Witkowski rounded out the
top five ahead of Kelley in sixth.
Despite the finish, Kelley main-
tained the lead in the series
standings, although Draper, with
his second overall, moved to
within three points of Kelley in
the championship fight.
Jason Tino (KTM) was seventh
overall and topped the XC2 class.
Red Bear Rocky Mountain
Kawasaki's Grant Baylor was
eighth overall, with Walker and
Husqvarna-mounted Gavin
Simon rounding out the top 10
and finishing second and third,
respectively, in the XC2 division.
In the WXC Pro Women's class,
FMF KTM Factory Racing stand
-
out Brandy Richards charged
from fourth place to take the
victory ahead of Rockstar Energy
Husqvarna Racing's Korie Steede.
Richards was second off
the line but settled into a safe,
steady pace on the tricky course,
dropping to fourth on the open
-
ing lap as Phoenix Honda Rac-
ing's Tayla Jones led early.
"I wasn't that ready to go in
these rocks, and it was a little
slippery the first lap on the hard-
packed stuff," said Richards.
"I was just trying to be patient,
knowing you could make one
mistake and be out of the race."
Once AmPro Yamaha's Dani
-
elle McDonald and Steede got
around Jones, Richards picked
up the pace.
"Danielle made a mistake, and I
got by her," added Richards. "Then
I got behind Korie, and we came
up on a bottleneck. I had a good
line through it and took the lead."
Steede finished second ahead
of McDonald. Jones was fourth
with Jocelyn Barnes (Husqvarna)
in fifth.
Shan Moore
OVERALL (Top 10)
1. Jordan Ashburn (Hon)
2. Liam Draper (Yam)
3. Craig DeLong (Hus)
4. Kailub Russell (Yam)
5. Mike Witkowski (Hon)
6. Ben Kelley (KTM)
7. Jason Tino (KTM)
8. Grant Baylor (Kaw)
9. Jhak Walker (Bet)
10. Gavin Simon (Hus)
VOLUME ISSUE APRIL , P45
Lettenbichler
Credited With
Alestrem
FIM Hard
Enduro Win
T
he 24MX Alestrem Hard En-
duro near Ales, France kicked
off the 2026 FIM Hard Enduro
World Championship on April
17-19. Three days of competition
culminated in the final event on
Sunday. Unfortunately, extreme
rain on Sunday caused some
confusion as marshals re-routed
the course midrace. Red Bull
KTM's Mani Lettenbichler was
leading the event and did not get
clear directions on what to do
and continued the course while
the riders behind were diverted
back to the finish area. Husqvar
-
na's Billy Bolt was initially de-
Red Bull KTM's Mani
Lettenbichler was
credited with the
Sunday main-event
win after some
confusion about
a midrace course
change.
PHOTOS:
FUTURE7MEDIA
