Three weekends. Three championships. Racing across Italy, Germany and the north of England. Here is everything that happened.
FIM Hard Enduro World Championship - Round 5, Abestone, Italy
The Hard Enduro World Championship arrived in Italy for round five and the race lived up to every bit of its reputation. Set in the stunning landscapes of Abetone and Val di Luce, the Abestone Hard Enduro winds through mountains, forests, streams and some of the most technical terrain on the calendar. Riders arriving this year found a course that had been significantly reworked from the previous edition, with not a single section identical to last year. The most talked-about challenge was Minestrone, widely regarded as the decisive section of the race, where lines matter enormously and the wrong choice costs time you cannot claw back.
The format across the weekend was a prologue on Saturday morning, a sprint race on Saturday afternoon, a straight rhythm elimination on Saturday evening for the top 16, and a main final race on Sunday.
Prologue
James Moore set the tone for the Plews team immediately, qualifying P3 in the prologue and putting himself at the sharp end of the start grid for the sprint race. Mario Roman came through P11, Toby Shaw P15, Lenny Geretzky P16, Francesc Moret P18, Marc Fernandez P19, Matt Green P20 and Connor Watson P24.
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Sprint Race
Saturday afternoon's sprint race was one hour plus one lap in brutal heat on a technical 5KM course. James described it as a day that genuinely played to his strengths and came through P2 on three laps. A brilliant result that set him up perfectly for Sunday's final and confirmed his spot in the straight rhythm race.
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Mario Roman had a harder afternoon. He had issues with the power valve on the bike and by his own admission could not enjoy himself on track as a result. P8 on three laps but with a problem that the team would address overnight.
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Matt Green had one of those days every athlete knows but nobody enjoys. "Tough day in the office. I suffered a lot. Super hot conditions, brutal track and many unanswered questions. Might be jet lag, might be heat, might be nothing, but I know today I did not ride like I can." P18 on two laps. The honesty of a rider who knows what he is capable of and knows when it is not coming.
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Francesc Moret came through P14 on two laps, Marc Fernandez P15 on two laps. Marc is a TTR Squadra Corse rider who felt good after the first day and confident on the bike going into Sunday. Lenny Geretzky P23 on two laps, Connor Watson P29 on one lap, and Toby Shaw did not complete the lap, making it to checkpoint five before his day ended early.
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Main Race
Sunday's final race was where the weekend delivered its best racing. Two hours plus one lap, on a track that had been baked by the Italian summer heat and tested every rider's reserves.
Mario and his team made the call to change the engine overnight and the difference was immediate. He was a different rider on Sunday, showing the kind of technique on the Italian hillclimbs that sets him apart from almost everyone in the field. He overtook top riders on climbs where others were losing time and spent the entire race fighting for a podium position, ultimately crossing the line in P5 on six laps.
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An hour into the main race there was a brilliant battle between Mario and James. Two Plews riders going head to head at round five of the Hard Enduro World Championship. James came out the other side of it in P4 on six laps and P1 in the Junior Championship class. "Man, I really do love this race. Battled for the overall podium and rode a race that I'm really proud of. P4 on the day and some good points for Juniors. The team was amazing as always and the fans were unreal."
P4 overall. P1 Junior. Another hard race on the calendar, James Moore is building something here.
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Francesc Moret came home P13 on five laps, Marc Fernandez P15 on five laps. Consistent progress for both riders. Matt Green's Sunday was another difficult one, finishing P20 on four laps. "One of my favourite races on the calendar, which made it even harder not to race at my best, or even remotely close to that." Sometimes the sport does that. The Italian fans gave him something to hold onto even on a hard day.
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Lenny Geretzky had a day that showed both his courage and his technical ability. Some genuinely outstanding saves around the castle section before finishing P21 on four laps. What makes Lenny's performance at Abestone particularly significant is that he tore his ACL at this same event the previous year.
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Toby Shaw battled heat and then lost his front brake during the race. Racing a hard enduro course without front brakes is as unpleasant as it sounds and crossed the line P30 on three laps. Connor Watson P33 on three laps.
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HEWC Standings
With five rounds completed and three remaining, the championship picture is taking shape. Mario Roman sits P5 overall, James Moore P7 and Matt Green P10. In the Junior Championship, James holds P2 behind the leader, with Toby Shaw P3, Marc Fernandez P4 and Lenny Geretzky P7. There is still plenty of racing to be done. Roof of Africa in Lesotho, Sea to Sky in Turkey and the season finale at Hixpania in Spain still to come.
ADAC MX Masters - Round 6, Vellahn, Germany
Vellahn was entirely, completely, unreservedly Jörgen-Matthias Talviku's weekend. Three holeshots. Three moto wins. Seventy-five points from a possible seventy-five. A perfect weekend and one of the performances of the ADAC MX Masters season.
The championship returned to Vellahn after a two-year absence, with overnight rain giving way to a fast and demanding sandy mixed surface. Talviku went out in qualifying and put down the fastest time. His first pole position of the 2026 season with a narrow advantage over championship leader Roan van de Moosdijk. Emil Weckman, back from injury, qualified P10. Dawid Zaremba had a trickier qualifying session, coming home P11.
Moto One
Talviku chose an unusual gate position, further towards the middle of the grid rather than tucked to the inside as most riders would opt for. The gamble paid off immediately. He grabbed the holeshot and set an extraordinary pace from the opening laps, building a lead of over six seconds before the chasing group began to close slightly as the leaders moved through backmarkers. The pressure from van de Moosdijk and Jere Haavisto never translated into a real threat. A crash elsewhere on track brought out a red flag with four minutes plus two laps to go, but Talviku was already the winner. His first moto victory of the 2026 ADAC season.
Weckman, still rebuilding race fitness after his injury layoff, fought hard through the closing stages to come home P12.
Sunday Motos
Dawid Zaremba opened Sunday strongly in the Junior Cup, coming through the first corner in P4 before dropping slightly and then fighting his way back to P5 at the flag. Moto two brought a P8. P5 overall for the weekend and some valuable championship points collected.
For Talviku, Sunday was a continuation of Saturday. Second moto: holeshot, controlled race, fourteen-second winning margin. Third and final moto: holeshot again, a brilliant last-lap battle with van de Moosdijk that went all the way to the wire before Talviku made the decisive pass and sealed his third win of the day.
Three motos. Three holeshots. Three wins. Maximum points. Talviku moves to P3 in the ADAC MX Masters championship, now holding a one-point advantage over Jere Haavisto. The season finale is at Drehna and he goes there with serious momentum.
Weckman's final moto ended with a technical failure that forced an early retirement. A frustrating end to a weekend where his pace had shown exactly how much he has to offer when fully fit.
Plews Tyres ACU British Extreme Enduro Championship - Round 6, Tong
Round six of the Plews Tyres ACU British Extreme Enduro Championship returned to Tong for the Wild Willy's Extreme Race and the conditions were about as far from the typical Tong mud bath as possible. Blazing heat, a brutally demanding course and just over two and a half hours of racing that asked everything of every rider on the start line.
"A very different challenge this weekend," as it was described from trackside. "No longer a mud bath, but a brutally hot, extreme test of how much you can keep on digging when your body says no more."
Championship Class
The standout result in the championship class came from Toby Shaw, who crossed the line in P3 on nine laps. A brilliant podium behind two of the best riders in British extreme enduro. "Nice to be back racing in the UK. Mint track set out by the Wild Willy's crew. Happy with P3 overall behind two of the best in the sport."
Francesc Moret was right behind him in P4 on nine laps, just off the podium but close enough to make it sting. "Fourth position very close to the podium, happy with how everything went and good points for the championship with one round to go." One round remaining in the British Extreme and Francesc will be pushing hard for that podium finish.
Matt Stuttard came home P7 on nine laps after a race that had its challenges. An early crash after a strong start dropped him back and disrupted his rhythm, but he dug in and got going again. Richard Moorhouse crossed the line in P9 also on nine laps.
Charlie Frost finished P12 on eight laps. And then there was Radford Chugg who had perhaps the most eventful final lap of anyone on the day. He was buzzing with his riding all race long, grabbed the holeshot and was riding well until the final lap, when he rode into a wasp nest on course. He finished P14 on eight laps, looking considerably worse for wear at the flag. "Had to bee there to believe it... big holeshot, what a weapon. I was buzzing with my riding till I got stuck in a big old wasp nest on the last lap. It really stung to lose positions on the final lap." The sport is rarely boring.
Expert Class
Connor Watson continues to make a very strong case for himself in this championship. P8 overall and P1 in the expert class on nine laps. Racing inside the top ten against the championship class riders while still technically competing in experts. "Really happy with how I rode. P1 in experts and P8 overall." A result that, for anyone watching closely, is beginning to look like a formality rather than a surprise.
Peter Collins came home P18 overall and P5 in the expert class on eight laps. Jed Balmer had a day that had everything. Losing his camel pack on lap one, a bike issue that needed trackside assistance, and a rather unpleasant journey home but crossed the line P20 overall and P7 in the expert class on seven laps. "Had a cracker. Mega track as always. But rode like a novice. Lost camel pack lap one. Bike issues. Puked all the way home. Cracking day out." The British extreme enduro spirit, in one paragraph.
One round remains in the Plews Tyres ACU British Extreme Enduro Championship. The title fight is not over yet.