Babbitt's Monster Energy Kawasaki's Josh Strang earned a podium result at Round 2 of Kenda Full Gas Sprint Enduro Series Blackshear, Georgia.
Defending series champion, Strang took on the 12 different tests over the two days of racing and was able to land on the overall podium in second place.
Consistency was the key to Strang’s success over the two days of racing. He was able to win a test on each day of racing, and never finished outside of the top-3 in any of the 10 other tests. After two rounds of racing, Strang currently sits in second place overall in the points standings.
“It was another fun weekend of racing on my Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy®/Kawasaki Team Green KX450 as we were able to nab another second place overall against a deep field of competition,” said Strang. “I am in a really good spot physically and mentally right now and ready for the start of GNCC next weekend!”
Jordan Ashburn joined his teammate by riding well, scoring fifth overall and placing two Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy/Kawasaki KX™450 machines in the top-5. The Tennessee native scored a fourth and a sixth place finish over the course of two days.
Kailub Russell claimed his second win in as many races. The FMF KTM rider turned in an error-free two-day performance that saw him win seven of the 12 tests and finish 19 seconds ahead of second place finisher Josh Strang to claim the overall victory.
Shorter tests meant shorter test times, which led to extremely competitive races, as the top handful of riders in the pro class (and in all of the classes, for that matter) turned times that were closer than usual.
Despite the close racing, Russell extended his lead in the championship standings with his win, and now sits seven points ahead of Strang (55 to 48), with Toth in third with 41 points.
“It was pretty close racing, but overall it was a pretty uneventful weekend for me,” said Russell. “I didn’t have any mistakes to speak of and I felt pretty good both days.”
Strang looked strong in his second race aboard the Babbitt’s Monster Energy Kawasaki, the Aussie off-roader managing a test win on each day.
“The times were pretty close between the top five or six guys, so there was little room for mistakes,” said Strang. “Unfortunately, I had a couple of silly ones on Saturday and that was frustrating, but overall the weekend was good.”
In the Women’s Pro division, Husqvarna-backed Tayla Jones took the overall win by 48 seconds over MEP MX KTM’s Mackenzie Tricker. Ohio’s Becca Sheets on a Maxxis-sponsored KTM was third, with Shelby Rolen in fourth on a Kawasaki.
Amazingly, Jones made a clean sweep of the event, winning all 12 tests during the two days of competition. She also holds a 10-point lead over Tricker in the class standings after two rounds.