On The Pegs VOL . 4 ISSUE 10 - OCTOBER 2020 115
Am Pro Yamaha ’ s Layne Michael and FMF / KTM ’ s Kailub Russell traded overall wins at this weekend ’ s three-day Harleywood Full Gas Sprint Enduro , rounds four and five of the 2020 Kenda Full Gas Sprint Enduro Series in Bristol , Tennessee .
Round four had been scheduled for the previous weekend at Harleywood , which would have been back-to-back weekends at the course . However , thanks to a hurricane hovering off the coast , the weather forecast leading up to the first race called for two inches of rain and 30 mph gusts , so series promoter Jason Hooper decided to run both rounds over Labor Day Weekend . A call that worked out perfectly since Mother Nature cooperated over the three-day holiday .
The race for the overall win ended up being a dogfight between Russell and Michael all weekend , and Michael ’ s victory at round four ( Saturday and Sunday ) marked the first time this year anyone has able to wrestle the top step of the podium away from Russell .
Russell got off to a bad start in the very first test on Saturday and quickly realized he might have a battle on his hands .
“ I didn ’ t even fall in the first cross test and I got smoked ,” said Russell . “ I knew straightaway in the first three turns that something was off . I didn ’ t feel at home on the bike . I came in and figured it out , we forgot to make a settings change after some testing we did , so I put it back to normal . Then I had a pretty good enduro test going ( Test 2 ), and lost my brakes halfway through it .”
Michael look especially sharp having just re-