Draper Wins High Voltage Sprint Enduro
A
mPro Yamaha's Liam Draper
relied on consistency to
take the overall win at the High
Voltage Sprint Enduro on the
border of Pennsylvania and
West Virginia, April 19-20. Series
points leader FMF KTM Fac-
tory Racing's Johnny Girroir's
absence from the race due to a
head injury a few weeks ago left
the door open for a few of the
up-and-comers to take podium
finishes. And many of them did.
With five rounds in the books
and only two rounds remaining,
the race, which also doubled as
the ISDE East Coast Qualifier,
had some high drama as several
top positions are still on the line.
Saturday's enduro test was
tricky at best and caused several
top riders to fall and lose valu-
able time. And while Saturday's
weather was windy yet sunny, a
mini tornado hit the pits on Sat-
urday night, blowing down team
canopies, along with the signup
area and score equipment,
forcing the promoters to clear
fallen trees as well as recover
damaged equipment. To top it
off, the scores from Saturday to
Sunday were topsy-turvy, with
top riders finishing outside the
top five on Saturday but return
-
ing to the top of the standings
on Sunday, making consistency
a priority.
Draper was the most consis-
tent of all, finishing first on Satur-
day and third on Sunday to grab
the overall win for the weekend.
"I rode good yesterday, but
today was tough, starting with
the first cross test, which was
slick. But ultimately, I needed
more speed in the woods test,
because Cody Barnes was kill-
ing it in there," said Draper. "I'm
happy to get the overall win but
bummed to not win both days.
But I was solid; I had a good day
on Saturday, although Cody had
a little bike issue in the second to
last test. But I was solid all day
yesterday and I felt good. Then
today it was a whole different
WIND
IN THE
P36
Liam Draper was
the overall winner
at the High Voltage
U.S. Sprint Enduro,
which doubled as an
ISDE East Qualifier.
PHOTOS: ART PEPIN
