By Dick Law. Briton David Knight MBE crossed the Atlantic at the weekend to take part in the first round of the all-new USA extreme enduro championship on his new Gas-Gas but suffered with a couple of small mechanical problems in the first two sprint races that dropped him from a comfortable second to fourth.

In the third and final race of the weekend, David got to grips with his new two-stroke and followed race winner and overall leader Cody Webb over the finish line for second, just missing out on the podium. He is placed fourth overall after the first of the four rounds.

But Webb, riding a fuel-injected KTM 250 two-stroke, dominated the event taking all three pro race wins. In the last race he won by a complete lap, albeit on a shorter but tougher track.

Cory Graffunder on his Husqvarna and Beta-mounted Jordan Ashburn filled the lower steps on the podium and shared the points in the first two races but where pushed back to third and fourth places by Knight in the last.

“What a fun tough weekend racing here in Texas at the Rev Limiter,” said an exhausted Knight, “In race one and two I was running a good second place behind Cody but then had an issue with my clutch both races which dropped be down to fourth in both.

“We got it sorted finally for race three, a shorter course which was much more difficult and lasted for 45 minutes. I ran a close second for much of the race and started closing in on the leader Cody with a couple of laps left only to lose a few minutes when a rider had a big crash and blocked the track.

“I was well happy with the bike and myself as I rode well all day. Thanks to everyone for who helped me and gave me loads of support, it really was a pleasure to race in Texas again and I’ll definitely be back soon.”

A happy Webb said: “I was really happy with my riding all weekend. In the final race, I was able to make it through all the lappers and open up a nice gap on the rest of the field. It was really good to have my fastest lap on the final lap of the race as well. It was my first time on the all-new KTM 250 XC-W TPI and it was a great way to start the extreme enduro season for 2018.”

The next round will be in Marquette, Michigan on June 18.

Overall results

1 Cody Webb (KTM)
2 Cory Graffunder (Husqvarna)
3 Jordan Ashburn (Beta)
4 David Knight (GasGas)
5 Mitch Carvolth (KTM)
6 Even Ask (Husqvarna)
7 Nick Fahringer (Sherco)
8 Grayson Gonsalves (KTM)
9 Wally Palmer (Husqvarna)
10 Josh Rooken-Smith