On The Pegs July 2020 - Volume 5 - Issue 7 | Page 51
On The Pegs VOL. 4 ISSUE 7 - July 2020
51
After breaking his leg just before the opening round of the Kenda AMA National
Enduro Series in February, FMF/KTM Factory Racing’s Josh Toth recovered
enough during the four-month layoff to come away with an impressive victory
at round two of the series, the Cherokee National Enduro, in Greensboro, Georgia, in his
debut National Enduro race of the season.
After a nearly four-month layoff, the Kenda AMA National Enduro Series resumed
action in Georgia under beautiful conditions, with excellent trail, and abiding
by “social distancing” and other preventative guidelines.
Toth kicked off the event by winning the first four tests of the six-test, 70-mile
race, and finished off the event with 46 seconds to spare over runner-up Grant
Baylor on a FactoryONE Sherco.
Toth skipped the series altogether in 2019, so the Cherokee marked his first Enduro
in over a year-and-a-half.
Toth felt good about performing so well after returning from injury.
“It’s been a long road coming back from breaking my leg twice, and these are
hard to come by, so I definitely cherish it,” said Toth.
Toth had few problems during the first four tests, but things got tougher in the
final two.
“The fifth test I laid it over a couple times,” said Toth. “I kind of got the bike
caught in some saplings. I ended up losing that test. But then going into the last
test it was so tight. I just had a little mistake. I don’t know really what happened.
Sent me into a big tree and wadded up. I had a big crash. The track was so tight
and physical. At the end I couldn’t catch my breath. Once you stopped, the heat
hit you so hard. I was really gasping for air and struggling to finish that last test.
But luckily, I had a cushion and was able to get the win.”
Baylor got off to a slow start to the day, and trailed Toth by a minute-and-a-half
heading into the final test, but cut into that gap considerably with a clean and fast
ride to finish off the day.
“I spent the first few tests trying to find my flow early on,” said Baylor. “I made
some adjustments to the bike about mid-race and it seemed to benefit and make
the bike better. There towards the end of the race I started to improve my times
a little bit. I actually ended up winning the last test there by a good chunk, but
it wasn’t enough to get the job done. Just need to keep it consistent. We’re only
two rounds into this thing, so keep it consistent and keep it on the box. That’s all
we can do.”
The surprise performance of the day went to Ryder Lafferty, who put his XC
Gear/Enduro Engineering Husqvarna into third overall.