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Hart tops Bolt at Red Bull Tennessee Knockout
Lettenbichler rounds out the podium

For the second year in a row, Trystan Hart from FMF KTM Factory Racing was the champion at the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout (TKO). This was Hart’s third win in the last four years, and he dominated the 2023 event by winning three out of the four rounds of racing on the challenging Trials Training Center terrain. Hart also won the AMA Grand Championship for Extreme Off-Road racing and the US Hard Enduro Series championship. Billy Bolt from Husqvarna Factory Racing finished in second place, 23 seconds behind Hart, and Mani Lettenbichler from Red Bull KTM Factory Racing took the third spot on the podium.

Trystan Hart won his third Red Bull Tennessee Knockout win in the last four years. The FMF KTM team rider won three of the four rounds of racing, including the main event. Photo Kenny King

The Sunday event consisted of three rounds of racing for the fifty-six riders who earned a spot. It started with Knockout round one on the eleven-mile “long course”. Hart set the fastest time with a time of 47 minutes and 17 seconds. The relatively dry conditions provided more traction than usual on the rocky terrain, resulting in faster times. Jordan Ashburn, the 2022 GNCC Champion, surprised many with a second-place finish, and Lettenbichler took third place. Will Riordan from RPM KTM and Cody Webb rounded out the top five. Bolt, LeBlond, Matthew Green from South Africa, Walker, and Alfredo Gomez finished sixth through tenth, respectively.

Billy Bolt: “It’s awesome, the crowd was insane the whole way around the track and you could barely hear the bike out there so that was pretty sick to see so many people out here supporting the race. As far as the race went, it was a struggle, I felt the pressure from behind just about the whole race to be honest. Jonny and Mani were on my wheel and that made it hard to concentrate and not make any mistakes. Trystan was nearly mistake free and opened a gap early on and I could not make it back to him.” Photo Kenny King

A last-chance qualification race took place on the straight rhythm course for the four riders who missed the top thirty. Pro Hillclimb racer Logan Cipala secured the final spot to advance to the second round.

In the second round, the thirty-one riders were placed into five groups for head-to-head racing. Four groups had six riders, while the fifth group had seven riders, including the last-chance race winner. The riders tackled the long loop with an additional mile of extremely challenging sections. The top four finishers from each group qualified for the twenty-rider main event, with the group winners earning front row starting positions.

• Hart won group one after battling with Bolt. US Trials Champion Pat Smage and James Flynn finished third and fourth to secure their spots in the main event.
• LeBlond won group two in a close battle with Ashburn. Colton Haaker and Gauge Logan-Key also advanced to the main event.
• Lettenbichler dominated group three. Green finished second, while Quinn Wentzel from Rieju and Tim Apolle from Beta took third and fourth place, respectively.
• Group four was won by Jonny Walker from the UK. Riordan finished second. Logan Bolopue from Sherco and Daniel Lewis from Beta secured the last two spots in this group.
• Webb won group five over Spain’s Gomez. David Knight, a multi-time Erzberg winner, finished third, and Mason George earned the final spot in the main event, his first TKO appearance.

Mani Lettenbichler and Trystan Hart dancing through the Straight Rhythm portion of the TKO. Mani had to chase back to the front after a big crash on the first lap of the main event. He caught Bolt but was unable to make a pass to move up any further than third. Photo Kenny King

The main event returned to the short course for a 35-minute plus one lap race, which took 44 minutes and 34 seconds for Hart to complete. Lettenbichler took the lead into the woods, with Hart and Bolt close behind. Hart and Bolt passed Lettenbichler before reaching the critical Red Bull Ravine hill climb. At the top, Bolt lost momentum and Lettenbichler collided with his rear wheel, causing him to flip over backward. Lettenbichler lost several positions as his bike tumbled down the hill. Hart quickly pulled ahead of the field, maintaining a 12-second lead over Bolt at the start of the second lap. Hart gradually extended his lead to as much as 45 seconds before easing off on the final lap to secure a 24-second victory.

Beta’s Jonny Walker was in the hunt all weekend, fighting with Bolt and Mani, ultimately finishing fourth. Photo Kenny King

On the final lap, Bolt, Lettenbichler, and Walker were separated by less than ten seconds. The order remained the same until the finish. Webb finished fifth with a strong performance. LeBlond recovered after getting held up on the first lap and finished in sixth place. Riordan was the last rider on the lead lap in seventh. Gomez took eighth place on his Rieju. Ashburn finished ninth after recovering from a crash in the first turn with Green. Smage completed the top ten in his first Hard Enduro event of the season after winning the US Trials championship.