early so here they come still the canadian ahead of the american then there's a little bit of a gap back to noah keppel who's running in third position the 24 year old and look at these top two right together seeing them go absolutely head to head is really quite spectacular we saw them pretty much on their own for most of the first knockout races web almost into the back of tristan hart as they swing through that left hand around the tree and heart gets a little bit of a gap but it's so so tough to keep following in these positions you can see the crowd that have turned up from the riders family and friends not the usual cheers and applause that we're used to it tennessee knockout but they're all still going to be wanting cody webb to take victory here no doubt about that he's been riding at this venue for an awful long time now let's go down and join tina with one of the riders that didn't make it through to the final ryan sipes going outside of his wheelhouse to do this hard enduro and it was a tough one out there uh how would you describe your exhaustion levels right now uh i mean mainly it's just cramps i'm cramping in spots i've never cramped before my my abs are cramping if i bend over i lock up so it's just uh i guess the heat you know and the exertion physical just i don't have quite the skill level that these guys do so i work a lot harder to get up some of this stuff and it got me uh i was well right at the beginning of that race probably five minutes in i got stuck for a good five minutes and that took a lot out of me and by the end i was i was done even if i'd have made it i don't know if i could erase the final but i finished it i finished the race too so i'm okay with it that was hard thanks so much ryan well i don't have abs to get cramp him but nevertheless a extreme supreme athlete like ryan sipes experiencing things he's never felt before and he's been riding bikes all his life he's going to be sore in some areas he didn't even know he had muscles and as far as the front two go at the moment you can see the intensity they are pushing it cody webb mentioned uh was saving a little bit for the main event he's a wily veteran knows how to pace himself like a good marathon runner saved your best for last benjamin herrera there has now made it up into third position but it is tristan hart who's leading there's cody webb in second hart the 23 year old canadian finished 14th in his first ever go red bull hair scramble last year he was the top rookie of 2019 helped out by cody webb actually tristan's brakes failed and cody basically brought a replacement up the mountain and tristan was able to carry on but he's got the measure on cody webb at the moment on this manny letton bicklett ktm so he's doing a good service to that ktm at the moment with cody webb on the circo trying to chase him down so a battle of two intense riders on two different machines sureco never had a chance to win this event ktm undefeated you know cody webb really wants to put his name on that list on another machine just proving hey maybe it's more the man than the machine yeah indeed he's on this new bike for this event they're coming around now to complete lap one and they're very much in a class of their own aren't they across the line comes tristan hart in the lead cody webb straight up to him there in second position then there's a bit of a gap back to benjamin herrera in third spot oh we're getting to see some of those lap times you could see not a big gap between tristan and cody tristan doing a 444 cody of 448 as herrera comes through he'll complete his first lap about 13 seconds behind cody webb also in the five-minute range so just showing you the time difference between the front three there is herrera swinging through that hairpin left the first tight corner on the course before he goes back out into the forests well tristan hart was dominated all day long but cody webb said he was saving all his energy for this final race benjamin herrera of chile is also in the hunt and chasing close behind who will be crowned the 2020 tko champion you're watching the red bull signature series welcome back to the red bull signature series this is the kenda tennessee knockout and racing continues in the final round canada's tristan hart leads in the second lap of the race with six-time champion cody webb right on his heels youth or experience who will prevail webb has managed to close right up to the back of tristan hart here hasn't he because hart had a reasonable lead at the end of the first lap but webb has clawed it back in grant yeah it's gonna come down now who makes the least amount of the big mistakes they're all gonna have to really navigate carefully and also the track has been breaking down throughout the day rocks have been moved logs are more exposed and cody at the moment looks like he's just happy to sit there in second place and put the pressure on tristan now if you're tristan that's not very comforting knowing you're giving it everything you've got or is he that's the real question cody webb has been dealing with injuries the last couple of years so maybe he's really having to pace himself or does tristan hart have a little extra in the tank for the end yeah it has been a really tough couple of years injury-wise for cody webb he missed the last two hair scrambles through injury missed tennessee knockout last year through injury and here now is the very impressive chilean benjamin herrera running in third position right now and a fairly comfortable third position you have to say turns 26 next week and he did a lot of riding in his native chile before moving over to compete in europe aged just 16. but there are our top two still hart ahead of webb if you're in the lead here are you trying to build up as big a lead as possible as you're referring to earlier or are you just managing your pace managing the gap not going too hard well obviously tristan hart doesn't want to ride over the limit but you also don't want to feel like you're one mistake away from losing the control of this race and so i think for cody webb you know a lot of times for riders they prefer being the hunter rather than being hunted but i think if tristan hart could just break away from cody webb that might just break cody's spirit and be what tristan needs to get his first win there's herrera again running in that third spot fairly comfortably he does have you could just see in the in the background there noah keppel who's doing a good job on his husqvarna but it's still a very good job from benjamin herrera the chilean running in third spot he's now coming under the bridge that we saw the leaders take on a couple of moments ago but it's a fairly lonely race for him at the moment he hasn't got enough to match the riders out in front no unfortunately for him it's been a fantastic ride a little bit quiet there in third spot just doesn't quite have the pace of the front two but i think for herrera he's gonna be very happy if he can finish on the podium webb now doesn't quite have the race leader in his sights here comes herrera again on board with him dropping down the descent swinging around to the right still great to see some fans here at least the the friends and family of the riders in other competitions and these riders as well but they're across the line to complete the next lap is the race leader tristan hart cody webb across the line quite a way behind now halfway through that lap they were looking pretty close but then tristan hart just stretches his legs extends the lead and there you can see visibly the gap between them yeah tristan hart once again just seems to find some time right before they head to the finish line and pulls away from cody a 4 for tristan so still sub five minute lap times incredible pace from these front two cody webb also just under the five minute mark at a 459. here's noah kettle running in fourth position at the moment he's racing for husqvarna not racing full-time studying at university of san diego but he is here competing for husqvarna colton hacker their usual rider out through injury there is the third place man benjamin herrera and he does a five-minute 30 lap time that's half a minute slower than he managed on lap one and half a minute slower than the than the leaders that he's trying to fight with and there's no a couple across the line four seconds slower than herrera so 30 seconds in one lap just shows you the advantage that these top two have over over everyone else in the field well the front two obviously not making the big mistakes and keeping their momentum going even in these tough conditions but behind herrera still holding strong slightly slower lap time could have been uh due to a big mistake or maybe you're finally starting to see the fatigue setting in on board with benjamin herrera hitting some of those huge rocks no problem at all going over some of them going around some of the others as he tries to pick the best line out through the tennessee countryside see some of the sections of the track widen up makes it a lot easier for passing but you see some of the sections as well very tight very one-lined so you got to pick your passes and also at times just know when you have to follow now this is the part of the course where a lapa go they were right together weren't they uh tristan hart out in front and cody webb was right behind her but now hart is up that hill climb well before cody webb gets to the bottom of it he attacks it now climbs to the top and we are in the closing stages of the final race of the kenda tennessee knockout tristan hart has dominated all day cody webb is running out of time can he reel in and overtake the young canadian you're watching the red bull signature series welcome back to the red bull signature series we're in the final stages of the 10th annual tennessee knockout leader tristan hart is about to complete the sixth lap with cody webb still right on his tail benjamin herrera in third and noah keppel in fourth if webb has any hopes of capturing a seventh title he will have to make a move soon to overtake the young canadian tristan hart doing a very good job out in front there on bike number 84 cody webb who we're with here on bike number two on board with him coming through the final sequence of corners to finish his sixth lap takes over some of those huge logs then we'll double back and we'll see exactly what the gap is between him finishing his sixth lap and uh the race leader tristan hart you can see this section out in the front starting to look more like a motocross track you got the deep ruts forming uh you can really see the lines coming in as we head back into the wooded sections gersten having a great ride he was way back in the pack on la and the lap one he's fought his way from 13 now found himself in the top eight and then we've got keith curtis and ryder lebland in the battle for fifth and sixth keith curtis the multiple snowmobile champion snowmobile legend really they're running in fifth and sixth and here comes cody webb to try to put a lap on the two of them so that shows you fifth and sixth and they're well they'll have already been passed by the race leader so they're more than five minutes off the lead of the race only this far into the event it really is staggering what cody webb and the race leader tristan hart are doing at the moment but this battle for fifth is going to be a tight one as keith curtis makes his way up the hill these guys have gone back and forth battling uh arguably for their best rides ever a lot of willpower at the moment who is going to be strong towards finish here's the race leader though tristan hart leading as he has been since he got the whole shot at the very start as he has been through the first two knockout rounds has a little bit of a wobble there but nothing too dramatic he's lapping jordan ashburn at the moment who's in 13th position so that's another rider past cody webb running in second spot trying to chase in and close down but it's really looking as though tristan hart has got a reasonable advantage here you can see cody webbing this is not going to help him he's caught two of the sort of slower riders at a really difficult point well but what a great move cody webb made right there you saw him just get off the bike pivot around find that new little lineup the inside makes two passes not for position but gets around some lappers and it's unbelievable the pace of the front two that they're lapping this high up in the field so web up the hill the other side where we saw the race leader a couple of moments ago and webb taking a noticeably different line there but still getting the job done and trying to close in on tristan hart out in front then up comes fifth place man on the 7-eleven bike in the battle for fifth position keith curtis just ahead of ryder leblanc and here's max gerstin then who's closing in on both of them he's in eighth position having dropped down to 13th as you said earlier on grant but he's still got a shot at closing in those guys here comes cody webb though trying to find anything he can to close in on tristan hart but what happens to your mindset once they go out of view once you can't see the leader anymore does that change things a little it makes it really hard to stay fully motivated you can see cody now has gotten rid of the goggles probably just wanting a little fresh air on his face but the intensity has not dropped off from him he you can see through that rock section just going about as fast as you can through there so still putting the heat on he knows that tristan hart's one mistake away from him being right back in this battle underneath the bridge lots of support for cody webb but here comes tristan hart out in front and he's coming towards the end of this next lap we're still trying to chase him down coming up through the right-hander around the tree from for cody at the moment though his time is starting to run out um i'm sure so is their uh energy levels but without seeing tristan hart in sight remember they don't get pit boards out in the out in the lap so they don't really know what the gap is we see the white flag for tristan hart that's got to be a beautiful sight when you're out front the last thing you want to be doing is a bunch more laughs so that white flag couldn't come any sooner this is gonna really help him and when you see that white flag even though you might be tired and drained it's like a little second wind little shot in the arm you just know one more time you gotta navigate this tricky track the other thing for tristan hart is that he's leaving that start complex he'll have taken the white flag and he won't even see cody webb anywhere behind him webb is just approaching the the finishing zone now in fact there's tristan hart leaving it so maybe they flash past each other just as one's leaving and one's entering and that will give tristan hart a huge boost of confidence knowing visibly the advantage he's got going on to this final tour there comes cody webb he does not have long now if he wants to somehow call in the race leader up in front tristan hart looking in a very commanding position at the moment thank you jack heading into the final laps as tristan hart still holds a lead over the six-time champion cody webb hart is dominated in all three races today and looks to be the last man standing but is the experience webb just biding his time to make a move on the young canadian who's gonna be the 2020 kenda tko champion we are about to find out stick with us you are watching the red bull signature series welcome back to the red bull signature series it's the final lap of the 2020 tennessee knockout america's toughest hard enduro race leader tristan hart of canada has widened the gap with a big lead on the six-time champion american cody webb hart has executed virtually flawless racing all day there's a lot of fights further back in the field we've got cooper abbott there's stumbling he's in 15th position noah keppel in there running in fourth spot but here's cody webb in second place and at the start of that final lap the gap was 56 seconds to tristan hart on a five-minute lap this is gonna be really tough it's going to rely on hart running into a lot of trouble here grant well for tristan this is the perfect position to be in he can you know turn it down a little bit really uh take his time figuring out the track on this last lap because it has deteriorated throughout the race and for cody webb i'm just wondering if maybe those injuries over the last couple years have just held him back enough where he didn't have the physical conditioning or maybe even just the time on the motorcycle in order to go and get tristan hart he's uh putting a lap here on cooper abbott how long does it take to to get used to a bike to understand a new bike well i think that's also very relative you know the sureco is a slightly different brand that cody webb would not be too familiar with and with injuries that would have prevented them and the team of having more test time uh track time and dialing that machine in ronnie como's in a lot of trouble there is neither bikes further up the hill than he is as he is running in 10th position at the moment we go back on board with cody webb still trying to chase down tristan hart the race leader under the red bull bridge and then dropping down into the next sequence of rocks on this day that will feel like it's going on and on this will be the longest lap i'd have thought in tristan hart's mind having beaten cody webb a couple of weeks ago at the battle of the goats and now he's beaten him twice so far today in tennessee knockout and then here he is currently still in front ryder lebland and keith curtis battling it over fifth position and they are right together here so ryder lebland is ahead of keith curtis they've switched positions many times throughout the course of this race and cody webb still there running in second spot as he drops down into the next hill climb and i guess now it's just a case of consolidation but this will feel like an age this final lap for tristan heart out of thought tristan hart you see still standing up feet on the pegs that means he's got a lot in the tank see ryder leblanc now fifth position so this battle for the top five going back and forth and oh that is not a position you want to be getting stuck at well they're both down there weren't they because keith curtis was the white bike a little bit further back down the hill and max gersten now has managed to climb up into seventh place he was 13th at the end of the first lap but there's ryder leblanc he's stuck against the tree you see the white bike the 7-eleven has just got going again of keith curtis so he's now up into fifth position and here comes max gersten on the beta the man from scottsdale arizona is closing in on this uh on this sixth position and seventh position fight this battle just will not end these guys just really slugging it out it's gone back and forth but here's the chicken flag and there is the win a superb ride from tristan hart half a minute slower on that last lap than his best but that doesn't matter he's done enough to win the 2020 kenda tennessee knockout superb ride cody webb not gonna win but a second place still a good job it just will kill him though that he hasn't been able to take a seventh a record-breaking seventh title yeah great ride from cody webb he threw it all out there but i think today tristan hart was just the strongest rider all weekend long well deserved for him but you can tell cody still pretty happy with that second place but i'm sure he and team sherko would have loved to been on the top step of the podium he made up 21 seconds on tristan hart during that final lap but it wasn't enough he's finishing 35 seconds behind and there's gersten gersten gets the head of ryder leblond right on the end right on the final lap and what a ride as well from benjamin herrera he's going to come across the line a podium finish for the chilean after a very strong ride but let's hear from our race winner and we talked to tristan hart earlier he said he put in the extra work especially on that trials bike tristan to finally have that pay off when tko how do you describe this indescribable if you would have said like three years ago that i would have won this and beat cody i would have been like no way because he's locked me every time i've ever been here maybe even double that so to win this is just it's incredible i don't know where it came from you got the whole shot cody was right there by you what were you telling yourself especially on that final lap i was telling myself to be consistent because i knew cody was not going to mess anything up so i'm like please god just get up this hill every lap and i had a little mistake two laps to go and i'm so glad i didn't crash and got the win bit congratulations and what a big win for you thank you so here's a look at the final results the win for tristan hart on his ktm cody webb finishing in second position this time around and a good ride from benjamin herrera to finish third also huge shout out to max gersten from 13th up to sixth by the end of that one well what an entertaining 2020 kenda tennessee knockout tristan hart the champion of 2020 managing to beat cody webb salemma thank you jack and thanks to all of you watching for joining us here at the trials training center from the great smoky mountains in sequachi tennessee the competitors were all put through the test and congratulations to canadian tristan hart for reaching the top of the podium and the united states cody webb and chile's benjamin herrera for rounding out the one two and three six-time winner cody webb clearly was the favorite going into the competition but tristan hart carrying that momentum of a recent first win over the veteran dominated the day winning all four rounds of the racing including the main event he proved that he was clearly the man to beat looking flawless as he navigated brutal new sections including four logs walk in the park and the addition of a new hill climb that hart was the first to ever climb in tko competition for that the young canadian tristan hart gets our signature moment thanks for joining us today once again on behalf of our entire crew including jack nichols grant langston and the one and only tina dixon i am selema masakayla and we will see you next time you

Channel: Red Bull

Views: 909,606

Rating: 4.8621664 out of 5

Keywords: red bull, redbull, action sports, extreme sports, Enduro, sport videos, 4k, red bull signature series, hard enduro 2020, gopro, downhill, Motocross, rallycross, mountain biking extreme, hard enduro, hard enduro techniques, hard enduro hill climb, hard enduro race, hard enduro skills, hard enduro highlights, Wade Young, tennessee knockout 2020, Cody Webb, tennessee knockout enduro, kenda tennessee knockout 2020, Tennessee mountains, motorsports videos, Red Bull Motorsports, Kenda

Id: RPFSmmzncMI

Length: 67min 40sec (4060 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 25 2021