The final round of the hard enduro world championship is done and dusted and we’re here to talk about what went down. Crazy to think this is the last episode of the championship season, although not the last of 2027. Hixpania is an iconic event and this year would go down in history. Mario Roman took the win on his home turf and the energy around him when crossing that finish line is nothing short of exhilarating! Mani takes the overall championship win with number 5 under his belt. James Moore managed to hold onto his lead all the way to the end and grab that Junior Hard Enduro Championship Title for the second time in a row.

The weekend consisted of three days of racing starting with a super enduro style track for prologue. Of course we could all have guessed who would have thrived at this track as it certainly doesn’t suite a lot of the hard enduro riders. Nonetheless it offered a lot of excitement and a great watch for fans who braved the cold weather a fading light to show support. We had a good chat with Mike about the rider suspension setup for this race.

The sprint race came with some fast racing, some very unfortunate mechanicals for Tom Scales and some technical rocky terrain. We touch on Billy’s bike for the race as well as how the FIM has an affect on the racing while riders are on track.

The final day would be one to remember with the start of the show being Mario Roman. Starting from the second row, Mario was on top form and quickly moved to the front of the pack where he’d fight alongside Mani for the remainder of the race. A cat and mouse game until the finish. Mario is a legend and a fierce competitor but hadn’t won an FIM race since 2022. Now as his time, in front oof him home crowd, family and fiends. A well deserved win and a refreshing finish to end the season.

Let’s not forget about some of the strategic team player moves pulled by the juniors to get James across that line ahead of Ash. Controversial? Yes, certainly but racing is a game of strategy and as long as we’re not kicking competitions down a hill, it’s all to play for on the track.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

00:49 Welcome to Round 8: Hixpania

02:59 Prologue recap

08:38 Billy's mystery new bike

10:37 Ashton vs James

12:43 Sprint race day

14:35 FIM controversy

22:55 Wade Young returns

26:05 Sprint race results

26:47 Main race track breakdown

30:10 Mario Roman's epic comeback

35:38 Team tactics & the championship decider

44:42 Is this the golden age of hard enduro?

53:22 Final championship standings:

57:37 2027 predictions: juniors step up & what's next

With Ashton and James moving up to the premier class in 2027, who do you think will be the bigger threat? And can anyone stop Manny from a sixth title? Let us know in the comments ↓↓↓

Support the show

Whether you're driving to work, heading back from a weekend ride or working on the bike in the garage make sure to tune in and if you're feeling generous you're welcome to buy us a coffee to support our efforts with the following link - https://buymeacoffee.com/worldhardenduro

You can also connect with us on socials such as Insta and Youtube

Instagram

Youtube

Sea to Sky is the penultimate round of the Hard Enduro World Championship. Heading into this race would determine what both the premier and junior championship would look like heading to Hispanic and buy did it change up the game and make things interesting! This event consists of 3 race days consisting of the Beach race, forest race and mountain race. Many riders and fans shared that this is not only one of the most enjoyable events on the calendar but this year organization was a step up from previous years with 350 riders lining up along with family and friends.

The beach race started the weekend off with a bang. A knockout format saw the top 12 riders making it to the final round with a new leader in almost every lap. It was a day of not only technical ups enduro style riding but intensity and action too. The Forest race was a 40km GPS race over a track that had a lot of new track this year in combination with some existing tracks. Not too fast and dangerous, but not too technical either. A sweet spot between the two. This day certain came with some surprises like Mani and Mario both receiving 10 minute penalties as well as some unexpected crashes from the top guys.

The mountain race is where riders put it all on the line. Mario starting from P15, Mani playing catchup after a penalty and some of the juniors looking to take essential points for their championship fight. Another impressive performance from James finishing in P3, Mario showing what he’s made of finishing P2 overall against all odds and Mani once again taking the top spot. A very unfortunate turn for Teo with a DSQ after the final day. What was initially given as a similar 10 minute penalty to other riders of the weekend was changed to a disqualification after a rider protest. Of course rules are there to be enforced but when it takes such an unexpected turn initiated by a fellow rider, some might see that as a bit personal?

We chat on a variety of other topics throughout the episode and are excited to see what will happen at the final round in Spain in a couple weeks.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:10 HEWC Round 7: Sea to Sky

01:54 Event format: Beach race, forest race & mountain race

02:07 The beach race

09:29 Taking a break between races

10:35 The forest race

12:54 Absent riders

14:29 Forest Race penalties

17:27 Unexpected crashed

22:44 What makes a good test rider?

24:28 Testing and prototypes

28:36 Junior championship update

29:33 Mountain race day

35:00 Coming out swinging

40:17 James in the lead again

41:27 Teo's disqualification and a protest culture debate

54:08 Race results

57:28 Junior championship going into Hixpania

01:00:17 Looking ahead to Hixpania

Teo had barbed wire caught in his wheel. No assistance received from officials but some locals offering to cut it off. Should that have been a disqualification, a time penalty, or no penalty at all? It’s a genuine grey area and we’d love to know where you stand. Let us know in the comments ↓↓↓

Support the show

Whether you're driving to work, heading back from a weekend ride or working on the bike in the garage make sure to tune in and if you're feeling generous you're welcome to buy us a coffee to support our efforts with the following link - https://buymeacoffee.com/worldhardenduro

You can also connect with us on socials such as Insta and Youtube

Instagram

Youtube

The Roof, the mother of hard enduro and a race that we hold deeply in our hearts just as any South African would. James returned this year looking to defend his title but the rest of the South African boys had much to prove to show that they too are able to take the title at a race close to home. Heading into this race it was assumed that the European riders would struggle but that wasn’t quite how it went down. We chat to Mike to get some insight from on the ground.

This was the first year we saw a bit of a change with the format of the event. Time trial on da one and a long off-road day 2 were consistent with what you’d expect but a multi-lap format for Day 3 was something that catered more to the international riders and evened the playing field. Talking about international riders there were some noteworthy names missing this year. We also chat about how it works logistically for some of the team to race in Lesotho.

Day one saw Mitch make an impressive run but due to GPS issues it would be James taking the number 1 spot along with a boost of confidence. We of course touch on the topic of another noteworthy South African rider, Wade Young who appeared to approach this race slightly differently this year with a welcoming spirit. Day 2 would be a tough pill to swallow for some of the top riders which would open opportunities for unexpected name to float to the top and keep the win open to the final day.

Day 3 would bring out the best in most of the riders at the Roof. James made an impressive charge to set the fastest time of the day by 5 minutes, Matt green would have a lot of GPS issues but still finish with an impressive result. Thence had the top 3… Teodor taking his first ever FIM win, on the Sherco. A rider who’s been chasing a win for a long time finally gets to celebrate with his Shercota. Mani keeping consistent as usual taking 2nd and then only 1 SECOND behind we have Wade finishing the podium in P3. A solid performance and a great result for the South African

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:35 The 2026 edition

02:05 Track overview

03:00 What makes Lesotho so special

07:04 Who wasn't there and why

08:13 Bike logistics

09:30 Day 1 time trial

16:39 Time trial results

17:55 Day 2

19:04 James Moore's mousse disaster

31:09 How navigation racing works

35:12 Day 2 results

39:25 Day 3: The first ever multi-lap format

43:55 Overall results

44:38 A tenth of a second

46:06 Wade Young back on the podium

49:22 Standout rides

51:28 Championship implications

10 hours of racing came down to 0.1 of a second between Mani and Wade. What did you think of the result? Have you ever been to Roof of Africa … to race, spectate or just experience it? Let us know in the comments ↓↓↓

Support the show

Whether you're driving to work, heading back from a weekend ride or working on the bike in the garage make sure to tune in and if you're feeling generous you're welcome to buy us a coffee to support our efforts with the following link - https://buymeacoffee.com/worldhardenduro

You can also connect with us on socials such as Insta and Youtube

Instagram

Youtube