Rain stops play in Roma after day one shaped the 2026 AusEnduro form guide

2026 Yamaha Australian Enduro Championship

Rounds 1 & 2 – Roma, QLD

The 2026 Yamaha Australian Enduro Championship presented by MXstore got underway in Roma, Queensland over the weekend, with the opening double round quickly turning into a tale of two very different days.

Saturday’s racing ran in hot, humid conditions on a demanding course, with riders tackling six long special tests through rough terrain and heavy logs as dust and heat added to the workload. But the weather shifted dramatically on Saturday evening, with persistent rain setting in overnight and continuing into Sunday morning.

After an early inspection, organisers deemed the course too waterlogged to safely continue, with the saturated terrain and ongoing rainfall forcing Sunday’s running to be abandoned and thus round two effectively canelled.

AusEnduro Pro Enduro

Pro Enduro outright in the AEC remains the key yardstick, with riders from E1, E2, E3, EJ and EW all scored head-to-head. Roma’s opening round underlined the depth of the field, with multiple classes featuring in the outright top positions across the day.

Wil Ruprecht (E2) set the pace, topping the majority of the special tests to take outright Pro Enduro honours. The only blemish on his day came late, when Korey McMahon (E3) struck back in Test 6 to post the fastest outright time. Ruprecht still had enough in hand to bank the round win and the early championship lead.

Jye Dickson (E2) backed up strongly in second outright, the newest addition to the KTM squad delivering a consistent day that kept Ruprecht honest and immediately marked him as a genuine 2026 title threat. McMahon completed the outright podium in third after a tougher start before building momentum as the day progressed.

Jye Dickson

“It was a solid first hit-out with the KTM DM31 Racing Team and on the KTM 450 XC-F! It went pretty well – P2 outright and P2 in class. The bike was unreal out there, so I just kind of have to match the bike in my intensity and pace in order to move forward. We’ll get back to work now after racing was cancelled for Round 2. I’m excited for Dungog, that’s somewhat of a home round for me.”

Korey McMahon

“It was a tough weekend, but the results were good on Saturday – Round 1 is out of the way now! We made some bike changes around Test 3 there and slowly got to where we needed to be, so I was looking forward to moving forward on Sunday, but unfortunately, we had a lot of rain and they cancelled the day. Now it’s time to focus on Dungog!”

The next four outright positions were filled by E1 riders Cooper Sheidow, Deegan Graham, Ryan Hayward and Maximus Purvis, a clear indication that the smaller-capacity bikes were more than competitive on Roma’s technical layout.

In the EJ ranks, Mason Phillips was the leading Junior in 18th outright, with Marcus Nowland next in 20th.

With only a single round completed, the Pro Enduro outright standings mirror the results: Ruprecht 25 points, Dickson 22, McMahon 20, Sheidow 18 and Graham 16 as the early top five.

AusEnduro Pro Enduro Round One Results (Top 20)

AusEnduro Pro Enduro Round Two Results

Cancelled

AusEnduro Pro Enduro Standings

E1

With defending champion Jonte Rynders sidelined through a pre-season injury, E1 arrived in Roma wide open — and it didn’t take long for someone to put a stamp on it.

Cooper Sheidow (BluCru Yamaha) came out firing, carving 15 seconds out of the field in the opening test. From there, the chase pack responded. Deegan Graham and Maximus Purvis (Shop Yamaha Offroad Team) began to reel Sheidow back in as the day wore on, while Ryan Hayward kept himself firmly in the podium conversation with consistent early times.

Graham was the standout through the middle of the day, topping Tests 2, 3 and 4, but Sheidow’s ability to limit the damage and keep his pace clean across the remaining tests proved decisive. He held on to take the E1 round win, with Graham securing second, and Hayward’s late push across the final two tests falling just short as he finished third.

In the standings after the opening round, Sheidow leads on 25 points, with Graham on 22 and Hayward next in line.

AusEnduro E1 Round One Results

AusEnduro E1 Round Two Results

Cancelled

AusEnduro E1 Standings

E2

Wil Ruprecht carried his late-2025 form straight into Roma, with the Shop Yamaha Offroad Team rider immediately setting the pace in E2 and never loosening his grip. Ruprecht topped the opening test and continued to lay down benchmark times through the day, ultimately finishing almost 50 seconds clear on combined times to take a commanding class win.

Behind him, Jye Dickson (KTM DM31 Racing Team) put together a remarkably consistent ride, finishing second in every test as he shadowed Ruprecht across the day. Dickson did gradually chip into the margin, but Ruprecht remained just out of reach and controlled the result.

The battle for third was secured by Kogan Lock, who made an impressive first appearance in E2. The reigning EJ champion was on the pace from the outset, third in the opening test, and maintained that level across the remaining tests to claim a podium in his class debut.

After the opening round the E2 points sit with Ruprecht on 25, Dickson on 22 and Lock on 20, with Jake Henderson (18) and Will McInnes (16) completing the top five.

AusEnduro E2 Round One Results

AusEnduro E2 Round Two Results

Cancelled

AusEnduro E2 Standings

E3

Reigning E3 champion Korey McMahon (KTM DM31 Racing Team) set the tone from the opening test in Roma and quickly made it clear he was the class benchmark again in 2026. McMahon led early and was never seriously threatened across the day’s demanding tests, stretching the margin to claim victory by around three-and-a-half minutes.

The fight behind him was far tighter. Max Midwinter settled into the event well, starting the day with a strong run to sit second and then managing the pressure as the course took its toll. Midwinter kept it clean and consistent to hold onto second overall by the end of the day.

Broc Grabham worked steadily into podium contention with a measured, mistake-minimising ride aboard the Stark electric machine. His third-place finish also marked a notable milestone, with an electric motorcycle standing on the podium in a Pro class at the Australian Enduro Championship.

Jack Conlan and Max Rikys completed the top five, and with only the opening round run the standings mirror those results.

AusEnduro E3 Round One Results

AusEnduro E3 Round Two Results

Cancelled

AusEnduro E3 Standings

EJ

With a fresh wave of talent moving into EJ, a tight opener was always on the cards at Roma and it played out exactly that way.

Kai Austin set the early pace, charging through the opening test to carve out close to a 10-second buffer. Behind him it was immediately on, with Mitch Ford, Beau Tripcony and Mason Phillips covered by just three seconds as the class settled into the day.

Test two swung the momentum. Austin dropped time with a costly moment at a creek crossing and the door opened for the chasers. Phillips took full advantage and assumed control as the event unfolded, while Tripcony kept the pressure on — missing a test win in test three by less than a second before striking back with quickest time in test four.

Marcus Nowland was the metronome, building his day through consistent test times and keeping himself in the conversation as others had highs and lows.

When it mattered, Phillips had the strongest finish, extending his margin across the final two tests to secure the EJ round win. Nowland’s steady approach delivered second overall, with Tripcony third. Oscar Harris and Bjorn Cardenas completed the top five on the day, which also mirrors the standings after the opening round.

AusEnduro EJ Round One Results

AusEnduro EJ Round Two Results

Cancelled

AusEnduro EJ Standings

EW

For Jessica Gardiner (Yamaha JGR Offroad Team), the brief heading into Roma was straightforward: start 2026 the same way she finished 2025. on top.

Backed by a strong pre-season and conditions that played to her strengths, the reigning champion delivered from the outset, controlling the day’s tests to take a clear opening-round win and the first maximum points haul of the season.

Madi Simpson was expected to be right in the fight, but an early incident cost her time in the opening stages. She regrouped well to salvage second, limiting the damage and keeping herself well placed for the rounds ahead. Emelie Granquist (Triumph Australia) completed the podium with a steady ride to open her 2026 campaign.

Emi Ruprecht and Madison Healey rounded out the top five

AusEnduro EW Round One Results

AusEnduro EW Round Two Results

Cancelled

AusEnduro EW Standings

The 2026 Yamaha Australian Enduro Championship presented by MXstore now moves on to Dungog, New South Wales, with Rounds 3 and 4 scheduled for April 11–12..

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