Michael Clinches Sprint Enduro
Championship
A
mPro Yamaha's Layne
Michael claimed his third
win in a row in the Kenda U.S.
Sprint Enduro Series victory with
a dominating performance at this
weekend's Hidden Valley Golf
Course Sprint Enduro, round five
of the series in Glen Daniel, West
Virginia. By doing so, he clinched
the Pro Championship with one
round remaining on the schedule.
Rain off and on all weekend
made for a very slippery course,
but Michael was unfazed, win-
ning nine of the 12 tests (all six on
Saturday and three of the six on
Sunday) to outdistance runner-
up Thad Duvall (Rockstar Energy
Husqvarna) by 49 seconds over
the course of the two-day event.
"To win the championship is
pretty cool," said Michael. "I've
been chasing a professional
championship for a while now, so
this is a steppingstone. I've been
close. Last year I was close with
Kailub [Russell], I just struggled
in the beginning of the season
and wasn't there, but at the end
I was battling for wins. I knew
coming into this year this was
definitely one I was wanting to
wrap up. To get it done a round
early is pretty cool."
After an extended time off the
bike due to injury, Duvall has
been riding himself back into
form during the last few weeks
and looked especially good on
Sunday, where he won two of the
enduro tests.
"I rode much better this week-
end, especially today; I felt like I
kept Layne pretty honest today,"
said Duvall. "Yesterday he was
hammering us in the cross test. I
feel like I'm getting more comfort-
able riding that edge that it takes
to win these things. I just kind
of found some lines this morn-
ing and went with them and they
IN
THE
WIND
P28
AmPro Yamaha's
Layne Michael
clinched the 2021
U.S. Sprint Enduro
Championship at the
the Hidden Valley Golf
Course round with
another win.
PHOTOS: SHAN MOORE
