Racing

Josh Strang Takes Indiana Sprint Enduro Win

Aussie off-road star claims second win of the year in Indiana

August 14, 2018

Josh Strang claimed his second win of the season at the Wade Farm event in Indiana. With the win, the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider took over the lead in the series point standings. Strang won three tests total—all of them Cross tests. The Aussie off-road star said he was able to use his “Euro lines” on the grass track, which meant he chose lines that put him in the grass instead of in the silt, where he got much better traction.Shan Moore

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Josh Strang started strong and held tough to take the win at this weekend’s Kenda Full Gas Sprint Enduro at Wade Farm near Bedford, Indiana. Strang won the opening test of the weekend and then added two more test wins before finishing the two-day event with a 28-second cushion over teammate Thad Duvall.

“Both days went very well for me,” Strang said. “I took the win for each day and earned valuable points in the series overall. It was dusty so I pushed hard on the straightaways to gain time, and this put me on top of the podium for the round!”

Thad Duvall came to the Indiana event to evaluate his injury and to see where he was at in his recovery after injuring his wrist six weeks before. However, the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider admitted that once he got on the track all thoughts turned to winning. “This was supposed to be a laid-back, fun weekend, but once I got out there all I wanted to do was turn the throttle,” Duvall said. “I love these events and I had a great weekend, and I’m pretty happy with how I rode.”Shan Moore

Duvall, who was racing for the first time in six weeks after injuring his wrist, topped six tests over the course of the weekend, but a mistake in the final test on Sunday dropped the West Virginia rider out of contention for the win.

“It felt great to be back on the bike and battling with my teammate,” Duvall said. “I had a blast and really enjoyed riding the FX 450, but I am excited to get back on my FX 350 and get ready for the final half of my upcoming races.”

Layne Michael won one test and had a pretty consistent performance en route to third overall. The KR4 Husqvarna ride battled on Sunday with Grant Baylor and ended up edging out Baylor by just 0.2 second for third.Shan Moore

Third overall went to KR4/Husqvarna’s Layne Michael, while Tely Energy Racing’s Grant Baylor was fourth.

Steward Baylor got off to a slow start thanks to a poor tire choice on Saturday. However, the Tely Energy KTM rider came roaring back with new rubber and some pretty impressive rides on Sunday to secure fifth overall.Shan Moore

Beta USA’s Jordan Ashburn was a solid top-five finisher on Saturday, but dropped to sixth on Sunday when it got dusty.Shan Moore

Mike Witkowski turned in a solid top-10 performance in his factory Beta. The Beta USA-backed rider lives not far from the Wade Farm facility so he was racing in front of a hometown crowd.Shan Moore

Evan Smith is a consistent top-five finisher in the Kenda Full Gas Sprint Enduro series, though the SRT Racing Husqvarna rider slipped to seventh for this event.Shan Moore

KR4/Husqvarna’s Tayla Jones pulled off another win in the Women’s Pro division, beating Mackenzie Tricker by just under two minutes.Shan Moore

KR4/Husqvarna’s Liam Draper finished eighth overall, which was good enough for the win in the Pro2 class.Shan Moore

Grant Baylor battled his brother, Steward, for a top-five position all weekend. In the end, Grant beat big brother out for fourth overall and was just 0.2 second behind Layne Michael in third.Shan Moore

2018 Indiana Sprint Enduro Results

Position	Rider	Brand
1	Josh Strang	Husqvarna
2	Thad Duvall	Husqvarna
3	Layne Michael	Husqvarna
4	Grant Baylor	KTM
5	Steward Baylor	KTM
6	Jordan Ashburn	Beta
7	Evan Smith	Husqvarna
8	Liam Draper	Husqvarna
9	Braxton McGee	Husqvarna
10	Mike Witkowski	Beta

2018 Pro Class Championship Point Standings

Position	Rider	Brand	Points
1	Josh Strang	Husqvarna	278 \|
2	Steward Baylor	KTM	262
3	Ryan Sipes	Husqvarna	242
4	Grant Baylor	KTM	231
5	Layne Michael	Husqvarna	216
6	Jordan Ashburn	Beta	191
7	Evan Smith	Husqvarna	188
8	Mike Witkowski	Beta	128
9	Thad Duvall	Husqvarna	41
10	Broc Hepler	Kawasaki	36