WHES Round 4: The Price of Chase(n) the Jackal.

All is never as it seems in Hard Enduro (chaos caught by Laughing Bulldog Images)

Chaos can confer or confound opportunity, but consistency will always be king when it comes to Hard Enduro. Just ask Neil Price, Chase Lardner and Jakob Petrig.

In any round, before the green flag drops, you think you might know how a race is going to end. But would you put money on it? The way you would at the dogs or the trots? No way! There are just too many variables at play.

At the W.A. Hard Enduro Series Round 4 B&B Off Road Brookton Boulder Bash there were NO exceptions to that rule.

When Trials and Enduro Skills rider Neil Price appears on the rider list, the punters immediately start scratching their heads. His skills are undeniable. But when he turns up on the Moto Dynamics Beta 2025 X Trainer, with no more Hard Enduro prep than a decent set of gummies, nobody knows which way to place a bet.

Will he be able to keep chaos under control as he so often does?

I looked over the bike whilst chatting with him in the pits and noted the lack of 'hard' parts. I thought nothing of it - it's Neil! And it is unlikely that anything other than his tyres will touch the ground for the duration of the race. Unfortunately, in his first appearance on the WHES circuit for 2025, his race was over before it even began.

With the track running in reverse and some of the bottle necks opened right up to free up the flow, Neil decided to play it safe by sitting on the tail of the Adventure On Store rider Jakob Petrig until he was ready to really dial in.

He did get up in Petrig's space briefly when the pup muffed a pivot turn in a boulder field affectionally called "Deez Nuts". What he didn't realise, until he smelled some coolant later, was that he had connected with something more solid than his radiator.

He rode conservative for a bit, but when Kel West started snapping at his heals, he picked up the pace. Lightly clipping a tree, he ripped off his radiator shroud to reveal how badly damaged his radiator actually was.

That was about when he decided he did not want to pay the price of chasing down the Jackal.

Of what he saw on the track, Neil said "Jakob was riding very fast and smooth. Kel West was riding incredibly well. It was great to see how much the guys have improved".

Back on the bike after a long stint on the wrong side of the tape, Petrig was well ahead of the pack for most of the race, finishing a lap up on the field and nearly 15 minutes in front of Lardner to take out P1 in Gold.

I asked Jakob how it felt to be back at it after such a long hiatus with the fractured wrist?

With a cheeky quip he came back with "Wrist I had no grief with, but I had plenty of grief with the lack of fitness and my de-callused baby hands."

This is Adventure On Store rider Jakob the Jackal post-race, helmet off! The pup rides like an animal!

It wasn't until about lap four that young Chase Lardner managed to reel in Kel West. They swapped out leads after fueling but Chase finished in front to secure P2 with only 28 seconds splitting the two! This extends his championship lead.

After the race I had a good catch up with Chase. "I didn't expect to end up on the podium". I think the young fella is trying really hard not to think about the current championship standings. It's a bit much to comprehend that he could well take out Gold; especially given he was a junior in 2024!

With Kel West and Damien Pruden on the grid, Luke Abbot giving them all something to think about, and a cameo from Neil Price, it really was the race of the season. And one that could have gone in any direction to completely confound the championship.

But if you need any more proof that consistency is the only thing that can challenge chaos then look no further than the Women's grid!

Riding nearly every weekend and challenging herself by charging at hard trails over and over, Sienna Petrig has catapulted from 'struggling to complete a lap' in 2023 to winning almost every round she has entered in 2025, other than Round 1 where the KTM starter crapped out on her.

She buried three hard laps behind her at Brookton.

(Ed - I am damn sure this is the case) The first female to lap a WHES circuit three times! Sienna Petrig is 16!!!!

When I highlighted the fact that no other female has completed three full laps of a Bronze Level WHES circuit she simply said "I didn't think about that.......Yeah, I don't know if they have! Extra reasons to be happy with 3! I was hoping for 2 and maybe 3 if I was lucky. Jakob reckoned I could get 3 in, so I really pushed for it!".

I asked her if Wildwood (the most epic of east coast races) was on the cards this year? "That's the plan! Gonna try and race in the Women's Class. Should be fun to compete against some of the really good east coast riders. Should be a good time!"

You can tell by the pic captured by Laughing Bulldog Images, Sienna is determined to make her mark.

And speaking of determined women: Diana Pont has podiumed in second place for every round of WHES 2025! On the podium she waxed lyrical about how she'd only got half a lap of Brookton done last year. This year she bagged two but seemed more concerned about fallen fellow rider Tahlia O'Hare than how well she, herself, had ridden.

There is a lot of love in WHES of that you can be sure.

The women of WHES take it pretty seriously!

And here is a tip for anyone that has some decent riding ability in the chamber but not quite as keen as Sienna and Diana to race.

Be a SWEEP!! It's a blast!!

The WHES committee put out a desperate call for sweeps before the event and Joe Martin answered the call. A seasoned enduro punter, he is pretty new to WHES. His lads, Tyler and Cody, started racing Silver and Bronze, respectively, this year.

I circulated the track with Joe, and we got right in amongst it: box seats trackside, anywhere we wanted to go! He was beside himself with excitement as his boys passed by lap after lap.

Chatting to Joe's son Tyler Martin (Silver #112) I had to ask who was responsible for him jumping straight into Silver in his first year of racing?

Laughing Bulldog latches onto Tyler as he picks his way through the boulders of Brookton.

"Blame Halen (the king of unwanted persuasion) Wickert for that! He said do Silver 'cause Bronze is too chaotic. Ha Ha. It's my first year and I'm loving it. Silver is stressful but I'm glad I'm doing it. It is a good push! Not sure where I placed this weekend, but I had heaps of fun and it's the best I've ridden so I'm happy with that."

Enjoying the spoils of the hunt: Joe Martin and his other young bloke, Cody.

The pressure is now on for dad, Joe. You know what they say..."if you want a seat at the table you have to be part of the hunt". Joe certainly earned his keep as a sweep, being first on scene radioing in a dislocated shoulder out near Bison Rock.

From the other side! That's Joe, behind the bike, in it up to his elbows helping Ben Wyper get out of a 'spot'.

There is only one round to go for WHES 2025 and not a bettin' man I know would have put money on the Championship Series looking the way it looks right now.

Ohhh.....and if you are wondering what the boulders of the B & B Off Road Brookton Boulder Bash will do to your butt, ask Enduro Bikes WA rider Jason Bale.