The FMF KTM Factory Racing Team has announced today that 2015 AMA National Enduro Champion Kailub Russell will sit out the remainder of the 2017 championship.

Russell, who currently sits 3rd overall in the championship standings after three rounds, will narrow his focus to include the upcoming International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) in Brive-la-Gaillarde, France, along with a bid for his fifth-consecutive Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series Championship, where he currently leads the overall standings with seven rounds remaining.

Russell: “A lot of thought went into making this decision from both myself and the team but at the end of the day KTM puts a lot of support into the Six Days program and we felt that it was important for me to represent the brand and the USA World Trophy Team in defending our 2016 championship. The tight schedule definitely makes it tough to accommodate everything but we have set clear goals for 2017 and I’m not going to stop until we achieve them.”

FMF KTM Factory Racing Team’s five-time AMA National Enduro Champion Russell Bobbitt will line up this Saturday for Round 4 in his home state of Georgia for the Cherokee National Enduro, alongside series points leader SRT/KTM’s Steward Baylor Jr.