Weekly Round-Up | 2025-04-07
It was a big week in Enduro, especially in Europe where the 2025 EnduroGP season got underway at the GP of Portugal with Josep Garcia (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) winning Day 1 to prove that his recently repaired is just fine, thank you very much, and Zach Pichon (TM Moto Boano Factory Enduro) took his first ever GP win on Day 2. Francesca Nocera (Honda Racing RedMoto Enduro) and Kyron Bacon (MGR Kawasaki) took the top steps of the podium on both days in GP Women and GP Junior, and we’re waiting to see if Steve Holcombe’s (Honda Racing RedMoto Enduro) knee is ok after he had to abandon Day 2 while in the lead.
In North America we saw an unfortunate last-minute race day cancellation of the NEPG’s second round Cajun Classic due to extreme weather and flooding.
On the West coast the AMA National Grand Prix Championship went off in Mesquite Nevada with Dante Oliveira (FMF KTM Factory Racing) and Mikayla Nielsen (SLR Honda) taking the wins and solidifying their spots at the top of the standings.
Up here in Canada we’re seeing the 2025 ISDE team starting to take shape with Phil Chainé (KTM Canada), Shelby Turner (Enduro Engineering / GasGas / FXR Moto) and Owen McKill (Sherco Canada) leading the Canadian World, Women’s and Junior Trophy teams.
Read on for more!
Josep Garcia came back from shoulder surgery to win the Day 1 overall at the 2025 EnduroGP of Portugal.
Image courtesy KTM Factory Racing.
Garcia, Pichon, Nocera and Bacon Lead the Way at EnduroGP Round 1
There’s nothing like the start of EnduroGP to make you feel like the Enduro season is truly under way all around the world! Coming into Round 1 at the GP of Portugal some of the big questions revolved around defending champion Josep Garcia’s readiness following shoulder surgery a month before the GP season kicked off, who would step to the top of the GP Women podium with the retirement of Maria Badeia and would Australia’s Kyron Bacon be able to shake up GP Junior with his entry to the series.
To start things off, it was clear that Garcia’s shoulder was ready to go for Portugal despite not being 100%, according to the Spanish superstar. Garcia took the overall win on Day 1 ahead of Zach Pichon (TM Moto Boano Factory Enduro) and Steve Holcombe (Honda RedMoto Enduro) after going 1-4-1-1-7-2-2-2-3 through the day and holding the lead from Test 5 all the way to the end. Absolutely astounding results so soon after that surgery.
Pichon’s ride on Day 1 was impressive, as he recovered from a shaky 5-3-5 start over the first three tests to finish in the top-3 of the remaining six tests, and winning tests 7 and 9. The question was if he could carry that momentum into Day 2. Spoiler alert, carry it he did.
Pichon finished in the top-3 of all nine tests on Day 2, winning two and faltering only on the Test 7 Extreme test where he managed a 9th, 7.01 seconds back of test winner Hamish MacDonald. Putting all of this together it was enough to give Pichon a 2.75 second overall victory ahead of GasGas Factory Racing’s Andrea Verona and 10.63 ahead of 3rd overall Josep Garcia. Pichon’s combined results were also good enough to earn him the red overall leader’s plate coming out of Portugal, with a 2-point lead over Garcia and a 7-point advantage over Andrea Verona.
On the GP Women side of the race we saw two carbon copy days in terms of the top-3, with Francesca Nocera (Honda Racing RedMoto Enduro) taking out the wins on both days over Rieju Factory’s new signing Rachel Gutish and Team KBS Sherco’s Nieve Holmes.
Nocera dominated on Day 1, building a 1:11.41 margin over Gutish, but on closer examination we see that 1:01.25 of that gap came in Test 4’s Enduro Test. On Day 2 the overall gap from Nocera to Gutish was only 2.09, and 42.14 to Holmes.
From a North American perspective, it was great to see Gutish go 2-2 in the overall for Round 1. Gutish had moved on to a Rieju a little over a month ago after leaving Sherco USA due to Sherco not meeting contract obligations. That Rieju was actually her father’s bike, and she rode it through one US Sprint round and two GNCC rounds to figure out setup while she worked to get a contract done with Rijeu Factory/Rieju USA. Having reliable support behind her now will obviously be a massive advantage as she moves on with her 2025 EnduroGP and North American campaigns, and with her (presumed) ISDE Italy Team USA results.
Over in Junior all eyes were on Australia’s Kyron Bacon as he made his GP debut and he didn’t disappoint, coming out of Portugal on the top step of the podium on both days and making a strong statement to the rest of the field that he absolutely belongs in Europe. In fact, Bacon’s times would have placed him 10th overall on Day 1 and 11th overall on Day 2.
Bacon comes out of Portugal with the red leader’s plate and an 8-point lead over Leo Joyon and Kevin Cristino.
NGPC Round 4 - Mesquite
Out on the US west coast it was Round 3 of the AMA National Grand Prix Championship series in Mesquite, Nevada. Over the first two rounds of the series it had been FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Dante Oliveira , RPM Racing’s Mason Semmens and SLR Honda’s Mikayla Nielsen building solid leads in the Pro, Pro II and Pro Women classes respectively.
When it was all done and dusted at Mesquite not much had changed in that respect as all three of these riders took the wins.
Oliveira took advantage of a mistake from his teammate and brother Matteo who crashed from the lead on the third lap to drop to 4th before finishing the day in 5th overall. Tyler Lyn (SLR Honda) briefly took over the lead before turning it over to Dare DeMartile (Beta Factory) who held it through laps 5 and 6, losing it to Dante Oliveira on Lap 7.
In Pro Women it was a straightforward race as Nielsen had jumped out to a 24 second lead by the end of lap and would lead wire-to-wire to keep her perfect NGPC season going. Ava Silvestri (GasGas / 395 Motorsports / TLD) went wire-to-wire in P2 despite losing all of her subframe bolts, and Ty Woolslayer took P3 after holding that position for the full race.
The 2024 Canadian ISDE Team getting introduced in Galicia, Spain.
Image - Noel Flatters, The Enduro Bureau
The Canadian team is starting to take shape for ISDE Bergamo in August. So far we know that the Women’s Trophy team will be led once again by Shelby Turner (Enduro Engineering / GasGas / FXR Moto), who came away from last year’s ISDE with a 5th place overall. She is joined by returning team member Emma Sharpless (KTM Canada / Wheelsport / Motovan Inc.) and Marie-Claude (MC) Boudreau (KTM Canada / Riders Edge / TLD Canada).
On the men’s side the priority for 2025 is the Junior Trophy team as Canada looks to maximize Owen McKill’s (Sherco Canada / Riders Edge / TLD) final year in the category. McKill was 22nd in the Junior Trophy last year with the team finishing in 8th place, 5’38 behind Portugal.
Over on the World Trophy Team it looks like Canada will only have KTM Canada’s Phil Chainé (KTM Canada) as a returning member, with past Team riders Tyler Medaglia, Alex Gougeon, Ryder Heacock and Jared Stock all looking like they will be missing this time out. Combined w ith a larger selection pool for Junior Trophy, the World Trophy Team will see Chainé joined by Aaron Wilkins (Beta Racing Canada) and, most likely, two Junior riders to give them development experience in ISDE Trophy competition.
US National Enduro Cajun Classic Cancelled Due to Extreme Weather
Round 2 of the National Enduro Championship series was scheduled for Sunday in Louisiana, but the band of major storms that has been hammering the US Southeast took its toll on the race venue. Eventually the Forest Service cancelled the race, which will not be rescheduled by the series.
The next round of the series goes off on May 25th at the Cherokee National in Greensboro, GA.
Coming Up This Week in North America
GNCC Round 5 ‘The Old Gray’ - Monterey, Tennessee.
US Hard Enduro Premiere Series Round 4 - Moab, Utah.
AMA National Hare and Hound Round 4 - Jericho, Utah.
Western Canadian Off-Road Championship Round 1 ‘Cat Scratch Fever’ - Squamish B.C.
