01.05.2022
Round 2 - AMA National Enduro Championship
ARRINGTON, Va. – A big momentum shift came for Ben Kelley at Round 2 of the AMA National Enduro Championship as the FMF KTM Factory Racing team rider dominated five of the day’s six tests to score his first win of the series at the Dragonsback National. His teammate and Round 1 podium finisher, Josh Toth, came close to making it two-in-a-row with a fighting fourth in Arrington, Virginia.
Coming off a seventh-place finish at the opening round, Kelley made big headway today as he delivered a near-flawless performance amid dry and hard-packed track conditions. He eased his way into the opening test, finishing third, in what would prove to be his lowest finish of the day. Establishing a quick pace in test two, Kelley ignited a charge aboard his KTM 350 XC-F and he kept the mistakes to a minimum, sweeping the last five tests of the day to claim the overall victory by 45 seconds.
Ben Kelley: “I rode good in the first test but after that, I really found my flow and I just kept clicking them off. I had good energy and I was just going fast, flowing around the corners and hitting my marks. It’s probably the best I’ve ever felt at an enduro besides Sumter in 2019. I just felt like I could focus and I felt like I rode good, so I’m happy with that.”
For Toth, it was a gradual start to the first half of racing but he was able to deliver strong finishes later in the day to inch his way back toward the front. He came through just behind Kelley for fourth in test one and he was every bit in the running when he entered the second test. Unfortunately, he clipped a tree on test two and got sent off-track, smashing his hand, but he was able to salvage seventh in the test. A little off in the next test, Toth struggled to get by the slower riders and ultimately finished fifth. He shifted his momentum in test four, powering his KTM 350 XC-F into third and from there, he continued clicking off faster times. He got into a good flow on test five, charging to a second-place finish and bringing his overall time closer to podium contention heading into the day’s final test. He put in another solid ride, capturing third in the sixth test, ultimately finishing about 23 seconds off the overall podium.
Josh Toth: “Overall, it was a decent day. I started off not super-comfortable in the looser stuff and then we made some changes to the bike, making it softer, and that definitely helped in the afternoon. I kept it on two all day but I rode on the cautious side and was a little too timid. I just wasn’t blazing fast ever today and I managed to just ride it in for fourth.”
Round 3: May 15 – Park Hills, Missouri
NE Pro1 Results
1. Ben Kelley, KTM, 01:39:03.344
2. Grant Baylor, GAS, +44.6
3. Ryder Lafferty, GAS, +28.7
4. Josh Toth, KTM, +23.2
OTHER KTM
10. Jesse Ansley, KTM
NE Pro1 Championship Standings (After 2 of 10 rounds)
1. Steward Baylor Jr., 46 points
2. Ryder Lafferty, 46
3. Ben Kelley, 44
4. Josh Toth, 39