Young Tops Tough Like RORR
S
outh African Wade Young
proved that he was plenty
tough enough by making short
work of this year's Tough Like
RORR extreme off-road event in
Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, July 6-7,
finishing Sunday's 34-mile final
with a 36-minute advantage over
former national enduro ace and
Sherco rider Nick Fahringer. The
Tough Like RORR race is a round
of the 2019 AMA Extreme Off-
Road Series.
Young pocketed $5000 of the
$15,000 purse for his efforts and
etched his name in the Tough
Like RORR history book.
"It definitely feels good to win
it," Young said. "I think this is my
first win in America, so I'm happy
with that. Hope it's not the last."
Organized by the Reading Off-
Road Riders, Tough Like RORR
is unique in that two races on Sat-
urday serve as a prelude to the
$15,000 finale held on Sunday
afternoon, where only the 60 fast-
est riders qualify to participate on
the rugged and slippery course
that features rock fields, vertical
climbs, and treacherous down-
hills, with names like "Sickness,"
"Stairway to Heaven," "Cruella da
Hill," and "Land of Confusion."
Young posted fastest times in
both of his qualifiers, seeding the
factory Sherco rider into the first
row in Sunday's finale.
Fahringer grabbed the hole-
shot to start the finale, but Young
took control when Fahringer took
a wrong turn onto part of last
year's course.
"I got the holeshot, and then
somebody on a KTM went by,
and we both took a wrong turn,"
Fahringer said. "So, I'm looking
down at everybody passing us
down in this gulley, so I side-
hilled down into that ravine. I
think I was probably in sixth or
fifth place and just started pick-
ing people off."
Young sprinted during the
opening lap, extending his lead
at each checkpoint, and at the
end of the first lap, he held a
20-minute advantage over the
field. Fahringer worked his way
up into second by the end of lap
one and was 12-minutes ahead of
Canadian Jake Stapleton when
he started the final lap.
Young shifted into cruise con-
trol for the final lap to easily claim
IN
THE
WIND
P20
Sherco's Wade Young
dominated the Tough Like
RORR extreme off-road
race in Pennsylvania.
PHOTOS: SHAN MOORE
