license plate and horn. “That thing actually helped a lot!” exclaimed Kudla “I’d beep it as I came up on riders and they usually got right out of the way never breaking my pace.”
BY EREK KUDLA PHOTOS BY ANNE BURNELL
Another rider who would be stuck borrowing a bike would be Moose Racing’s Jordan Brandt who made the trek all the way from Boulder Creek to ride the event. “I don’t know how I ended up on this CR 250, but its what I got!” said Brandt as he was able to stay right with the top riders on the first loop only dropping 20 seconds. Mid Cities Honda’s Nick Blais, Kudla and Senior Heavy Weight Intermediate Steve Bishop would be the only riders to drop a mere 1 second through the entire first loop heading into the 2nd, more difficult loop. LWTII racer Trevor Hoffman would stay close dropping only 2 seconds, followed closely by world famous Paul Krause dropping 5 seconds and Mike Whitcomb dropping 7 seconds. Hamill would drop 9 seconds keeping him more than close enough to make up time as he made quick work of the more technical sections on his KTM 250 XC-W. The times would prove that the first loop was all about the “game” and not just about sheer speed, which is what Enduro’s are all about!
T Anchor Racing's Ty Montee makes things tough on himself
he finale to the 2011 FASST COMPANY Checkpoint Enduro Championship had more champions crowned in the final round than you could imagine! Not only the Heavy Weight and Lightweight titles but also almost every other title all the way down the line! By far the most hotly contested title though would be the overall Enduro Championship which would be decided by one single point after all was said and done.
The Riders Helping Riders Benefit event is one of the most unique events in District 37 in that a conglomerate of clubs get together to put on a race and all the proceeds go to the RHR fund. This year it was decided that the event would not only be an Enduro but it would be host to one of the closest races of the season. Each Enduro club had its prospective
sections to lay out which gave the course one of the most unique and interesting flows of the entire season. “What a fun day! Came out to my first enduro to support RHR and had a blast!” said Vector Powersports backed Justin Shultz who finished 3rd Vet Hwt Expert after piggy backing on reigning LWTII Enduro Champion Andy Vandenberg who himself finished just outside the top 10.
At the start of the event there were two riders with nothing but the win on their minds and that was 3 Brothers Racing’s Nick Hamill and Fasst Co’s Ryan Kudla. Going into the final round the two were separated by only 6 points for the overall championship with Kudla having the edge. The day would start out rocky with Kudla having to ride his dad’s stock KTM 450 EXC-R complete with blinkers,
Blais would continue his dominance through the entire 2nd loop taking the overall lead by 20 seconds over Hamill and another 28 seconds over Brandt. Kudla would drop to 5th after getting stuck in a rock section and dallying over 2 minutes behind! Now the ultimate test of the rider’s ability was ahead. While the speed averages would be slow in the final 7 miles of the course the terrain would be extreme, filled with rock faces, ledges, waterfalls and tight twisty single track. Nothing too hard, but definitely not easy to keep the 15-18 mile an hour averages. Only 4 riders would be able to Zero the first check 1.8 miles into the loop: Brandt, Kudla, Chilly White and Krause. The next 11 riders would squeak in just outside of their minute including Hamill, Hoffman, Tom Baxter, Barry Von Fossen and Vet Intermediate Ty Montee. Montee would go on to ride his Anchor Racing KTM 300 XC- W to the Vet Intermediate win and 23rd overall after taking a long summer break for intensive shoulder surgery.
Blais, however, would not fair so well falling off the trail and under his bike losing 2 minutes and dropping him to 3rd overall. It would be an all out drag race for the last 2 miles as the speed average bumped up to 24 mph where it had been 21 the lap before. Brandt would jump through the final check signs dropping 1 minute and 40 seconds giving him a total 1:080 on the day and his first overall victory in the Checkpoint Enduro Championship. Kudla would be the next to cross just 21 seconds behind giving him a total of 3:141 still within reach of the overall championship. Hamill faired well running on a later
3 Brothers KTM's Nick Hamill would wrap up the 250 Enduro title
minute and crossing the line 14 seconds shy of Kudla but giving him a total of 2:107 and the D37 overall win. Now it was time to wait and see if anyone would be able to squeeze in between them to give Hamill the advantage in the spread he needed to take over the points lead. When the scores were tallied and results posted the numbers would have it and there would be no one that could keep with the two riders giving the overall championship to Kudla by 1 point after a season long battle with Hamill!
Blais would never be able to recover from the loss of time finishing 4th overall with 4:150 which would also cost him the Heavy Weight championship losing by 30 points to Kudla.
Enduro360.com’s Chilly White would wrap up the top 5 with a a great ride totaling 5:261. With the 2011 FASST COMPANY Checkpoint Enduro Championship wrapped up it is safe to say that the “new” series is a success. While the name of the series is new, the events and clubs themselves have been around for as long as 60 years. Going into the 2012 season the Western Enduro Promoters Group has worked to get 4 more Enduro’s folded into the series from Central California’s District 36 and Arizona’s AMRA Racing Association. So we all look forward to the start of the 2012 AMA WESTERN CHECKPOINT ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP sponsored by FASST COMPANY, S&S Off Road Magazine and Dirt Tricks and will see you all on the starting line... minute by minute. Thank you to all who have participated and all who have supported Enduro riding through out the history of the sport and into its future.
For more information regarding the 2012 season
and ALL series standings and results go to
www.ridechec.com
2011 Champions Overall - Ryan Kudla; Hwt - Ryan Kudla; Lwt I - Nick Hamill; Lwt II - Trevor Hoffman; Vet Lwt - Christopher Deans; Vet Hwt - Chilly White; Sen Lwt - Paul Shafer; Sen Hwt - Brett Hoffman; Mag Lwt - Cory Timms; Mag Hwt - Steve Williams; Masters - Dick Cressy; Legends - Art More; Quad - Lee Ramont; Women - Kelly Barbosa; Mini - Sammy Bangert
48 S&S OFF ROAD MAGAZINE - JANUARY 2012 -
www.SS-OffRoadMagazine.com
District 36's Jordan Brandt took the overall win on a friends CR 250
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