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!

After an exciting first round just under a month ago the SOR series returns with another stacked pro field racing at what has to be one of the most beautiful race venues in the world at the foot of the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

This weekend we’ll be seeing Phil Chainé (KTM Canada / Fly Racing Canada) back out west to defend his series leader plate against 2nd overall Jared Stock (KTM Canada / Leatt / SOR Enduro), and we’lll also see the addition of Canadian ISDE World Trophy Team member Owen McKill (GasGas Canada / Riders Edge / TLD) to the mix before he heads East for Round 1 of the iconic FMSQ Cross-Country series. We’re also going to be seeing Kevin Dupuis (BFD Moto / Husqvarna Canada / Fox Racing Canada) taking the start following his strong win at the first round of the Alberta Provincial Off-Road Championship last weekend, and a P66 overall at Hoosier GNCC two weeks before that. To top it all off, Canadian Hard Enduro legend Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing) has confirmed that he plans to be racing this weekend, too, as prepares for the next round of the US Hard Enduro Series and his primary season goal at Erzberg Rodeo coming up at the end of the month.

Canadian ISDE World Trophy Team rider Tyler Medaglia has signed with the Honda Canada/GDR/Fox Racing team for the 2024 season.

This move comes on the heels of the demise of Medaglia’s previous team, Thor GasGas Racing, here in Canada. Medaglia is signed for the 2024 MX season in the 250 class, but we’re still waiting for confirmation that he will be riding for the team on the Enduro side of things.

Day 4 of the 2023 ISDE is in the books down in San Juan, Argentina, and like Led Zeppelin taught us “The Song Remains the Same” at the front of the race. Josep Garcia (Spain) took the win over his closet rival Andrea Verona (Italy), while the US men and women continued to dominate the World Trophy competition. A heavy crash yesterday by US women’s World Trophy rider Rachel Gutish has added some unfortunate drama to the women’s race, however, with Gutish suffering a separated shoulder and broken ribs. She was able to get out and finish Day 4, though, in show of physical and mental toughness but she did note that “I am not good if we’re being honest with each other.” A race retirement from Australian Taylor Jones does give Team USA some breathing room in the overall, and if Gutish can find a way to finish the week the Americans will have the race sealed up barring any other issues.

Day 3 of the 2023 ISDE saw racing move to a new course and series of tests after two days on the Blue course. Coming into the day the US team was dominating in both the Men’s and Women’s World Trophy competition, while Sweden was building a comfortable lead in the Junior World Trophy.

Day 2 of the 2023 went off today in the desert outside of San Juan, Argentina. Today was a repeat of the Day 1 course but with modified transfer sections. As the Canadian team told us yesterday, the transfers were very technical and, in conjunction with the brutal heat, made for one of the hardest days that team members had ever experienced.

A Brutal Day in the Argentinian Desert

The 2023 International Six Days Enduro got underway today in San Juan, Argentina. Located near the base of the Andes, relatively close to the Chilean border, the region is an arid desert plain with low hills that quickly change to 6000m mountain peaks.

Team Canada ISDE is represented on the men’s World Trophy side this year by Phillip Chaine (KTM Canada), Owen McKill (Beta Racing Canada), Tyler Medaglia (Thor GasGas Racing), and Jared Stock (KTM Canada). The Canadian women’s World Trophy team consists of Natasha Lachapelle, Félicia Robichaud, and Emma Sharpless (KTM Canada).