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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128406
eigning World Enduro and ISDE Champion David Knight added yet another marquee event to his resume by claiming the title of Last Man Standing at the inaugural Red Bull Last Man Standing off-road race, and in the process pocketed a cool 10 grand for his efforts. Knight came into the event riding a wave of momentum after totally dominating the World Enduro 3 division, en route to the 200S class championship, and after winning the 80th International Six Days Enduro, held in the Slovak Republic earlier this year. The 27-year-old KTM rider from the Isle of Man dominated the Texas event from the start and finished the 140-mile ordeal with a 10-minute lead over GNCC-regular Nathan Kanney, while seven-time AMA National Enduro Champion Michael Lafferty finished third after recovering from a spectacular crash during the night stage. "This is one of the toughest races I've ridden," Knight said. "It was more physical than anything, and it ranks up there with the best of them. It was just a matter of keeping a pace all the way around and not getting stuck." Perhaps the biggest story of the event wasn't so much about Knight's win as it was about the event itself. The unique format - an idea hatched by Red Bull KTM's Josh Whitaker and the Red River Dirt Riders - was designed to pit the top off-road riders in the world, from all disciplines, against each other on the toughest course imaginable - under both daytime and nighttime conditions. The course used many trials-level sections of the hilly and rock-laden Red River valley with the ultimate goal being, according to the press releases, "to test the skill, nerves, endurance and will of the participants." Most riders agreed that Red Bull and the Red River Dirt Riders achieved their goal. "On a scale of one to I0, I would rate this event a 12 as far as difficulty [goes1it was gnarly," Lafferty said. "When Istarted this, I thought it would be great to win, but then after a while, it's like, 'Man, I just want to finish. '" "This isn't the toughest terrain I've ever ridden, but it is the toughest terrain I've ridden in a race," Kanney added. "Whoever put on this race was the first to have the guts to put the hardest stuff in there. Normally, the promoters are afraid to make it that tough, because they think no one will come back." Of the 88 invited riders starting the event, only 18 qualified to go on to the nighttime segment, and only 14 of those made it to the finish. Some riders were forced to quit due to mechanical problems, but others just ran out of steam - or desire. After a rider presentation, introducing the entries to the spectators, the field lined up for the dead-engine start. When R maviCi Knight makes short work of the Red Bull extreme off-road competition STORY AND PHOTOS BY SHAN MOORE