Jean Turner | November 2, 2018
The new World Enduro Super Series is challenging the FIM EnduroGP World Championship for the top spot in global off-road racing, facing manufacturers with a critical decision of where to direct its factory efforts. KTM, GasGas, Sherco, Beta and Yamaha sound off on the world enduro crossroads.
There are likely more off-road championships around the world than any other discipline of motorcycle racing. Every region, every district and every country has its idea of what a proper challenge for an 18-inch rear wheel looks like. And the more racing, the better, right? Desert racing, woods racing, beach racing, hare and hounds, hare scrambles, classic enduros, sprint enduros, endurocross, cross-country, GPs, there’s room for all of it, but there’s only room at the top for one—a single world championship that represents the pinnacle of it all. One proving ground where racers can earn definitive supremacy and manufacturers can invest in showcasing their flagship products.
Traditionally, the FIM EnduroGP World Championship is recognized as the de facto global championship, but in recent years, a shift has begun with a fresh form of competition: extreme enduro. Races such as the Erzberg Rodeo and Romaniacs quickly put extreme racing on the map, and with it riders like Taddy Blazusiak, David Knight and Graham Jarvis. With the backing of Red Bull and its powerhouse media machine, a number of extreme events around the world gained global attention, but as this new competition grew, so did the divide between extreme enduro and classic enduro. Star athletes and top machinery are diverging into two different categories, thus raising the question of where the true pinnacle of the sport lies.
While the EnduroGP has continued the march of the classic enduro format, others contended that the sport was evolving and that the world championship should, too.
Many began to voice dissatisfaction with the EWC, meanwhile drawn to the increasingly popular and more widely publicized extreme enduro events, where media attention was growing, along with amateur participation.
Finally, the inevitable happened.
In December of 2017, the all-new World Enduro Super Series (WESS) was announced. A newly formed organization out of Austria announced it was stringing together a group of the popular events to form a new world championship—a mix of extreme races, classic enduro, cross-country and even a beach race. Despite not carrying a sanction from the FIM, WESS boldly positioned the eight-round contest as “a premium off-road championship” that will “bring together the world’s best and most visible events and will annually crown the ultimate enduro champion.”
“We’re not reinventing the wheel,” stated WESS Managing Director Philipp Stossier in the company’s first press release. “We’re bringing together well-established enduro competitions, run the way they’ve always been run, onto a larger communication platform to ensure enduro sport receives the focused, global exposure it deserves.”
WESS Racing Manager Winfried Kerschhaggl echoed the statement in the release. “We believe this is a key moment for enduro sport. Over the last decade enduro has evolved hugely, resulting in many highly popular standalone events but also an increasingly divided scene for competitors, media and industry. WESS 2018 brings both well-established, decades old and very traditional races together with relatively young events that embrace a very different dynamic in terms of race format—together with beach racing and cross-country these competitions all fall under the umbrella of modern day enduro. All are important and are united under the World Enduro Super Series umbrella.”
The Big Questions
The presence of two premier championships has presented the factory teams with a challenge: where do they put their factory effort? We contacted representatives from Sherco, Yamaha, KTM, GasGas and Beta (Husqvarna Motorcycles did not offer a response) and asked the same four questions:
- What are your thoughts on the World Enduro Super Series?
- What are your thoughts on the Enduro World Championship?
- In the last few years it seems the EWC has responded to input from teams and sponsors regarding changes/improvements to the championship; do you feel it has grown in positive ways?
- Between WESS and EWC, where do you think it is more valuable for your brand to be?
Polar Reactions
For some of the manufacturers, such as KTM, they have clearly picked a side, and have no qualms about their decision.
“The World Enduro Super Series is a great new championship that KTM has a lot of belief in,” said Factory KTM’s Alex Doringer. “Key points that attracted KTM to the idea is that it searches for the ultimate all-around enduro rider, it brings the riders to events where they compete against amateur riders and it re-ignites the opportunities for grass roots riders to race against the very best. All while being part of existing iconic events that have a mass entry and appeal to an audience outside the core of the sport in terms of spectators.
“All in all, we are confident that this can only be positive for the future. We are, of course, supportive of the organizers and the hope to see the series evolve as more people will understand and enjoy the concept.”
Equally as passionate, but on the opposite end of the spectrum from KTM, is the Sherco firm. Race Team Manager Jordan Curvalle did not hesitate to denounce the new WESS series. “First, this is a KTM championship; this is not a real enduro championship,” Curvalle said. “Too many extreme races… just an extreme rider can win this championship.”
The WESS organizers tout the diversity of its events, which KTM sees as a strength of the series. “From our side, the WESS has streamlined and focused our enduro efforts into one team rather than splitting or diluting the focus with the sub-disciplines of enduro,” Doringer said. “By having a series that incorporates the toughest hard enduros with the fast ‘classic’ enduro races, we are competing in the best of everything.”
But again on the opposing viewpoint, Sherco’s Curvalle sees it as a negative, pointing to the results of Trefle Lozerien, one of the five French classic enduros, which served as round three of the WESS. Normal front-runners in extreme races, such as Taddy Blazusiak and Graham Jarvis, finished with very lackluster results, highlighting the marked difference in the skillset required to race a classic enduro format.
“What is the purpose of a factory to send pilots like Blazusiak to finish 20th… Jarvis 44th?” said Curvalle. “We have a junior rider who ended second overall in Trefle, just 20 years old, [Theo Espinasse] but I will never send him to Erzberg to finish 40th. What will they do in a beach race? Now all the riders are focused and specialist: SuperEnduro, extreme enduro, traditional enduro.”
Another sharp rebuke came from Beta. The Italian manufacturer remains firmly planted in the EnduroGP World Championship with little interest in the WESS, also citing the diversity of events as problematic.
“The WESS is not really an Enduro World Championship because it is not recognized by the FIM,” said Beta Race Team Manager Fabrizio Dini. “It is only an enduro series with five extreme races, two ‘normal’ enduro races and one beach race. Some [WESS] races have different rules—the rules of traditional enduro are not respected—and for this reason, it makes no sense to call it an enduro championship.”
For all its criticisms, Sherco is actually a top contender at the extreme events with riders Wade Young and Mario Roman. Sherco has proven to be one of the only brands capable of beating the ever-dominant Austrian firms of KTM and Husqvarna at the extreme enduros. Young rode to an impressive overall victory at Red Bull Romaniacs and also won the Red Bull Megawatt 111 (WESS rounds four and five). Despite not racing the non-extreme races in the series (Trefle Lozerien classic enduro and Hawkstone Park Cross Country), Young is currently in top five of the WESS point standings. But Young’s standing in the championship doesn’t seem to hold much meaning to Sherco or to Curvalle, who defiantly stated, “We won the Romaniacs. Not a WESS event.”
The Gray Area
Not all the factories have taken up such polarized positions. Yamaha and GasGas remain in the gray area, and both are in a wait-and-see holding pattern during the first year of WESS. Yamaha, considered one of the “Big 5” in the U.S., holds a relatively small market share in Europe, and fields a modest, but potent off-road contingent only in the EnduroGP World Championship. With much of its resources devoted to the Rally program, Yamaha’s enduro efforts remain limited, without any top contenders in the new Super Series.
“The World Enduro Super Series is a new off-road series with big media returns thanks to a major TV partner that is more focused on the show and mass events than pure enduro,” stated Yamaha’s Alexandre Kowalski. “It can be an interesting way as it is mixing different kinds of enduro on different tracks. It also has the merit of having one winning rider who will have to be versatile because of the various tracks: extreme enduro, sand race, classic enduro, etc.” Kowalski stopped short of endorsing the new championship, only mentioning that Yamaha is “not closed to WESS.”
GasGas’ Jordi Arilla was likewise diplomatic in his response, emphasizing the importance of the existing FIM EWC while expressing genuine interest in the new WESS championship. The Spanish manufacturer is taking a pragmatic approach to the world enduro crossroads, calling it a good opportunity but adding, “it is necessary to check the real follow-up of the brands, the riders and the public, as well as the obtained return.”
“We were able to see an important follow-up from the audience, but we will have to qualify it and see if the enduro riders can really adapt to this complex discipline… and ensure that they do not restrict the possibility of developing enduro properly. But it is clear that the market and the trend is this and we must be receptive and ready to this type of actions.”
Arilla also admires the courage of KTM, Husqvarna and Red Bull for blazing their own path and hosting a championship “outside the protection of the FIM,” adding “it could be a valid formula that, although it is not the definitive one, is important enough to analyze.”
GasGas remains a major player in the EnduroGP World Championship with top riders Christophe Nambotin and Danny McCanney, but also has a toe in the WESS water for 2018 with rider Lars Enockl. “Although initially we did not forsee having our own structure, we proceed to support it following the indications from our friends of KTM and Red Bull in order to see, from inside, the operation and management to be able to analyze it and evaluate it for the future.”
Although Yamaha doesn’t currently have a factory-backed rider in WESS, Kowalski maintains they are not closed to the possibility in the future. “The idea is interesting with this kind of off-road championship spirit. But our market is not big enough in two sportingly close championships. Priority is given to the championship awarding world titles on which we can communicate thereafter.”
Therein lies the challenging question for manufacturers: which world stage is more valuable to compete on?
Assessing the Values
While it faces plenty of doubt and criticism, one of the clear benefits of the WESS Championship is its massive visibility, thanks largely to Red Bull Media House. All the events in the series also boast large amateur participation numbers, another factor that has been progressively lacking in the EnduroGP Championship.
“With the sheer amount of people attending the events that WESS is associated with and the interest in hard enduro particularly, it makes absolute sense for KTM to be involved in this series,” said Doringer. “Not only does it connect us more with riders with the vast entries at these existing events, it has a broader audience, and finally we also search for the most competitive rider in enduro. With Red Bull Media House providing extensive coverage of the series, and iconic events involved, having a factory presence at these races is incredibly beneficial for us.”
Doringer even pointed out an example of the stark contrast in media coverage. An EnduroGP press release sent out June 19 boasted over 3,000,000 views on social media of its collective content after four rounds. Doringer compared it to a single clip of Jonny Walker’s POV footage from XL Lagares that had 3,700,000 views. While the numbers are compelling, so are the improvements made to the EnduroGP championship in 2018, with growing visibility. But are those current improvements enough?
“I think the Enduro World Championship is listening to change and developing things, but the problem is deeper today,” said Yamaha’s Kowalski. “It is imperative that the amateur riders come back to this World Championship. Today, the main problem lies in the too small number of rider entries. The second problem is financial. Indeed it is imperative that the organizing clubs can find themselves financially in order to have the will to organize great events. The third problem is image and communication as today, the Enduro World Championship is sorely lacking. Efforts are made by the promoter of the championship, but today we should send these images to a powerful media partner that would give a fair return to the brands that are investing in this field.”
Curvalle of the Sherco camp agrees, touching on the same points. “When I begin in enduro, the EWC was full of riders, lot of private teams and riders,” Curvalle said. “Step by step the championship lost riders and organizers. All the people need to work to have more riders, more visibility and help the organizers.
“The EWC made a lot of changes due to the pressure of some manufacturers, and when the manufacturers get the changes, he leaves the series,” Curvalle continued.
Beta’s Fabrizio Dini notes positive changes in recent years, but also points out that not everything has been a step in the right direction. “I think we were able to activate at an excellent level, but on the last two years, wrong choices have been made and now we are trying to find alternative solutions. It is not easy to find the correct solution, but we try step by step.
“The FIM and promoter are trying to make small changes to give the EWC more appeal and to attract more riders and spectators, but we do not want to change the philosophy of enduro—no extreme race or something similar.
“Last year we have tried with different race format (sprint enduro) and we have a very positive sensation and… we agreed to continue in this direction.”
From the GasGas perspective, the recent changes to the EWC have been generally positive, but too limited in scope. “Obviously the World Enduro Championship is the premier world championship,” said Arilla. “It has been for many years and still maintains its prestige as a global enduro title. In any case, it will be necessary to check how WESS influences it, if it really takes away this protagonism, and if we are able to update ourselves from the FIM and from the promoter of the EWC to give the necessary standards of communication, quality, location and payback to the EWC. So far, some steps have been taken in this direction, but we believe that today they are not enough.
“The changes that the EWC has made are remarkable and positive, of course,” Arilla continued. “They respond to a series of demands from all the actors involved as manufacturers, riders and sponsors. We understand the promoter hasn’t great economical resources and we appreciate the steps made. But we still have a long way to go to adapt to the 21st century needs of a discipline like enduro, if we don’t want to fall into the traps of the past.”
The Spirit of Enduro
In weighing the values of each championship, one particular value was repeated by several manufacturers: The spirit of enduro. Preserving the sanctity of the classic race format is paramount to many participants.
“The goal of the FIM is to preserve the enduro spirit with all the characteristics that compose it,” offered Kowalski. “We, Yamaha, wish to preserve the spirit of the enduro, knowing that it must evolve in the future.”
“For us, the EWC remains the valuable championship,” said Beta’s Dini. “With our extreme rider we will go to the most famous hard extreme races, but not more. The EWC has a long story and if you win the championship you are the World Champion. For us, this is the main championship.”
Amid the growing popularity of extreme races, the traditional enduro format still enjoys tremendous popularity in many national championships.
“I honestly think we need to come back [to] traditional enduro,” said Sherco’s Curvalle. “The ISDE is full, the French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, UK, German, Belgium, Dutch enduro championships work! The five French classics are always full. We need to come back to great and beautiful enduro like some years ago.”
On account of the ongoing success of national enduro series, Kowalski suggests the EWC come together with these championships in order to boost amateur attendance. “Our common wish is the merge the European championship with the World Championship,” he stated.
The spirit of classic enduro, the adherence to a consistent FIM-sanctioned format and the seniority of the Enduro World Championship are values that currently compel a number of manufacturers to adhere to the EWC. But the WESS Championship is illuminating other important factors—such as amateur participation and powerful media returns—that even the most stalwart cannot disregard.
The Future of World Championship
In a classic case of conservative versus progressive ideas, the push-pull of EWC versus WESS is bound to spur change in the landscape of world championship racing. As we near the close of the first season of WESS racing, there are many factors to look at, and many more questions to ask. Where will the majority of manufacturers invest their resources going forward? How will each world championship evolve in 2019? Which one will be regarded as the gold standard? Will that decision be made by riders, fans or manufacturers? Only time will give us the answers.CN