Girroir Takes Control at U.S.
Sprint Enduro Opener
D
efending series champ FMF/
KTM's Johnny Girroir picked
up where he left off last year with
a dominating win at round one
of the 2024 U.S. Sprint Enduro
Series at MacDaddy Raceway in
Hephzibah, Georgia, January 20-
21. Girroir set the stage by win-
ning the opening test of the day
on Saturday ahead of Landers
KTM Pro 2 rider Angus Riordan
before finishing out the weekend
with nine wins of the 12 tests
over the two-day event. In the
end, Girroir took the overall two-
day win by just under a minute
ahead of Riordan, with AmPro
Yamaha's Liam Draper, in his first
race on a 450, in third overall and
second Pro 1 rider.
"It's a good way to start off the
year," said Girroir. "I had a couple
of mistakes yesterday, but today
I came out swinging with a good
way to start off the season. I had a
couple of mistakes yesterday and
a bad couple of misfortunes, but
today, I stayed smooth and kept
smooth and in control. I stalled it
a couple of times on Saturday but
today I was smooth all day."
Riordan came on strong at
the end of last year and carried
that momentum into the 2024
season, winning a cross-test
on Sunday. On Saturday, Rior
-
dan lost out to Rockstar Energy
Husqvarna's Craig DeLong for
the runner-up slot for the day by
just 0.004 of a second.
"It was a good weekend," said
Riordan. "I started kind of slow
both days, but I got it going
towards the end of the day. I had
a good battle with Craig DeLong
on Saturday; it came down to
nothing in the end. And then
today, I just had a small crash in
that last test, but other than that,
I had a good weekend."
Draper posted a 4-3 overall finish
for the weekend, but his times were
good enough for third overall.
"I was a little nervous coming
into the race because it was my
first race on a 450," said Draper.
"I've only had two weeks on the
WIND
IN THE
P40
Johnny Girroir captured
the overall win at the
AMA U.S. Sprint Enduro
Championship opener in
Georgia.
PHOTOS: SHAN MOORE
