Busy Weekend Of Racing For Our Supported Pro Riders & Teams

Round 1 - 2024 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship - Valleys Hard Enduro, Wales

Our Supported Pro Enduro Rider Jonny Walker was competing in Round 1 of the 2024 Hard Enduro World Champs at the weekend. The Beta man is racing as a non-championship rider this season, meaning he will only compete in some select events in 2024, including this first round, and will be at the legendary ErzbergRodeo in Austria as well as Romaniacs in Romania.

Walker was competing for the first time on a brand new 2024 Beta 300 RR, which he only picked up a couple of weeks ago. For the event, as he has done for the last few seasons, he ran our Clutch Cover, Rear Brake Disc Guard and Master Cylinder Covers - Clutch Reservoir Cover, Front Brake Reservoir Cover and Rear Brake Reservoir Cover.

Jonny Walker on his way to P4 on an uncharacteristically dry and dusty course in Wales. Ph. Valleys FIM Hard Enduro World Championship

Walker had a solid race, coming home P4 behind a dominant winning ride by KTM's Mani Lettenbichler, with the Shercos of Teodor Kabakchiev and Mario Roman P2 and P3 respectively. Rounding out the top 5 was Walker's British compatriot Will Hoare on his Rieju, closely followed by the GasGas of Wade Young in P6. Husqvarna's Billy Bolt was absent, due to recovering from his recent knee operation after winning the 2024 SuperEnduro World Championship. Congrats to Jonny Walker and we look forward to seeing how he gets on at Erzberg in a couple of weeks.

Round 3 - 2024 EnduroGP World Championship - Bacau, Romania

Round 3 of the 2024 EnduroGP headed to rural Romania, returning to the country for the first time in 11 years. With only Jamie McCanney riding for our Supported Pro Enduro Team - Fast Eddy Racing - at this round, it was all systems go to get behind their E1 Class rider in the warm and sunny Bacau. Click here for a video showing McCanney's Fast Eddy Racing Husqvarna FE 250 in the Paddock before the event. Friday night's Super Test was steady for McCanney, placing joint 17th around the open, fast test, after a few small mistakes on the logs cost him some time.

Fast Eddy Racing's Jamie McCanney in Friday's Super Test in Bacau. Ph. @mastorgne

Day One on the Saturday saw McCanney have a consistent day of riding. Natural flowing hilly terrain made for a fast Cross Test and with his motocross background, Jamie’s performance made for some exciting spectating! The Enduro Test was longer than usual and its technical nature in the trees made for a classic enduro test, which rode surprisingly fast considering its length.

McCanney gave strong times here, even up against the higher powered E2 Class machines. Using the natural terrain, the Extreme Test differed compared to Extremes we have seen at previous rounds of the championship. McCanney pulled his strongest test times of the weekend here, which was great to see!

Saturday saw McCanney gain his fourth podium of the season, placing 3rd in the E1 Class (only 49 seconds off the class winner) and 5th in the EnduroGP (EGP).

E1 Class podium on the Saturday. 1. Josep Garcia, KTM. 2. Steve Holcombe, Honda. 3. Jamie McCanney, Husqvarna. Ph. @mastorgne

After a long first day, McCanney managed to continue riding consistently on Day Two, pulling in similar test times. He rode fantastically for another long day, despite battling a wrist injury he picked up. This great determination from McCanney paid off, coming away with P4 in the E1 Class and P7 in the EGP. After 3 Rounds of the 2024 Championship done, McCanney currently sits P3 overall in the E1 Class and P6 overall in the EGP! Well done to Jamie and the whole Fast Eddy Racing Team and we look forward to seeing them at Round 4 in Italy on 21st-23rd June.

McCanney pushed through a wrist injury on Day Two to maintain 3rd overall in the E1 Class Championship. Ph. @mastorgne

Round 6 - 2024 MXGP of Galicia, Spain

Our Supported MXGP Team JWR Honda Racing and Rider Alvin Östlund, were at the brand new mx track near Lugo in Galicia, Northern Spain at the weekend. With sunshine, plenty of space for the spectators all around the track, big triples and fast whoop sections, the track is perhaps one of the fastest for average speed on the calendar! Click here for a video of the track.

Spectators lined the majority of the track at the MXGP of Galicia. Ph. Niklas Hampinen

Practice & RAM Qualifying Race

Pace was close throughout the pack and battles were fought all around. Through Saturday JWR mechanics & Alvin Östlund were searching for the optimal setup of the Honda CRF 450 R, as the track dried up in the heat, providing less and less traction as the day went on. Although their was improvement through the day, the Team lacked a bit of pace, finishing P21 in the Qualifying Race. Click here to see Östlund in the pits with his mechanic during practice.

Alvin Östlund looking to improve his speed on the Saturday. Ph. Niklas Hampinen

MXGP Race Day

On Race Day the temperature was around 20 degrees, with some clouds which maintained a perfect track. Some of the best racing was witnessed so far this year with high speed action all day. Östlund managed to claim P16 in Race 1 and although he felt better in Race 2, he came home P18. This gave Östlund and JWR Honda Racing P16 overall and 8 World Championship points. Congrats to the whole team on a good result and we look forward to seeing them in Teutschenthal, Germany, where we will be there supporting them too!

The MXGP of Galicia saw big crowds and high speeds. Ph. Niklas Hampinen

Round 2 - 2024 Australian Hard Enduro Championship

The weekend saw our Beta Australia Enduro Race Team riders, Ruben Chadwick and Ebony Nielsen, head to Wattle Flat, NSW for RD 2 of the 2024 Australian Hard Enduro Championship (AHEC). Located just north of Bathurst, the ‘Goldfields Extreme’ round of the AHEC saw plenty of wet weather adding to the already treacherous track conditions.

The prologue on Saturday saw riders compete across 4 laps in a 45 minute cross country format that featured loose rocky hill climbs, steep hills and man-made enduro cross obstacles. Chadwick pushed hard after a slower start on his Beta 300 RR and managed to work his way back to the front of the pack, finishing the prologue P2 in the Gold class, just over a minute behind P1.

Ruben Chadwick on the way to P2 in the Prologue, AHEC. Ph. @ok__photo

The weather cleared up on Sunday for the main event, where riders competed in a four-hour race with a mix of technical terrains including, loose rocky switch back hill climbs and rocky creek gulleys that put the Gold class riders to the test. Racing was tight amongst the top riders, with Chadwick alternating between P1 and P2 throughout the race. In the latter stages, Chadwick’s stamina and continuous pressure helped him pull away from the rider in P2. He ended the day P1, 7 minutes ahead of P2 and took P1 overall for Rd 2. Congrats to Chadwick on a dominant win!

Chadwick negotiating a rocky gully on his way to P1. Ph. @ok__photo

Chadwick will now travel to the infamous ErzbergRodeo in Austria to compete in the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship, before returning back to the Australian Hard Enduro Championship for RD 3 on 29th and 30th June. We wish him the best of luck competing at Erzberg and look forward to seeing how he gets on.

Competing in the mixed Silver class, Ebony Nielsen racing her Beta 300 RR, struggled with the amount of track traffic on the first lap of the Prologue, but made up some great time on her fast lap. However due to a bent rear brake lever sustained in the enduro cross section, she was unable to use the rear brake for the final 3rd lap, costing her valuable time unfortunately.

On the Sunday, Nielsen came up against plenty of traffic in the first lap again. Finishing the lap with a lot of time to spare, she went out on another lap and was much quicker with the track open and clear of traffic. Nielsen finished the race in 19th position in her mixed class. Well done to Nielsen on a good result and we wish her luck for Round 3 of the Championship at the end of June.

Ebony Nielsen had to work her way through a lot of traffic on both days. Ph. @ok__photo

Other Supported Rider News

Our Supported Enduro Rider Kyle Larson who is based in the US, raced Mt Cross Hard Enduro in Idaho at the weekend. With a course consisting of hill climbs, tight single track, mud holes, logs and rock piles, Larsen claimed P2 in class on his Beta 300 RR. His young Son, who was competing on a KTM SX-E 5, took P1 in the Auto Class. Well done to both!

Kyle Larsen picking his way through a rock section at Mt Cross Hard Enduro, Idaho

Our Supported MX Rider Danny Hew competed at Haverigg in the Cumbria MX Champs at the weekend on his Husqvarna TC 125. He raced Saturday and Sunday, taking P14 in Class on both days. Well done to Danny!

Danny Hew on his way to P14 at Haverigg on his TC 125

Our Supported Junior MX Rider Ollie Hain competed Round 1 of the new Scotmx Championship up in Coupar Angus, Scotland at the weekend. Racing the full sand track in the Auto Class on his GasGas MC 50, Ollie was faced with lots of technical areas, tabletops, drop-offs, step-downs and tight, as well as sweeping corners. Nonetheless, he qualified P2 and then went 1-1-2 for his first overall win of the season! Congrats to Ollie from all of us at AS3.

Ollie Hain looking focussed on the way to P1 overall. Ph. @madmaxmedia

Our long-time Supported Junior MX Rider Arthur King unfortunately came off his bike whilst running in P1 at the weekend, dislocating his elbow. All of us at AS3 Performance wish him well and for a good recovery!