07.11.2021
KTM-SUPPORTED RIDERS SHINE BRIGHT IN ALABAMA
Round 9 - AMA National Enduro Series
STANTON, Ala. – FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Josh Toth concluded the 2021 AMA National Enduro Series on a high note as he scored his third-consecutive overall victory at Sunday’s series finale in Stanton, Alabama. Although his teammate, Ben Kelley, raced through some adversity at the Gobbler Getter National, he was able to salvage a seventh-place finish to give the team solid 2-3 finishes in the 2021 championship standings.
With over 700 riders lining up for the highly-attended season finale, lapped traffic proved to be more of a factor than usual but that didn’t stop Toth from navigating his KTM 350 XC-F to the top spot. He quickly put himself into a favorable position early on, finishing second in the first three tests of the day. Halfway through, he stepped up and charged to the front with a test-four victory, making a break to give himself a 28-second lead going into the final test. Winning the last three tests, Toth got the edge he needed to come away with a 29.6-second victory on the day.
The Connecticut native put up a good fight in the championship hunt, despite coming into the season with an injured hand. He managed to grind through the opening round and score some valuable points before hitting his stride mid-way through the season, winning five of the last six rounds to secure second overall in the series.
Josh Toth: “Overall, it was a really good day. It started off a little slow but I closed in on the lead midway through the day and put a little gap towards the end. I won five races this year but unfortunately a little short of the championship because of a couple rounds, but next year I’ll be more consistent and get that number one plate. Other than that, these enduros are really starting to click for me and I think next year is going to be super fun!”
It was a challenging day for Ben Kelley, who came in feeling under the weather. Kelley did his best to fight through the adversity, maintaining a top-10 position in all six tests aboard the KTM 350 XC-F to secure seventh overall at the season finale. With consistent finishes over the course of the season, including a Round 6 victory and three additional podiums, Kelley was able to secure third overall in the championship standings.
Ben Kelley: “It was an okay day, I’m not feeling too well, so I didn’t really have the energy to be aggressive like I normally would. I did what I could do to finish today and it was enough to get third overall for the series.”
Antti Kallonen, FMF KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “Overall, it was a great season for both Josh and Ben and it was great to see them both in the overall podium for second and third in the series. They each had their ups and downs and a chance for the championship but a few things along the season played a factor to the end-results, but that’s racing and it will only motivate us to do better next year. So, we’ll stay hungry and we definitely want to get our guys one step further up. Congrats to both riders and to the team for doing a fine job of getting both guys on the podium. That’s a true testament of the team and the riders, that you can have two guys up front and battling all year long.”
Trail Jesters KTM Racing Team’s Jesse Ansley finished second in the NE Pro2 class on Sunday, splitting an all-KTM podium with Steve Nicholas III on the top step and Zack Hayes rounding out the top-three. Ansley, the recently-crowned NE Pro2 Champion, swept the first four tests to hold the class lead early on until suffering a costly issue in the final test, allowing Nicholas to secure the win by .3 seconds.
In the Women’s Elite division, KTM-Support rider Shelby Turner won her third NEPG of the season, edging out fellow KTM-Supported rider Mackenzie Tricker on the day. Tricker, who was crowned with her third-consecutive title at the previous round, had the lead for most of the day but an issue late in the race dropped her back to a second-place finish.
Mackenzie Tricker: “I’m really stoked to get my third championship in the series! The season started off pretty rough, I had surgery on my knee right after I won the championship in 2020 and I ended up doing one test to score a few points at Round 1 and then I had a bad race at Round 2, so I had to make up some points and play catch up all season. I’m lucky to win again and make it three-in-a-row, and hopefully we’ll go for number four next year.”
NE Pro1 Results
1. Josh Toth, KTM, 02:15:42.205
2. Steward Baylor Jr., YAM, +29.6
3. Craig DeLong, HQV, +59.1
OTHER KTM
7. Ben Kelley, KTM, +49.8
NE Pro2 Results
1. Steve Nicholas III, KTM
2. Jesse Ansley, KTM
3. Zack Hayes, KTM
NE Pro1 Championship Standings
1. Steward Baylor Jr., 231 points
2. Josh Toth, 210
3. Ben Kelley, 178