Josep Garcia took victory at the opening round of the 2026 Spanish Enduro Championship in Valverde del Camino (Huelva), winning the SuperTest and both race days. The Red Bull KTM rider began the national series ahead of Antoine Magain and Marc Sans.

The Spanish Enduro Championship returned in style to Valverde del Camino, the ever-special “Cathedral of Enduro”, which was back on the calendar after seven years. The Moto Club Valverde prepared a demanding course featuring four special tests and terrain made even trickier by heavy rain during the week leading up to the race. Among them, the always feared and decisive Las Tres Encinas extreme test once again stood out as one of the key sections of the weekend.

Action began on Friday with a short but intense SuperTest, just 0.7 kilometres long, which riders tackled twice in front of a lively crowd. There, García made his intentions clear from the start by setting the fastest time in a strong field that included several international riders using the Andalusian event as preparation for the opening round of the EnduroGP World Championship scheduled for April in Sicily.

The reigning EnduroGP world champion therefore got off to a flying start – and Saturday only confirmed it. García controlled the overall classification with authority, gaining seconds lap after lap to take the Scratch victory with a 1:26 advantage over Magain. Behind them, a fighting Marc Sans delivered a strong performance to claim third overall, 2:17 behind the winner.

Completing the top five on Saturday were Jaume Betriu with the WP Èric Augé team and Sergio Navarro, now riding a Husqvarna within the Motos Aleser structure. They were followed by Jeremy Sydow with Triumph, Albin Elowson with WP Èric Augé, Beta Trueba riders Àlex Puey and Julio Pando, as well as Albert Fontova, who rounded out the top 10.

On Sunday, with the terrain even more battered by overnight rain, García once again showed why he was the clear favourite. The KTM rider left no chance for his rivals and secured a second outright win, this time with an even larger margin: 2:51.700 ahead of Magain and 2:57 over Marc Sans, who again finished third on the Scratch podium.

Day 1 results

Complete Results: Enduro de Valverde del Camino 2026 - Día 1 

On the second day, Sergio Navarro finished fourth and Àlex Puey completed the top five. The rest of the top ten included Jaume Betriu, Yago Martínez, Albin Elowson and Roni Kytönen, in another particularly demanding day due to the difficult ground conditions.

“We’ve completed a perfect weekend, also winning the SuperTest,” explained García. “Both Saturday and Sunday were very technical days, especially because the Las Tres Encinas climb was included in one of the special tests. It’s been very positive, especially as we’ve come from a few weeks of intense work. Now we need to keep pushing in the same direction because things are working very well.”

Magain also took positives from his debut race of the season: “It was a great race, although the heat was intense and made things difficult. Still, it’s been good preparation for the next round of the World Championship.” The Belgian added: “I’m happy with the weekend – second yesterday and second again today overall. I made quite a few mistakes today, but the pace was competitive and that’s the most positive thing I take from these two days.”

Day 2 results

Day 2 Complete Results: Enduro de Valverde del Camino 2026 - Día 2

Class results

In the E1 class, Josep García and Antoine Magain were the two clear references throughout the weekend, sharing the top two positions on both days. The Belgian, the reigning Spanish champion, made a promising start to his new chapter aboard the Sherco 250 in a season where he also moves to the E1 category. The battle for third place was more open between Jeremy Sydow and Yago Martínez, though the WP Èric Augé rider ultimately secured the final podium spot overall.

Marc Sans was the standout rider in E2, shining in his debut season in the middle-capacity class. The rider from Tarragona, now aboard a KTM EXC-F with the TRT Motorcycles team, claimed the overall victory ahead of the reigning champion Sergio Navarro, who finished second on both days. Àlex Puey completed the podium on Saturday, while on Sunday the Swedish rider Albin Elowson took third place.

The E3 category is smaller this year following the class changes of Marc Sans and Alejandro Navarro, but that did not stop Jaume Betriu from dominating once again. The Aragonese rider took victory on both days ahead of Julio Pando, who returned to competition after arm surgery, and Francesc Aguilar with Rieju, who was unable to complete the second day.

In the Women’s class, with three riders competing, victory went to the reigning Spanish champion Mireia Rabionet from the Husqvarna Junior Team. She was joined on the podium by María San Miguel with Rieju and Aitana Peña, who makes her debut this season in the national championship with Beta Trueba.

In Junior Open, Albert Fontova secured a double victory in the opening round of the season. The WP Èric Augé rider – also tenth overall on Saturday – took a solid win ahead of his teammate Sam Hughes and Nil Rojas from Beta Trueba. He repeated the win on Sunday, this time with Lluís Gonfaus and Hughes completing the podium. In the Junior 125 2T class, the victories were shared by Pol Guerrero from the KTM Junior Team and Sigvard Lifvendahl from WP Èric Augé.

In the National Trophy class, Juan Rey (Rieju) won both days. On Saturday he finished ahead of Santiago Hernández (Sherco) and Adrià Cambre (KTM), while on Sunday the latter two swapped second and third places.

Diego Gálvez (KTM) also scored a double victory in Senior B 2T, while in Senior B 4T the wins were split between Jesús García and Albert Muñoz, both riding Triumph machines. In Senior C 2T, Fernando Soler (TM) won both days, while in Senior C 4T the victories went to Nordin Hamed and Francisco José García (KTM). In the Masters classes, victories went to Rubén Geraldo (Master 45), Antonio Valero (Master 50), David Serra (Master 55) and Isidoro Martínez (Master 60).

The next round of the championship will take place in Valdecaballeros (Badajoz) from March 20-22.

Photos: Roger Rovira Media