IN
THE
WIND
P32
DUVALL WINS RATTLESNAKE ENDURO
T
had Duvall vaulted to the
top of the 2017 Kenda AMA
National Enduro Championship
point standings after a dramatic
come-from-behind win at the
Brandywine Enduro Riders'
Rattlesnake Enduro in Cross
Fork, Pennsylvania, July 23.
Duvall went into the last test of
the day trailing Rockstar En-
ergy Husqvarna teammate Josh
Strang by approximately 10 sec-
onds, but Duvall let it rip in the
final test and ended up topping
Strang by 17 seconds, giving
him a seven-second victory over
Strang for the win.
Third on the day was N-Fab/
AmPro Yamaha Josh Toth who
looked like he was headed for the
win after getting off to a fast start
and jumping into the lead. But as
the day progressed, both veterans
Duvall and Strang caught and
passed the youngster, Toth.
"I started out good, but I
struggled halfway into the event
and Toth was putting it on us,"
said Duvall. "I just wasn't riding
like I know I can. I think I was
thinking too much about winning
the race, so before test five I just
told myself to relax and ride and
that made all the difference."
Toth was disappointed to
see his lead slip to a third-place
finish. "I had a tip-over in the
first test and I knocked my front
brake lever down and I struggled
in that one, but we came back
and won some tests and that
moved me to the front," said
Toth. "I was in contention for the
win and I was leading heading
into the final two tests, but I
had a couple of tip-overs, but I
still felt I rode well. I'm not sure
where I lost my time to Thad and
Josh but I was pretty bummed to
drop back to third."
Duvall took full advantage of
an off day by the championship
leader, Steward Baylor on the
SRT KTM, going into the en-
duro. But things could've been
a lot worse for the former AMA
National Enduro champ. Stew-
ard came into the Rattlesnake
Enduro with an injured knee and
toughed it out for fourth overall,
keeping himself in the champi-
onship hunt.
"Everything that could go
wrong went wrong," said Baylor.
New points leader Thad Duvall
continues to be the hottest rider
in the woods after winning the
Rattlesnake National Enduro in
Pennsylvania.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
DARRIN
CHAPMAN
