2022 Tennessee Knockout results: Trystan Hart takes maiden HEWC win at the TKO

Results from the 2022 Tennessee Knockout, round six of the Hard Enduro World Championship where FMF KTM’s Trystan Hart stole the show ahead of the HEWC title contenders Mani Lettenbichler and Mario Roman.

2022 TKO Hard Enduro in a nutshell:

If anyone was in any doubt Trystan Hart wanted to take back the TKO crown and claim his first HEWC win, his race day pace on the tough TKO course at teh Sequatchie Trials Training Center was as clear as it gets. Fastest in qualifying, then fastest in both knockout races – the Canadian was in flying form straight out the truck.
With the Thursday night straight rhythm races for the fans in downtown Nashville a distant memory for winner Alfredo Gomez, the unique TKO single day format for the HEWC Pro riders is a busy one with qualifying and two knockout races to sift the entry down to size for a multi-lap final.
Behind the US Hard Enduro champ in the knockout races, Taddy Blazusiak was looking good not for the first time on American soil along with Teo Kabakchiev and Mani Lettenbichler who were the only other riders dipping under the hour for their first long lap race runs.
The top 26 qualified through to race two where they set off in groups of five and Hart again went fastest with Kabakchiev and Mario Roman the riders dipping under the one hour mark for that lap. Lettenbichler was fourth quickest with 2022 GNCC points standings leader Jordan Ashburn next best in fifth and showing his enduro skills are transferable.
The grand final for the weekend raced on the shorter course with the top 20 riders facing what was, by the standards of other HEWC rounds, a sprint race of five laps.
Hart was again the rider setting standard time, completing lap one just under 20 seconds better than his KTM teammate Mani with Roman matching their pace in third.
Lettenbichler showed he wasn’t keen to repeat the 2021 defeat on the same course without a fight but the German was struggling with an injury. By the fourth and fifth laps Hart had stretched the gap to half a minute, was unbeatable over the rocks and took a popular win in front of the US crowd.
The win backs up the 2020 TKO title for Hart and but this time adds some serious scalps from the Hard Enduro World Championship regulars for his first victory in the FIM series. “The pressure was pretty intense before the main race becasue I'd won everything else.” Explained Trystan. “Then the start was delayed and it got even more intense! I had so many close calls out there but it feels really good to get the win today.”
Mario Roman bags himself another podium in third, finishing behind his chief championship rival Lettenbichler. That levels the standings right up heading to the penultimate race in Canada, in two weeks.
The top four was completed by Wade Young on his return from injury after being forced to miss Romaniacs. The South African was the only other rider to complete five laps of the course and says he was stoked to get the result having not ridden a bike since the Abestone round.