Round four of the Hard Enduro World Championship was most definitely a unique race on the 2026 calendar. Forza Orza made its debut appearance and was a very unusual location and track for the riders. Based in an abandoned zoo, Mike had to put in a lot of work setting a track in such challenging conditions. Short, punchy and in your face… this race definitely suited riders with more trials and super enduro experience over those looking for long days in the mountains and it showed in the results.

Prologue was a fast run for the boys with the top times coming in around the 4 minute mark. A very surprising changeup with the results having Mitch, James and Ashton on the box… no Billy or Mani in sight. An awesome showcase of the skills the younger riders have in their back pocket.

The sprint race was a 1 hour multilap loop with a home rider taking the show. Eddie had some great results finishing in 4th on the day and giving the home crowd a solid reason to cheer. It’s awesome to hear that even without hearing the bike… you knew he was close with the sound of the crowd. Maybe it was this energy that gave him that extra fight he needed to race at the level he is truly capable of.

The main race on the final day was a 2 hour + 1 lap, multi lap race. This day was definitely a challenge not only for the bikes but for riders too with arm pump, multiple mistakes and crashes as well as some bike issues throughout the race. We see Billy making some big mistakes ghosting his bike off a hill, Mani almost losing his race lead to bike issues and Teo going for a swim with cow bones in the polar bear enclosure.

We also go a little off topic talking a little more about bikes from frames, old gen to new gen and more.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

00:16 Forza Orza: Sweden's first ever HEWC round

01:03 Track manager Mike

04:12 Making hard enduro accessible for a local crowd

05:49 An abandoned zoo with skeletons in the lake

09:25 Event format: Prologue, sprint race & main race

10:37 Prologue: A race the juniors lit up

14:51 Sprint race

15:54 Why 1-hour intensity works for hard enduro

23:57 Sprint race Results

24:16 The Brightmore progression

26:51 X-Grip factory bikes & KTM's development

31:32 The main race

34:06 Billy's ghost ride

38:31 Mani’s battery issues

46:00 Main race results

46:18 Eddie on home terrain

49:43 Thomas Scales & Justin Elizondo

54:35 Teo's swim in the lake

54:55 HEWC championship standings

55:25 Halfway mark: The 2026 season

56:49 The Hard Enduro World Ranking system

58:33 Next up: TKO

Mani’s bike and battery let him down again… two races in a row now. Do you think it's only a matter of time before it costs him a race result? What are your thoughts on the situation? Drop your take 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