Lettenbichler Wins 2026 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout

Photos by Christian Pondella, Red Bull Content Pool

The track was intense and the temps only added to the brutality.

Manuel Lettenbichler Wins 2026 TKO Ahead of Hart and Bolt

Mani Lettenbichler won the sixteenth annual Red Bull Tennessee Knockout on his Red Bull KTM. It was the German rider's fourth TKO win at the Trials Training Center in Sequatchie, Tennessee and his third in a row. FMF KTM's Trystan Hart finished second. It was the Canadian's third consecutive runner-up finish at the TKO to go along with three wins in prior years. The UK's Billy Bolt rounded out the podium on his Husqvarna.

A total of 535 entries kicked off three days of racing on Friday with five youth and peewee classes taking on a special course in the morning. That was followed by the amateur hot laps to set the starting order for two rounds of Saturday racing followed by four rounds of pro-class racing that started on Saturday afternoon and concluded on Sunday afternoon.

The pro class racing started on Saturday afternoon with the hot-laps and Lettenbichler set the fastest time of 6:10.528. Sweden's Eddie Karlsson was closest with a 6:42.455 lap on his Stark. Hart was third with a 6:44.756 lap, and Bolt was fourth with a 6:56.682. Husqvarna's Ryder LeBlond finished fifth in 6:56.719. Toby Martyn, Cody Webb, Jonny Walker, Matthew Green and Kawelo Huddy rounded out the top ten respectively.

Trystan Hart held off a strong pack of riders to finish second at the 2026 TKO. The Canadian made a few costly mistakes during the main event.

The top sixty-six riders started the first of three knockout rounds of racing on Sunday morning on the 14-mile "long course" and the top 30 earned a trip to the TKO Knockout race two. Lettenbichler topped the time sheets again with a time of 1:01:24. Hart was just 34 seconds slower and Karlsson continued to show good form to finish just 59 seconds behind Lettenbichler. Walker was impressive on his Triumph 450 four-stroke with a time just 1:33 from the top spot and the fourth fastest time. Bolt was 3:23 behind in fifth. South African Matthew Stevens was sixth followed by Martyn, Webb, Hawaii's Kamakana Waiwaiole-Kahalepuna and fellow Hawaiian, Kawelo Huddy rounded out the top ten.

The next round changes format: a total of 31 riders (the top thirty plus one rider who earned a spot via an LCQ Straight Rhythm Duel win) are split into four groups of six and one group of seven including the LCQ winner and ride another lap on the long course with some additional hard sections added. Only the top four riders in each group qualify for the main event. Lettenbichler won group one followed by Stevens, Beta-IRC's Branden Petrie and James Flynn. Hart won group two followed by Martyn, Braxton Hintze and Riley Bender. Karlsson won group three followed by Webb, Ryder Guest and Green. Waiwaiole-Kahalepuna won group four followed by LeBlond, Walker and Makana Barger, who qualified in via the Saturday amateur racing. Bolt won group five ahead of Huddy, Niko Piazza and Coran Calvert.

Husqvarna's Billy Bolt put in a late race charge to try to take second but ultimately had to settle for third. This was still a good result in his second race back from an arm injury. Photo by Christian Pondella, Red Bull Content Pool.

The top twenty riders moved on to the main event on the short course for a multi-lap race of 45 minutes plus one lap. Hart launched into the lead at the start and led the riders into rocky creek bed, but Lettenbichler quickly took over the top spot leading into the Red Bull Ravine, which included a new obstacle called Bad Behavior followed by a technical downhill, some massive boulder sections and three technical hill climbs.

Lettenbichler led for all eight laps and finished with a total time of 59:55.957. The battle for second was intense with Karlsson pressuring Hart during the early laps before a derailed chain dropped him outside the top five. Hart took a tumble that allowed Lettenbichler to open a gap, and a crash in Bad Behavior later cost Hart the position to Bolt. Hart fought his way back to second, but Bolt kept the pressure on to the finish. Hart ended up finishing nearly three minutes behind Lettenbichler and just six seconds ahead of Bolt, who rounded out the podium.

Karlsson fought back from his derailed chain to take fourth position, just over four minutes behind Bolt. Walker crashed on the first straight but managed to work his way back up to fourth position before a small crash on the last lap dropped him back to fifth.

Cody Webb was the top American finisher in sixth position. The Yamaha YZ250X rider was in contention for the top five for most of the race.

Webb finished sixth on his Yamaha. He held fourth position early in the race before Karlsson and Walker found a way by. Martyn, the former British and US Trials champion, finished seventh on a Stark. Nineteen-year-old Stevens finished eighth on a KTM. LeBlond finished ninth on his Husqvarna and Huddy rounded out the top ten on a KTM.

2026 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout Main Event Results

The Women's pro class competed along with the top amateurs on Saturday with two rounds of racing. Rachel Gutish took the win on her Rieju and finished twenty-seventh overall. Katie Hall-Leah finished second riding a TM. Nikki Russell rounded out the podium on a GasGas.

In addition to the pro racing, the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout included several amateur classes. Saturday included two rounds of amateur racing. Hawaii's Boogie Rivera was the overall winner in both races riding a Bullet Proof Designs-backed KTM. Fellow Hawaiian Makana Barger finished second in both races on a KTM and Ayden Marinchek rounded out the top three riding a KTM. All three of those riders were competing in the A class. The top thirty riders also earned the opportunity to compete with the thirty-three pro riders, which kicked off their racing on Saturday afternoon followed by three rounds of racing on Sunday.

Other Saturday class winners among nearly 500 amateur participants included Robert Cornwell in A Vet 30+, Drew Kirby in A Senior 40+, Shawn Tescher in A Super Senior 50+, Karsen Fulton in Amateur B, Adam McCluskey in 4-Stroke Sportsman, Phillip Arnold in Schoolboy B 12-17, Benson Hickman in Youth SM-BW 12-15 and Alexis Burback in Women's Amateur.

In the eMoto Sportsman class, Australian Adam Giles took the win riding an RFN with a total time of 1:17:00. Brett Baldwin finished just six seconds behind riding a Bonnell and Isaac Johnston rounded out the podium on a Zero, just over two minutes behind.

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