The World Enduro Championship (WEC) take place on a variety of natural terrains using dedicated enduro bikes like those from Yamaha’s WR range. These must be road legal as many of the courses include public roads. Riders compete against the clock on a variety of tests and time penalties can be received for faults such as being late for a checkpoint or missing a section.

Each world championship enduro, or Grand Prix, takes place over two days, which are classed as separate races. Courses are generally held in the countryside, with special tests often taking place on motocross tracks or beaches. The winner of each event is determined by the fastest overall time and points are allocated for each day of the event. The world champions are the riders who amass the most points in each class throughout the eight rounds.

Enduro is the world’s largest participation motorcycle sport and has a huge following in Scandinavia, Italy, Spain and France in Europe and also in Australia, New Zealand and the United States. The world championship season takes place during the European summer months, mostly at European venues, although the biggest individual event is International Six Day Enduro, now in its 83rd year, which sees riders competing for their nations.

World championship enduro racing has evolved in the last few years to make it more accessible to the casual fan. The previously huge number of classes has been streamlined to three. E1 is for 125cc two-strokes and 250cc four-strokes; E2 is for 250cc two-strokes and 450cc four-strokes and E3 is for four-strokes over 451cc and two-strokes over 251cc. A number of spectator friendly extreme tests have also been introduced, where riders have to clear seemingly impossible obstacles. Although these are not universally popular with the riders, the spectacular sections undoubtedly make great viewing.

The 2008 world championship involves trips to Sweden, Portugal, Spain, Poland, UK, France and Italy.