World Enduro Championship

FIM World Enduro Championship

Bikes lined up in Italy
Sport	Motorcycle sport
Founded	1990
Country(ies)	International
Most recent champion(s)	E1 Juha Salminen E2 Antoine Méo E3 Mika Ahola

The FIM World Enduro Championship (WEC) is the world championship series for enduro, a popular form of off-road motorcycle sport. The championship currently features three classes (E1, E2 and E3), along with separate categories for junior and female riders. The WEC was first organized in 1990, and currently consists of 16 races based on eight two-day events. All rounds include an enduro test, a motocross test and an extreme test.

History

Simone Albergoni at the GP of Turkey

The World Enduro Championship began in 1990, replacing the FIM European Enduro Championship, which had been contested since 1968. The European championship was later re-started by the Union Européenne de Motocyclisme (UEM) in 1993. The WEC had six classes from 1990 to 1993, after which the 80 cc and 500 cc 2-stroke championships were discontinued. The series continued with four classes, 125, 250, 350 and 500 cc, until the 1998 season, which saw 250 cc 4-stroke as a new class and the 350 cc replaced by 400 cc. In 1998, all rounds also counted towards an overall championship, which was continued until 2004.

Sébastien Guillaume rides over logs

The competition classes of the WEC were revised for the 2004 season. The number of classes was reduced to three, and 2-stroke and 4-stroke machines were now competing in the same classes. The new classes were named Enduro 1, Enduro 2 and Enduro 3. The 2005 season saw a new addition; the Enduro Junior class (EJ). The age limit in the junior class was originally 21 years, but was later changed to 23.^[1] A class for female riders, Enduro Women, was started in 2010.

The points system of the WEC originally awarded points for 15 best riders in each class, starting with 20 for the winner, 17 for second place and 15 for third. Since the 2004 season, the twenty fastest riders have received points, with 25 going to the winner of each class, 22 for the second fastest and 20 for the third-placed rider.

The 2007 championship included six events in Europe, one in the United States and one in Canada. In the 2008 season, all eights rounds were held in Europe. The current main broadcaster of the championship is Eurosport 2. In South America and Oceania, the series is broadcasted on ESPN and Fox Sports, respectively.^[2]

Current classes

• Enduro 1 (E1) – 100 to 125 cc 2-stroke or 175 - 250 cc 4-stroke
• Enduro 2 (E2) – 175 to 250 cc 2-stroke or 290 - 450 cc 4-stroke
• Enduro 3 (E3) – 290 to 500 cc 2-stroke or 475 - 650 cc 4-stroke

Champions

Season	80 cc 2-stroke	125 cc 2-stroke	250 cc 2-stroke	350 cc 4-stroke	500 cc 2-stroke	+350 cc 4-stroke
1990	Thomas Bieberbach (Simson)	Paul Edmondson (KTM)	Kari Tiainen (Suzuki)	Otakar Kotrba (Husqvarna)	Peter Hansson (KTM)	Jimmie Eriksson (Husaberg)
1991	Pierfranco Muraglia (Kawasaki)	Jeff Nilsson (KTM)	Kari Tiainen (Husqvarna)	Kent Karlsson (Husaberg)	Sven-Erik Jönsson (Husqvarna)	Jaroslav Katriňák (Husaberg)
1992	Gian-Marco Rossi (HRD)	Jeff Nilsson (KTM)	Giorgio Grasso (Kawasaki)	Mario Rinaldi (KTM)	Tulio Pellegrinelli (Honda)	Kari Tiainen (Husqvarna)
1993	Gian-Marco Rossi (TM)	Paul Edmondson (Husqvarna)	Giorgio Grasso (Kawasaki)	Sven-Erik Jönsson (Husqvarna)	Giovanni Sala (KTM)	Fabio Farioli (KTM)
						500 cc 4-stroke
1994		Paul Edmondson (Gas Gas)	Giovanni Sala (KTM)	Mario Rinaldi (KTM)		Kari Tiainen (Husqvarna)
1995		Petteri Silván (Husqvarna)	Giovanni Sala (KTM)	Anders Eriksson (Husaberg)		Kari Tiainen (Husqvarna)
1996		Fausto Scovolo (Honda)	Paul Edmondson (Gas Gas)	Anders Eriksson (Husqvarna)		Peter Jansson (Husaberg)
1997		Shane Watts (KTM)	Stéphane Peterhansel (Yamaha)	Mario Rinaldi (KTM)		Kari Tiainen (KTM)
	250 cc 4-stroke			400 cc 4-stroke
1998	Gian-Marco Rossi (Honda)	Roman Michalík (TM)	Giovanni Sala (KTM)	Björne Carlsson (Husaberg)		Anders Eriksson (Husqvarna)
1999	Vesa Kytönen (Kawasaki)	Juha Salminen (KTM)	Petteri Silván (Gas Gas)	Giovanni Sala (KTM)		Anders Eriksson (Husqvarna)
2000	Matteo Rubin (KTM)	Juha Salminen (KTM)	Stefan Merriman (Husqvarna)	Mario Rinaldi (KTM)		Kari Tiainen (KTM)
2001	Stéphane Peterhansel (Yamaha)	Petteri Silván (Husqvarna)	Juha Salminen (KTM)	Stefan Merriman (Husqvarna)		Anders Eriksson (Husqvarna)
2002	Peter Bergvall (Yamaha)	Petteri Silván (Husqvarna)	Samuli Aro (Husqvarna)	Juha Salminen (KTM)		Anders Eriksson (Husqvarna)
2003	Peter Bergvall (Yamaha)	Petri Pohjamo (Gas Gas)	Stefan Merriman (Honda)	Anders Eriksson (Husqvarna)		Juha Salminen (KTM)
	E1		E2		E3
2004	Stefan Merriman (Yamaha)		Juha Salminen (KTM)		Samuli Aro (KTM)
2005	Iván Cervantes (KTM)		Samuli Aro (KTM)		David Knight (KTM)
2006	Iván Cervantes (KTM)		Samuli Aro (KTM)		David Knight (KTM)
2007	Juha Salminen (KTM)		Mika Ahola (Honda)		Iván Cervantes (KTM)
2008	Mika Ahola (Honda)		Johnny Aubert (Yamaha)		Samuli Aro (KTM)
2009	Mika Ahola (Honda)		Johnny Aubert (KTM)		Iván Cervantes (KTM)
2010	Antoine Méo (Husqvarna)		Mika Ahola (Honda)		David Knight (KTM)
2011	Juha Salminen (Husqvarna)		Antoine Méo (Husqvarna)		Mika Ahola (Honda)

Overall championship

Eight-time class and five-time overall champion Salminen rides his KTM in 2008.

Season	Rider	Bike
1998	Giovanni Sala	250 cc KTM
1999	Petteri Silván	250 cc Gas Gas
2000	Juha Salminen	125 cc KTM
2001	Juha Salminen	250 cc KTM
2002	Juha Salminen	400 cc KTM
2003	Juha Salminen	500 cc KTM
2004	Juha Salminen	E2 KTM

Junior championship

Thomas Oldrati in 2010

Season	Rider	Team
2005	Cristóbal Guerrero	Gas Gas
2006	Joakim Ljunggren	Husaberg
2007	Joakim Ljunggren	Husaberg
2008	Thomas Oldrati	KTM
2009	Oriol Mena	Husaberg
2010	Lorenzo Santolino	KTM
2011	Jérémy Joly	Honda

References

1. ^ "The FIM in congress - Calendar and rules". ABC-WEC.com. 24 October 2007. http://old.enduro-abc.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=189&Itemid=17. Retrieved 29 October 2008. 
2. ^ "EWC Broadcasting in the world". enduro-abc.com. http://www.enduro-abc.com/index.php?model=page&action=view_object&object_id=51. Retrieved 10 October 2011. 

External links

• Official website