Defending US Sprint Enduro Series champ, FMF KTM’s Johnny Girroir, picked up where he left off last year with a dominant win at round one of 2024 at the Mac Daddy Raceway in Hephzibah, Georgia.

Johnny Girroir surely couldn’t have wished for a better start to the new season so early in 2024. The FMF KTM rider and reigning US Sprint champ set the stage by winning the opening test of the day on Saturday ahead of new FMF KTM teammate and Pro 2 rider Angus Riordan. JG went on to finish the weekend with nine wins of the 12 tests over the two-day event.

It meant Girroir took the overall, two-day win by just under a minute ahead of Riordan, with AmPro Yamaha’s Liam Draper, in his first race on a 450, in third overall and second Pro 1 rider.

“It a good way to start off the year,” said Girroir. “I had a couple of mistakes yesterday, but today I came out swinging with a good way to start off the season. I had a couple of mistakes yesterday and a bad couple of misfortunes, but today, I stayed smooth and kept smooth and in control. I stalled it a couple of times on Saturday but today I was smooth all day.”

Gus on the factory KTM

Riordan came on strong at the end of the ’23 season and carried that momentum into this year, winning a Cross test on Sunday and only losing out to Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Craig DeLong for the runner-up slot on Saturday by just .004 seconds.

“It was a good weekend,” said Riordan. “I started kind of slow both days, but I got it going towards the end of the day. I had a good battle with Craig DeLong on Saturday; it came down to nothing in the end. And then today, I just had a small crash in that last test, but other than that, I had a good weekend.”

Making his debut on the big 450, Liam Draper can count on consistency having posted a 4-3 overall finish for the weekend which meant his times were good enough for third overall. “I was a little nervous coming into the race because it was my first race on a 450,” said Draper. “I’ve only had two weeks on the big bike so I wasn’t sure where I was going to line up with these guys. I rode solid and just had one crash all weekend, so I’m stoked with how I finished.”
2023 GNCC champion Craig DeLong wound up with second on Saturday and fourth overall for the weekend.

“Saturday was good; the track was smooth and anybody can go fast when it’s smooth, I just have to figure out these second days and kind of keep the same speed,” said DeLong. “It’s just something I’m going to have to do. Usually, at a GNCC, the track is rough and you just attack it and ride it differently. I just need to figure these out.”

Fifth overall and second in the Pro 2 class went to Husqvarna rider Jason Tino in his first-ever ride in the Pro 2 division. “The weekend went really good,” said Tino. “I got off to a little bit of a slow start on Saturday, but I started to find my flow by the end of the day. On Sunday, we brought the intensity and just kept it rolling throughout the day.”
 

In his first race in the Pro 1 division, Phoenix Honda Racing’s Cody Barnes took a sixth overall and fourth in the Pro 1 class. “Things were decent, I learned a lot with the bike with the suspension and stuff,” said Barnes. “I just struggled with that and then got better as the weekend progressed.”

Enduro Engineering rider Josh Toth struggled to come to terms with the new Honda he was riding after spending all of last year on a GasGas and finished up the weekend in seventh overall.

Former series champ Layne Michael (GG), was not pleased with his eighth overall finish. “I just struggled with setup all weekend,” said Michael. “No excuses, but it was rough. I was getting beat by kids I didn’t even know. Rough weekend for me, and I’ve got two weeks to get it turned around.”

Husqvarna riders Toby Cleveland and Dominick Morse rounded out the top 10, with Morse finishing fifth overall on Saturday and 10th on Sunday, while Cleveland went 8-8 for the weekend.

Babbitts Off-road Kawasaki’s JoJo Cunningham went 11-11 for 11^th overall and first in the Pro-Am class.

Richards from Steede in Pro Women

FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Brandy Richards dominated the Pro Women’s division, sweeping all 12 tests to take first ahead of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Korie Steede, who came on strong on day two to claim second overall. Third went to FactoryONE Sherco’s Rachel Gutish.

“I’ve been on the east coast for about two weeks now, down at Kailub Russell’s, riding in the sand,” said Richards. “So that part I was ready for, it’s just the trees and the woods I needed to adjust to and by the end of the weekend I was getting the hang of it.”

Colton Shields (Hsq) took the win in the Overall A division, while Brayden Baisley won the Overall B class.

2024 US Sprint Enduro Rnd1 overall top 40 results:

The US Sprint Enduro Series returns to action on February 3-4 in Union, South Carolina.

More information: www.ussprintenduro.com

Words and photo credit: Shan Moore