Girroir Wins Sprint Enduro Opener
F
MF KTM Factory rider Johnny
Girroir picked up where he
left off last year by winning the
opening round of the U.S. Sprint
Enduro Series held at MacDaddy
Raceway in Hephzibah, Georgia,
January 18-19. However, Girroir
had to fight off wolves during the
early going of each day before
getting the job done.
Although he won the opening
cross-test, Girroir was in a deficit
after two tests. When a hard rain
delayed the start of Saturday's
race for an hour, the defend
-
ing champ and the first rider to
take to the enduro course had
to break trail on the muddy test.
Girroir lost 13 seconds to even-
tual test winner AmPro Yamaha's
Liam Draper, while FMF KTM
Factory Racing Team Landers'
rising star, 19-year-old Grant
Davis, was just a second behind
Draper in third, as Girroir spent
the rest of the day fighting back
in pursuit of the lead.
The hard rain made for slip
-
pery conditions for the first half
of the day, though the track got
tacky and rough as the sun and
wind began to dry it out, making
for a perfect day of racing.
Davis led the race after the
first two tests, but Girroir took
Saturday's win after battling back
and winning four of the six tests,
heading into Sunday's race with
a 5.4-second lead over Davis.
"After the rain it was pretty
gnarly, but when it dried out it
got tacky and rough," said Davis.
"I felt comfortable in the cross-
test, but I also won one of the
enduro tests, so I think I rode
consistently all weekend."
Draper followed in third after
getting off to a disastrous start,
finishing seventh after drawing
the number one spoon, which
meant he would be the first on
the track to break in the muddy
trail, followed by Girroir. Draper
redeemed himself by winning
WIND
IN THE
P38
Johnny Girroir didn't
lose any speed over
the off-season. He
won the opening round
of the U.S. Sprint
Enduro Championship
in Georgia.
PHOTOS:
ART PEPIN
