STEVE LEIVAN
2011 RACE REPORT
WHAT/WHERE/WHEN: Red River Enduro; Muenster, TX; November 13
MY BIKE: 2012KTM 250 XC
HOW IT ENDED: 4th Overall
BEFORE THE START: Since the final National Enduro round on October 1, my weekends have been packed full of either working on trail or promoting races. We put on the final two rounds of the MORE series and both events were on “never raced before” property so they took several full weekends of preparation.
At the final round of the MORE series (November 5-6), our crew had things totally under control so I was able to jump on a bike and race both days. Tracy Nichols offered up his 2012 KTM 300 XC for me Saturday to ride the Sportsman Expert race. I hadn’t raced a two-stroke since 1997 so I really had no expectations. As it turned out, I got along with the bike really good and felt super comfortable and I was able to get the win.
On Sunday (at the last minute of course) I decided to ride it again and things were going good until I overheated the rear brakes. After four minutes in the pits to flush the fluid I was back after it and reeled in the race leader Mike Windmann on the final lap. I couldn’t find a way past him though and ended up second.
Of course riding the smoker got the wheels turning and I immediately started sending texts and making phone calls. In four days time I was loading a 2012 KTM 250 XC in my pickup and heading to Texas to get in some riding and testing for next year. No time like the present to get started!
I rode about an hour on Saturday to get the bike broke in. I put on a set of wheels with fresh Dunlops, some Renthal Twinwall bars, Enduro Engineering handguards, and Bulletproof guards. Everything else was stone stock. I was pretty smoked from the long drive/day so I went for a bite to eat with Steph and her boys and then called it a night.
THE RACE: I was up at 5:00 a.m. (and if you know me, that is a shocker) and on the road headed for the home of the Last Man Standing. Cole Kirkpatrick; and his brother Cameron; arrived at the same time as me and we found a place to park and hurried to sign up. I felt totally unprepared and unorganized and LATE!
We got our stuff (I was on row 29 with Cole), unloaded the bikes, and I broke out the new 2012 Fly Evolution gear to go along with the new bike.
The race was run under the NEPG guidelines so I was looking forward to that and just doing what I could to keep Cole in sight for as long as possible. We rode a few miles to the first test and then got after it. The bike felt a bit odd to me and I was pretty tight at the start but didn’t feel too, bad. The test was short so mistakes were costly and I made one when I tipped over in a creek bed. Other than that, it was all good.
Test two was a disaster as I got hung up behind a guy that had stalled on an uphill. He had the whole trail blocked and I had nowhere to go. I tried to shoot my bike past him but it got hung up with his and I lost 45 seconds trying to get free. Oh well, this race is just for testing and practice, right? The next test was better and I didn’t have any drama in there.
We were back to camp for gas and a quick bite of a samich before heading out to Bills Woods and three more tests. The fourth section felt good and I stayed with Cole for a long time. I finally had a big moment and stepped off to avoid hitting a big tree – although the bike hit it. My front end was twisted but not bad and I still got through the test pretty good.
We were in Bills then and that 10 mile test went alright but I still had some time consuming mistakes. While waiting to start the sixth section I noticed that I didn’t have very much gas. That had never entered my mind and I never thought about sending a can to the emergency gas – but it wouldn’t have mattered since the trailer was gone by the time we got to the race! Zach Ingram drained a water bottle full out of his bike for me but that was all I could find.
I rode that section much different and tried not to rev the bike to save fuel. I was still able to keep a quick pace since the section was tight and flow-less. Finally I started to run out of gas and the bike sputtered to a stop just as I rolled into the out-check. LUCKY! Todd Slavik filled me another bottle full of gas and that got me to camp for main gas.
The final two sections were left and rumor had it that the last one was tough. So the seventh test was fast, flowing, and super fun trail. I stayed close to Cole for the longest time so far and felt really good on the two-stroke. The last section lived up to the rumors with lots of off camber stuff and rocky ravines that you had to pick your way through. It was my best test of the day.
Cole killed it and won the race with a 45. Haydn Franklin did a 50 with Ingram next at 53. I had a 54, just 59 seconds behind Ingram. Cameron ended up with 56.
THOUGHTS & OBSERVATIONS: I loved the bike. I never touched a clicker or set the sag or did anything once the race started, It worked awesome and I can’t wait to see what I can do on it once I have some more seat time. Thanks to everyone who had a hand in getting me the bike!
Red River Dirt Riders – excellent job! Probably my favorite race this year! Amazing ride!
QUICKEST ON THE DAY:1. Cole Kirkpatrick (KTM); 2. Franklin (Gas); 3. Ingram (KTM); 4. LEIVAN (KTM); 5. Cameron Kirkpatrick (KTM)
THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT!
SPONSOR LIST –HELPING ME MAKE IT HAPPEN
AIR GROUP RADIANT RACING :: KTM NORTH AMERICA
ARAI :: ATHENA :: BULLET PROOF DESIGNS
CLOCKWORK :: DUNLOP :: ENDURO ENGINEERING :: EVS
FAH-Q :: FASTWAY/PRO MOTO BILLET ::FLY
HYDRAPAK :: LEOVINCE :: NGK SPARK PLUGS
NICHOLS ENTERPRISE :: OZARK FOAM INSEALATORS
PIVOT WORKS :: PROUD SIS :: RACE TECH SUSPENSION REKLUSE :: RENTHAL :: SCOTT :: SILKOLENE
SMS RACING :: SOURCE MX :: TIRE BALLS :: TSUBAKI