The DirtyBikes Sprint Enduro had something different for just about everyone entered. The Enduro and Cross tests at Burnt River were fairly straightforward, but the very difficult endurocross-style Extreme test was something new. With new territory comes surprises, and the Extreme test was full of them!

But don’t consider this a photo essay to poke fun at these crash victims. Instead, think of it as a fun way of honoring the guts and determination of the riders who made the first step toward bringing this exciting new form of racing to Ontario. While the rest of us stood around with our balls in our purses these guys boldly went into the unknown and hammered! They all deserve our respect!

Wojo went on to win, but even he had to pick up his Machine Racing YZ250 a few times.

Stuck happens, even to Pros.

Fuel injected bikes, like this Husaberg, can run upside down for a while. Neat!

There is no way to put this other than the obvious. Falling here hurts.

Not quite a flying W, at least not yet. One millisecond later his W was textbook perfect.

Aside from having a big hole in the middle of them, muddy truck tires are really slippery! One wrong move and you’re taking soil samples.

Matt McCarthy’s big plan to head into Fenlon Falls after the race to chase girls comes to an abrupt end. You’ll notice even his eyes are closed, no doubt lost in daydream about what might have been.

The triple logs were spaced just far enough apart to fool riders into thinking they could charge them.

Time for a rest. The WEC Sprint Enduro Extreme test will live on as a permanent Endurocross section at the Burnt River Off-Road Vehicle Facility. Everyone we talked to was stoked about coming back to practice here! Round-two of the Sprint series takes place Aug 21 at Wingham, ON. You can click on the DirtyBikes logo for more info.