Josep Garcia capped off a historic season in the 2026 Paulo Duarte FIM EnduroGP World Championship in Wales by topping both days of racing on August 7-9. After successfully defending his third consecutive EnduroGP overall title and fourth straight E1 title at the previous round in Saint-Agreve, France, the KTM rider arrived at the GP of Wales with one final goal: to end the season on the top step of the podium.
Photos by Future7Media
The seventh and final round of the championship got underway on Friday evening in Rhayader with the Super Test. Garcia finished second, adding another accolade to his outstanding season as he was crowned the 2026 Akrapovic Super Test Series overall winner.
On Saturday, the opening day of the GP, the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider once again set the pace on unusually hard, dry and dusty Welsh terrain. García posted the fastest time in six of the day’s 11 special tests, building a solid advantage that allowed him to claim the EnduroGP victory by 34 seconds over Frenchman, TM Moto’s Zach Pichon.
Garcia repeated the feat on Sunday, this time taking victory by 13 seconds over his KTM teammate Andrea Verona. The result completed another perfect double and brought his World Championship campaign to a close with a record of 10 wins, three second-place finishes and one third place in EnduroGP, meaning he stood on the podium in all 14 race days of the season.
García also completed a perfect season in E1, winning every single day of competition and taking his tally to nine World Championship titles.
“It has been an incredible weekend, the best possible way to finish such a spectacular year,” Garcia said. “Coming here without pressure feels strange because, in the end, I put a lot of pressure on myself, but it is different when you don’t have that added pressure. Sometimes that pressure can even give you something extra.
“But I have shown that I am very clear about my goal, which is to go out every day and fight for the win. It has been incredible to win EnduroGP on both Saturday and Sunday.
“It has been a fantastic weekend to round off an amazing season. Ten overall EnduroGP victories in a single year, and I think that will be difficult to beat, not only for me but for anyone.”
Garcia was Saturday’s clear winner, finishing 34.19 seconds ahead of Pichon, with Beta’s Nathan Watson finishing in third, 56.85 seconds behind the Spaniard, Garcia. Sherco’s Steve Holcombe and Garcia’s Enduro2-class teammate Andrea Verona rounded out the top five.
On day two, Sunday, it was a little closer for Garcia, as only 13.93 seconds separated him from Verona, who finished six seconds ahead of third-place finisher Pichon. Watson was fourth overall, and Triumph’s Morgan Lesiardo of Italy was fifth overall.
In the EnduroGP final standings, Garcia was the clear winner, finishing the season with 266 points, followed by Verona with 208, who edged Pichon by just one point. Verona also claimed the Enduro2-class Championship.
“It hasn’t been an easy weekend,” Verona said. “We came here with a small advantage, and I knew I needed to win one of the two days to secure the [E2] World Championship. After struggling a little on the first day and finishing third, I went into the final day with just one point separating us, so I knew I had to give everything. I’m happy with how I managed the pressure and the situation today. I rode well, pushed from the beginning, and was able to get the win when it mattered most. This title means a lot to me.”
In Enduro1, Lesiardo finished second (behind Garcia) in the championship, followed by Sherco’s Antoine Magain of Belgium.
Verona finished just four points ahead of Pichon in the E2 Championship, while Sherco’s Hamish Macdonald of New Zealand was third, 42 points behind Pichon.
In Enduro 3, Holcombe took the crown ahead of Beta’s Brad Freeman and Husqvarna’s Albin Norrbin. It’s Holcombe’s 10th career World Championship.
“It’s an incredible feeling to be world champion again, especially after everything that’s happened over the last couple of years,” he said. “To come away from my home GP as Enduro3 World Champion and secure my 10th World title is something I’m incredibly proud of.”
Rieju Factory Racing’s Rachel Gutish finished out her season, winning the Women’s class on Sunday after finishing second to her teammate Rosie Rowett on Saturday. Gutish had already clinched the class championship.
“I’m happy to have won my two World titles,” Gutish said. “Everything went well [on Sunday]. I built up a good lead after the first lap and simply focused on managing it to the end. I feel great. Especially now, after winning two consecutive world titles, I’m really pleased.
Rieju Factory Racing has always been incredible with me. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have been able to return to racing. They put a lot of faith in me when they decided to bring me into the team, and I’m very happy to have been able to prove that faith was justified.”CN
2026 FIM EnduroGP Round 7 Results
EnduroGP Day 1 (Top 5)
- Josep Garcia (KTM) 1:13:16.70
- Zach Pichon (TM) 1:13:50.89 +34.19
- Nathan Watson (Bet) 1:14:13.55 +56.85
- Steve Holcombe (She) 1:14:13.84 +57.14
- Andrea Verona (KTM) 1:14:27.56 +1:10.86
EnduroGP Day 2 (Top 5)
- Josep Garcia (KTM) 1:11:45.67
- Andrea Verona (KTM) 1:11:59.60 +13.93
- Zach Pichon (TM) 1:12:05.72 +20.05
- Nathan Watson (Bet) 1:12:33.08 +47.41
- Morgan Lesiardo (Tri) 1:12:36.76 +51.09
