Barnes Holds On in Georgia Sprint Enduro
I
f the previous round in Georgia
was any indicator, Liqui Moly
Beta's Cody Barnes was near-
ing a breakthrough, and this
weekend in South Carolina, he
delivered. Still adjusting to a
new brand and team, Barnes
had shown flashes of speed by
winning the final two tests at the
Mac Daddy's XC Sprint, round
two of the series, last month.
At round three of the U.S. Sprint
Enduro Series, March 21-22, he
put together his most complete
performance yet, earning his
second career overall U.S. Sprint
Enduro victory at the Rodgers
Farm Sprint Enduro in Ninety-Six,
South Carolina.
Barnes wasted no time as
-
serting himself on Saturday,
opening the day with a win in the
first Cross test, edging out 2024
U.S. Sprint Enduro Champion
FMF KTM Factory Rider Johnny
Girroir by 1.1 seconds. Girroir's
challenge, however, would come
to an early end, as a lingering
illness forced him to withdraw
during the third test.
From there, Barnes controlled
the pace, winning four of the six
tests on the day. Despite a slip in
the second Cross test and a late-
race issue in the final Enduro
test, Barnes kept his composure
and consistency to secure Satur
-
day's win by 10.7 seconds over
Husqvarna's Toby Cleveland,
highlighting both his speed and
resilience under pressure. Cleve-
land took the remaining two test
wins for second overall and first
in the Pro 2 division.
"I tagged the tree in that last
Enduro test and messed up my
front brake, so I rode the last
mile without front brakes," said
Barnes. "It was a bummer, but I
still was able to salvage the test,
though it would have been a re
-
WIND
IN THE
P38
Beta's Cody Barnes
started the weekend
off hot and went on to
take the overall victory
at the Rodgers Farm
Sprint Enduro.
PHOTOS: JADE BARNES
