After an injury-disrupted 2025 campaign sidelined him for half the season, FMF KTM Factory rider Johnny Girroir returned to winning ways at the opening round of the 2026 US Sprint Enduro Series in Climax, Georgia.

While most of the east coast was covered with snow this week, south central Georgia was spared the frosting, and other than the cold temperatures, the racing and the course at round one of the 2026 US Sprint series were spectacular.

Girroir claimed three of six test wins on Saturday and duplicated that on Sunday to secure the overall at Southland Spirit Raceway. Having dominated the series previously, Girroir had to fight off a bevy of talented and vastly improved riders on this return to claim the first overall victory of the year.

“It was a good start to my year,” said Girroir. “It was a little tighter yesterday. I had a nasty crash on the Cross test and then Grant just obliterated me in the last Enduro test. Everyone’s ripping this year. Cody (Barnes) had three very good tests to finish out the weekend, and Grant (Davis) was ripping too. He keeps me on my toes, so it’ll be an interesting season.”

Speaking of Davis, the Pennsylvania rider is one of the up-and-comers pushing Girroir. Davis, one of Girroir’s FMF KTM Factory Racing teammates, second overall, 14 seconds behind Girroir. He also took an Enduro test win on Saturday. “I’m happy with my riding,” said Davis. “But I want to beat Johnny one of these days. He was going fast alright. I had a pretty good crash today, but other than that it was a good weekend.”

Defending champ third

AmPro Yamaha’s Liam Draper came into the weekend expecting a better result than third but admitted that a podium finish is a decent way to start the year. “It was a better day yesterday, for sure,” said Draper. “Today the boys smoked me, but we’ll keep working. I guess it’s a good start to this season. At least I’m up here on the box.”

Fourth overall went to Liqui Moly Beta’s Cody Barnes, who spent the weekend adjusting to his new Beta USA team and a new bike. After changing settings throughout the weekend, Barnes topped off Sunday by winning three of the last four tests. “It’s going to be a big learning curve; that was to be expected, switching from an aluminum frame to a steel frame,” said Barnes.

“I’ve been on Honda for four years now so going to the Beta there was a little bit of adjusting to do. But I’m happy that I stayed with it and my mechanic Denny and my wife Jade, they both kept me steady and we just kept trying stuff and eventually we got it pretty close now. We kept changing sag, changing clickers and just getting it to where it felt the same as what I what I’ve been riding. I know now that I can be the fastest guy after those last few tests, so it was a very productive weekend.”

Pro 2 win for Johnson

Husqvarna’s Brody Johnson topped the Pro 2 division with a fifth overall finish, winning five of the six Pro 2 tests on Saturday and four of six on Sunday.  “It was really good on Saturday,” said Johnson. “I won all but three of the twelve tests this weekend and I look forward to getting better and hopefully improving. “I need to work on my sprint speed in the Cross tests and that’s something I’m looking forward to doing,”

Cooper Jones (KTM) edged out Molu Liqui Beta’s Jhak Walker by six seconds to take sixth overall. Meanwhile, Walker was seventh overall and second in the Pro 2 class.

Husqvarna-mounted Colton Shields went six for six in test wins on Saturday to set him up for a safe and steady ride on Sunday to claim the win in the Pro-Am class with an eighth overall finish. “Sunday was a little tougher,” said Shields. “I won the first test but then I kept losing my brakes in the Enduro test and that set me back a little. But I’m happy with the Pro-Am win.”

Ninth overall went to Kawasaki’s Will Sievenpiper with Cole Whitmer rounding out the top 10 on a GASGAS.

Macdonald and Richards 3 seconds apart in Women’s Pro class

In the Women’s Pro Division Danielle McDonald (Yam) took the overall after trading test wins with FMF KTM’s Brand Richards; Richards winning Saturday’s event and McDonald winning Sunday’s. Only three seconds separated the two after 12 tests.

“It was a good weekend for me here in Georgia,” said McDonald. “Brandy (Richards) and I went back and forth so she made it hard on me. We had some good racing so I’m looking forward to the next one.”

Second overall in the Women’s Pro Division went to Richards: “I had an okay weekend at the first round of U.S. Sprint Enduro. I felt really good on the high-speed and flowy test, but really struggled with comfort in the enduro test. I made a few too many mistakes, which led to a close second place on the weekend. I’m ready to get back to the drawing board to come back swinging for the second round!”

Ellie Winland (Yam) was third while the top Amateur for the weekend with an overall win in the 250 A class was Doc Smith.

Cody Barnes turned in the fastest Enduro time for the weekend while Johnny Girroir turned the fastest Cross time for the two days.

Southlands US Sprint Enduro Results:

Round two of the 2026 US Sprint Enduro Series resumes with the MacDaddy Sprint Enduro, which also doubles as the AMA ISDE East Qualifier Series, on February 21-22 in Hephzibah, Georgia.

More information including full results, the banquet and US Sprint Enduro: www.ussprintenduro.com

Words Credit: Shan Moore
Photos Credit: Jade Barnes