On The Pegs October 2019 -Volume 4 - Issue 10 | Page 65

On The Pegs
Vol. 4 Issue 10 - October 2019
65
The best of the east met up with the best of
the west at the final round of the Kenda Full
Gas Sprint Enduro Series, in Laurens, South
Carolina, with ex-moto star and all-around
off-road ace Ryan Sipes coming out on top
of a close battle with newly crowned Kenda
Full Gas Sprint Enduro Series champion Kailub
Russell to take the win at the Chestnut Corner
Full Gas Sprint Enduro. Former Supercross star
Josh Hill also made an appearance on Sunday,
bolstering an already loaded Pro class.
The final round of the Kenda Full Gas Sprint
Enduro Series was designated an ISDE camp
by US team manager Antti Kallonen, so the
entire US ISDE Trophy team (World, Junior
and Women’s) showed up to do battle, pitting
the best from each of the major series in the
United States against each other: Full Gas
Sprint Enduro, AMA National Enduro, Grand
National Cross Country and WORCS.
After two days of racing and 12 timed tests,
Sipes edged fellow factory KTM rider Russell
by just 22 seconds for the overall win.
Sipes admitted his was a bit surprised by
the win and since the event also served as
a warmup and training weekend for the
upcoming International Six Days Enduro in
Portugal, he thinks the US squad is ready to
win back the title it claimed in 2016.
“I had no clue where I’d be against these
guys since I haven’t raced one of these all
year; I didn’t know where my speed would
be, so I’m really happy,” said Sipes. “I knew I
would do okay in the Cross test, I just wasn’t
sure about the Enduro test. I got a little lucky