FIM ANNOUNCE ENDURO GP CLASS FOR 2016

The big news coming out of Belgium is that for 2016 Enduro World Championship the series will feature an Enduro GP category.

Putting the best of the sport’s riders into one class – regardless of engine capacity – 16 riders will compete for the overall title.

Riders will be seeded by taking the top four from Enduro 1, Enduro 2 and Enduro 3 from round one in Chile up until the previous round in Italy and adding in a wildcard list of four riders.

Those who compete in the “Enduro GP class” won’t be eligible to compete for an individual E1, E2, E3 title.

It’s hoped that with the sport’s premier riders going head to head, it will open the way for more riders to compete in the EWC as the E1, E2, E3 will now be more lucrative to the lesser competitors.

Other changes also include the possible reintroduction of “old enduro rules”. High on the list of priorities is bringing back the ruling of only allowing riders to work on their machines during a race.

Open to changes, it was mentioned that the possibility of introducing GNCC, sprint and even extreme enduro races into the EWC are being considered.

FIM Enduro Commissioner Jean Guillaume also mentioned that they are currently looking at ways to make the championship more affordable to organising clubs in an effort to increase the number of rounds in the series.

Finally, although yet to be officially confirmed ABC Communications will continue to promote the EWC for the next five years and are currently renewing their agreement with the FIM.