words by : Steph Vetterly photos by : mjsmotophotos // Mary Rinell
FMF KTM ’ s Trystan Hart , the young gun from Canada , took back-toback wins at the latest rounds of the AMA Extreme Championship Series .
Starting in Michigan with the Mad Moose Hard Enduro , Round 3 of the Easter Extreme Series , competitors were challenged to a three-moto format . Loops of approximately 10 miles each of gnarly terrain , progressing in difficulty with each loop .
In the first moto , Hart was able to stay ahead of FactoryONE Sherco ’ s Cody Webb at each checkpoint , to ultimately finish one minute 15 seconds ahead ; however , the tables would turn in moto 2 . Webb would take the win , but only by 10 seconds , with the orange rider hot on his heels . Going into the final moto of the day , it was anyone ’ s win with both Hart and Webb tied with a first and second-place finish . The close race would continue into moto 3 , but once again , Hart saw the win , this time only 11 seconds ahead .
“ It was an amazing day !” said Hart . “ I won the first moto and Cody won the second moto so it was do or die heading into the final moto . Cody pressured me the whole moto but ultimately I withstood it and secured the win .”
“ I was really looking forward to the Mad Moose this year ,” said Webb . “ Unfortunately , the weather held off and conditions were super dry , making for a much easier race than the year prior and not what we were expecting . That allowed for the pace to remain really high turning the race into a big sprint . With nothing to stop us or slow us down , it was hard to make up any lost ground .
I did the best I could winning the second moto , but in moto one that Trystan won , I think he hit a really good line that I missed , and I lost a bunch of time in one section and I never could get him back again . In the second race I was able to pull away and pick my way through those guys one by one as I had a 4th place start . I knew I had to win the final moto but I put myself in terrible contention right off the bat with a bad start . I pushed really hard and picked riders off one by one and got right where I needed to be right behind Trystan early in the lap . I pushed the front right when I caught up to him but I fell back to third and had to battle with Ryder LeBlond , finally I was able to get around him getting back into 2nd place but I lost too much ground . I did all I could and caught Trystan in the end , but just ran out of track .”
ON THE PEGS // PAGE 130