Kawelo Huddy wins the 2025 Ultimate Hawaiian Hard Enduro in Kauai, round two of the Bullet Proof Designs US Hard Enduro Series, Presented by IRC Tire beating FMF KTM’s Trystan Hart by 11 minutes.

The Garden Island Motorcycle Club is celebrating their 80th Anniversary this year, and have been running the world-famous Labor Day Hare & Hound for 70 years straight.

The Ultimate Hawaiian Hard Enduro was started last year to potentially attract top US Hard Enduro Series talent to compete on their technical courses, and alongside their talented riders.

This race was held at Omao, just a few miles away from one of the wettest places on earth, so the rain and creeks are a major factor in a country well known for having some of the toughest hard enduro terrain, steep volcanic climbs, incredibly slick “Hawaiian Ice” mud, and many flowing creeks.

Being a USHE Premier Championship round, the top USHE athletes shipped their bikes over and flew out to compete against the Hawaiian locals, who once again demonstrated a deep knowledge and plenty of experience in these mountains.

Over the bars hampers Hart on Friday prologue

On Friday, the GIMC hosted a Prologue on their lengthy and impressive EnduroCross track. After some timed practices, the top-20 went into the Main Motos of around 1:45 seconds, creating an exciting racing in  front of te crowd.

Trystan Hart of FMF KTM Factory Racing won Moto 1, but went over the bars while in the lead at the beginning of the Moto 2, losing nearly 10 spots and having to salvage some positions from mid-pack.

Ryder LeBlond of Rockstar Husqvarna Factory Racing had a strong, second place finish in Moto 1, and won Moto 2, giving LeBlond the win and a nice cash prize, along with gate pick for Saturday’s Main Race.

Catch video highlights here: 2025 US Hard Enduro Rnd 2 Recap – Ultimate Hawaiian Hard Enduro

Six-hour time limit main event

On Saturday, the GIMC had four courses that ranged from 17-21 miles, split up for different class levels throughout the mountains. They started in rows of five ahead of a six-hour time limit race.

LeBlond and Hart pulled a quick lead in the first sections, which were a bit faster and spread out the competition to the first part of the course. In one of the first creeks, Huddy, who started in the second row, passed the racers in the front row, and didn’t look back.

He continued to pull away, coming into the gas check a minute ahead of LeBlond and Hart, but pushed hard for a longer lead on the second half of the course.

Big hitters hit gremlins

Some top five USHE athletes experienced mechanical failures, with Will Riordan of FactoryONE Sherco losing a countershaft sprocket early on, and Cody Webb’s electric start on his Rocky Mountain Yamaha YZ250X breaking in the thick of the mountains.

This opened up the door in the top-10, which ultimately was split evenly between Hawaiians and mainlanders. Huddy’s KRD Hui teammates, Kamakana Waiwaiole-Kahalepuna and Ryder Guest were also setting a fast pace, showing strong local knowledge and passing LeBlond and nearly passing Hart at one point.

Huddy’s the main man

Huddy had a very fast pace and didn’t make many mistakes, finishing the race in first place in 2 hours and 22 minutes, 11 minutes ahead of Hart, who also rode smooth, but just couldn’t match Huddy’s pace.

“Not a very good day yesterday for the Prologue,” said Hart, “but fortunately we were still able to start from the front row today. I just felt like I couldn’t get going all day, momentum-wise – nothing was too special for me. The Hawaiians really ride this track well, so for me it was all about salvaging the championship points, which was a good day for that.”

Waiwaiole-Kahalepuna ended up in third place, matching his result from last year. Guest finished in fourth and LeBlond in fifth.

Huddy is only the third person to beat Trystan Hart in the past four years on American soil, sharing that honor with Cody Webb and Manuel Lettenbichler. He won this race last year when it was slick, and backed it up with an impressive victory over a more stacked field with more dry conditions.

In the Pro Women’s class, Pebs Madalora won her race on a different course in just under three hours, with Katie Hall-Leah and Mele Huddy rounding out the podium.

Results (main Pro class):

The GIMC hosted a great race where racers of all levels were very happy with their level of challenge, and also welcomed the mainland racers with open arms.

The USHE Premier Championship continues the Grinding Stone Hard Enduro in Page, Arizona, March 22-23.

Full results: http://www.moto-tally.com/USHE/Results.aspx

Website: www.ushardenduro.com

Photo Credit: Calafia Concepts