It was a great week for Enduro, especially here in North America with Silver Kings Hard Enduro, FMSQ, NEPG, and more, all going down. Let’s get into it!

No joking around this time out of the gates, the past week was a great one in the Enduro/Off-Road world! From a wild Italian round in Enduro GP to one of the biggest GNCC races of the year in West Virginia, to a very interesting Hard Enduro World Championship in Serbia, there was a ton of great action going down. Also, we recently had Aussie GNCC and USSE rider Gus Riordan (FMF KTM FACTORY Racing Landers) on the podcast, be sure to check it out. Let’s get to it!

The 48th edition of the Tatts Finke Desert Race will be held in the Northern Territory over the King’s Birthday long weekend (June 8-10), as Alice Springs powerhouse David Walsh attempts to win a fifth successive crown. If the four-time defending champion gets the job done on his KTM, Walsh will match the record of Randall Gregory who dominated the event from 1991 until 1995 on his booming Honda CR500. Toby Price remains atop the motorcycle winners’ list with six victories, in an event which dates back to 1976.

Ricky Brabec and Tosha Schareina have been locked in a battle of seconds since the start of the rally! On Sunday, the Spaniard won the prologue by 2 seconds over the American, who hit back the very next day, taking stage 1 by just under a second. That was also the gap separating them today at the km 370 time check, the last before the finish. The rider from Valencia eventually won by 7 seconds over the Californian, who retained the overall rally lead. Brabec will start the final special with an advantage of 1′27″ over Schareina and 4′28″over Adrien Van Beveren, third on the day and overall.

Pablo Eli, the mastermind behind the route of the rally, had warned that stage 3 would be an absolute nightmare for navigation. Adrien Van Beveren, who started first after his win yesterday, paid the price, as did the Hero riders Ross Branch and Sebastian Bühler, who lost precious minutes searching for their bearings. The sixth man on the road, Ricky Brabec, avoided any errors.

Back in the day, he had his heart set on bagging the Dakar in Argentina (see "Did you know"), but fate had other plans. He continues to chase his dream in the Saudi desert, but he still aspires to win a rally in South America. He was the first leader of the 2023 Desafío Ruta 40 before finishing just outside the W2RC podium. This time round, Adrien Van Beveren is playing it canny. After finishing fourth in the prologue and third in stage 1, today he turned on the afterburners on the road to San Juan. The Honda rider claimed the longest special of the event (423 km) ahead of his teammate Skyler Howes (+27″), the Hero of Sebastian Bühler (+1′09″) and the CRFs of Tosha Schareina (+1′39″) and Ricky Brabec (+3′42″). He also vaulted to the top of the leader board by 10 seconds over Schareina and 2′14″ over Brabec. The American triumphed in the Dakar and the Spaniard in Portugal, but the Frenchman has yet to taste victory this season. Honda are hogging the provisional podium, but Bühler and his Hero remain well within striking distance in fourth place, 2′34″ down.

Slippery ground and a succession of bewildering corners —that was the W2RC convoy's introduction to the region in stage 1, a loop around Córdoba. Among the Rally GP motorbikes, Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy Honda) came 1 second short of his teammate Ricky Brabec. The Spaniard clung to a slender overall lead over the American and his Honda stablemate Adrien Van Beveren. Bradley Cox (BAS World KTM Racing) wrested the Rally 2 lead back from Romain Dumontier (Team Honda). John Medina (Xraids Experience) leads in Rally 3.

This week was one of the highlights on the Enduro world’s calendar - Red Bull Erzbergrodeo. This is the classic Hard Enduro race, and for North American (and global) fans there were really only two big questions. First, like in any Hard Enduro round, could anyone find a way to beat German superstar Manuel Lettenbichler and, second, how would Trystan Hart and Cody Webb (FactoryOne Sherco) fare in one of their only European appearances this season?

Over in North America the focus was on Round 8 of the GNCC series in Pennsylvania where Steward Baylor Jr. (Rock Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) needed a win to keep in reach of FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Johnny Girroir for the series overall.

t was a huge week for enduro and off-road racing in North America, and we got to see some fantastic racing in the US Hard Enduro Series, FMSQ, USSE, NGPC, and more. Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing) and Cody Webb (FactoryOne Sherco) battled hard at the Keystone Challenge in what will likely be one of the toughest hard enduro weekends you’ll ever see.

Alex Gougeon (Husqvarna Canada / MVM Motosport) opened up his FMSQ title defence with a dominant win in La Touque, Quebec, with Véronique Pellerin-Chainé (Sherco Canada / Fox Racing Canada / FC Suspension) taking the Pro Women win. Over in the US Sprint Enduro Series it was Johnny Girroir (FMF KTM Factory Racing), Gus Riordan (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers), and Brandy Richards (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) winning the Pro1, Pro2, and Pro Women.

Out in the west Dante Oliviera (FMF KTM Factory Racing) and Mikayla Nielsen (SLR Honda / Monster Energy / Fly Racing) were your overall winners at NGPC Round 5. Jason Schrage (Honda Canada / Fox Racing Canada / Riders Edge) and Shelby Turner (Enduro Engineering / GasGas / FXR Moto) took the wins at Round 1 of the Western Canadian Off-road Championship. Let’s get into it a little bit!

With the kick-off of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship this past weekend in Wales we’re fully into the swing of the 2024 season! It was a big weekend of racing with the start of the FIM HEWC, EnduroGP Round 3 in Romania, and GNCC Round 7 in Ohio all going off. Let’s dive in and take a look at what went down!

With the kick-off of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship this past weekend in Wales we’re fully into the swing of the 2024 season! It was a big weekend of racing with the start of the FIM HEWC, EnduroGP Round 3 in Romania, and GNCC Round 7 in Ohio all going off. Let’s dive in and take a look at what went down!