Enduro21 catches five with “the face” of the new look Hard Enduro World Championship, series director Ross Whitehead, to talk about changes to the points system, why multiday races are in and why four-strokes are important as we head to round two, Silver Kings Hard Enduro next week.

The ‘it’s on, it’s off, it’s on again and quick, get yourselves to Wales!’ roller coaster start to the 2025 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship created a dust storm but it was a start. It was, at least, something.

Though they had to use a defibrillator ahead of round one at Valleys Hard Enduro to bring the series into life, new promoters ProTouchGlobal have been busy making plans on the new, clean slate they were hastily handed by the FIM. 

Despite the humble start, addressing some of the big issues around the HEWC series with the riders, teams and the FIM means round two, Silver Kings on June 12-14 in Idaho has some changes planned.

New points system

High on the agenda from the riders point of view is addressing the issues around single or multiday events, whether they should be in or out and how points are awarded for these different race durations.

Riders have long complained the multiday races – this year that will be Sea-to-Sky and Roof of Africa while in previous years that has included Romaniacs – do not give enough value to the separate days.

Starting with the Silver Kings next week, that will be addressed with 3-2-1 points handed out for prologue podium finishers (as previously), then a maximum of 10 points per day for ‘rounds’ or qualification races – depending on the format of the race – and 20 points for the winner of the main event. That means a maximum of 43 points are available for the winner of Silver Kings or Sea to Sky or Roof for example.

Speaking to Enduro21, series director Ross Whitehead says the system will reward more riders and answer some of those critics who questions the multiday races in the championship: “We want to make it a more balanced championship and this is a fairer points system to reward the efforts of the riders in the multiday races.

“The new systems will be 3-2-1 points in the prologue as before but riders will now get points for all the racing days, days one and two at Sea to Sky for example, and then the main race. The points will be accumulated over the race weekend to find the overall winner.”

Multiday races have to be in

Addressing the much-talked-about issue of whether the Hard Enduro World Championship should consist solely of events with the same race format, i.e. single-day races, or include races with different formats, Whitehead says it’s impossible to build a full championship with homogeneous race formats: “We know some riders ideally would prefer all races to be single-day events, like Getzen or Hixpania, but the reality is it’s hard to put a full championship together like that. If we had seven quarries around the world we could potentially do that but the big races, the ones who want to work with us and to be part of the series are all different.”

While some riders might be critical of that – the argument is they think the HEWC should run identical races so it is easier for live broadcasts to raise profile of the series and also to make it more easily understandable to the outside sporting public – the flipside is it brings major, popular events into the calendar. Events like Silver Kings next week, the hugely popular Sea to Sky, and The Roof of Africa.

Importantly it also answers criticisms from riders who rightly ask how can a three or four-day race offer the same points reward to a single day event. There are a few riders who excel at the single day, “sprint” races, while others have achieved their best results in the longer challenges and this is where Whitehead sees the balance moving forward with a fairer points system.

Four-strokes and new manufacturers in the sport

Enduro21 also spoke to Whitehead about other plans for the future including the idea of a class for four-strokes in 2026 and the need to open up the series to new manufacturers and potential sponsors.

“The effect that Jonny [Walker] had at Erzberg was clear to see,” Ross says. “He proved that a four-stroke can compete for a podium in Hard Enduro and that was very positive for the sport moving forwards. Our plan would be to have the separate class for four-strokes in 2026, so next season.”

Wiping away the “KTM Championship” stigma

One thing was clear with the previous WESS and Hard Enduro World Championship, it suffered by having so much of an association with KTM.

Having a four-stroke category in the series will be one way in which they can start to get rid of that stigma by opening things out, allowing more teams, manufacturers and sponsors.

It will, they hope, add to the effect of growing the gene pool, opening the series up from the narrow focus on a couple of major sponsors, namely KTM and Red Bull, to Triumph and Japanese manufacturers.

Let’s not forget the WESS championship as was so dominated and controlled by KTM and Red Bull that other manufacturers refused to take part – Sherco for instance.

“Of course, KTM is hugely important to any enduro championship,” continues Whitehead, “but there are many ways in which this new beginning is an important chance to move forward. “The previous feeling from many parties was that the championship was a KTM championship and now we have the opportunity to steer the championship how we want to, breaking way from KTM and WESS.”

“They [WESS] did a great job that is why it was very important we picked up the baton and made a championship this year – if we’d waited a year and came back it would have lost all momentum.” Whitehead concludes.

“So, although we were staring down the barrel and it was all rushed to come back at Valleys, it was the right move. The next round is Silver Kings and then after that we have some more time to work on things and we will continue to build and grow.”

Photo Credit: Future7Media