National Enduro Series - 9th round Marquette, MI

National Enduro Series - 9th round Marquette, MI

Shock Doctor/KTM rider Russell Bobbitt strengthened his points lead over teammate Mike Lafferty with his fifth win of the season at the ninth round of the AMA National Enduro Series.

It was another great battle and close race for the KTM pair as both riders exchanged special test wins throughout the day. "I felt great in the first test and won by a couple seconds over Mike. Then he got me by a few seconds in the second test and so on," commented Bobbitt.
 
Bobbitt reported that the track was quite technical from the first test through the final test. "It started with a couple fast tests that incorporated a lot of sand. By the final three tests we had worked our way up the mountain into the slippery rocks for a more demanding challenge."
 
Although Bobbitt walked away with the win he claimed it wasn't easy. "I slid out in the third test section twice because it was so slick. Then in the 4th session I had an even bigger get off that I took a few moments to recover from. I actually don't remember it that well. I thought my day was over after that crash."
 
Going into the final test section, Lafferty had a decent lead on Bobbitt. Unfortunately, Lafferty crashed hard in the final second losing a lot of time to Bobbitt. The time he lost worked to Bobbitt's benefit as he was able to finish one minute ahead of his teammate.
 
In the end, Bobbitt's three test wins were solid enough to take the overall for the day allowing his points lead to stretch to 6 points over Lafferty. With only one round left in the series - the finale will again be another nail bitter for the two teammates that are now accustomed to battling closely for championship wins.
 
Results
1. Russell Bobbitt - 37:17
2. Mike Lafferty - 38:23
3. Nick Fahringer - 42:35
4. Brad Bakken - 45:39
5. Andrew Delong 48:10
 
Overall Points
1. Russell Bobbitt - 242
2. Mike Lafferty - 236
3. Brad Bakken -  157
4. Nick Fahringer - 145
5. Cole Kirkpatrick - 116