Round 5 of the 2026 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship heads to the Tuscan mountains, 4–6 September, as Abestone Hard Enduro brings the world's best hard enduro riders to Abetone.
The Mountains Are Calling
If Forza Orza was new — a blank canvas in the Swedish forest, then Abestone is something else entirely. This is hard enduro in one of its natural homes. The Apennine mountains above Abetone in Toscana have a way of reminding riders exactly what this sport is: steep, relentless, beautiful and unforgiving in equal measure.
After the excitment of Sweden, Manuel Lettenbichler's stall and bump-start, Billy Bolt's comeback sprint win, the Brightmore brothers on both steps of the podium, the championship now arrives somewhere that asks a different set of questions entirely. Abestone has its own character, its own terrain, and its own way of sorting the field. What it shares with Forza Orza is what it shares with every round on this calendar: it will find out exactly where you stand.
How the Weekend Works
The Abestone format is compact, logical, and built for intensity. Three days. Three sessions of competitive racing across the classes. One winner.
Friday 4 September is arrival day, paddock opens at 08:30, registration and technical verifications run from 12:00 to 16:00, with a training area open from 16:00 to 17:00. The day closes with the Press Conference at 18:00: the last chance to hear from the riders before it all begins.
Saturday 5 September is race day one, and the day that sets up everything that follows. Qualifications begin at 08:30, separating the classes and establishing the grid order for the sprint and final races. From there:
- 12:00 - Sprint Race Bronze + Iron (1 hour)
- 14:00 - Sprint Race Silver (1 hour)
- 16:00 - Sprint Race Gold (1 hour + 1 lap)
- 18:00 - Straight Rhythm
- 20:00 - Sprint Race Awards & Party
The Straight Rhythm deserves a mention of its own. It is the most visually spectacular session on the HEWC calendar, riders launching one after another down a purpose-built obstacle course, flat out, judged on speed and style. It is theatrical, and in the shadow of the Tuscan mountains with a partisan Italian crowd, expect noise.
Sunday 6 September is the day that matters most. Finals day, staggered through the afternoon in ascending order:
- 08:30 — Bronze + Iron Final (2 hours)
- 10:45 — Bronze + Iron Awards
- 11:30 — Silver Final (2 hours)
- 13:45 — Silver Awards
- 14:30 — Gold Final (2 hours + 1 lap)
- 16:45 — Gold Awards
Two hours plus one lap in the Tuscan mountains in September. The shadows will be long by the time the Gold class crosses the finish line. The title picture may look very different by the time the awards are handed out.
The Championship After Sweden
The numbers after four rounds tell the story of a title fight that is very much alive.
Manuel Lettenbichler leads. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider has now won three of the four rounds contested, and his consistency across every session — prologue, sprint, main race — sets the benchmark. He is in form. He is on the right machinery. And he will be the hardest man on the mountain to beat in Abetone.
But Mitch Brightmore has not gone away. Second at Forza Orza after chasing Lettenbichler through those final laps, the X-Grip GASGAS rider is the one applying the most sustained pressure at the top. A win in Sweden would have closed the gap. The gap remains, but it is a gap, not a chasm.
Ashton Brightmore is the form story of the second half of the season. Third at Forza Orza, Junior class winner, with an outstanding round-four haul of points, the younger Brightmore has moved into a tight battle for third in the overall standings, separated from Teodor Kabakchiev by a single point. This is championship racing at its finest.
And then there is Billy Bolt. The Husqvarna Factory Racing rider won the sprint race at Forza Orza on his return from injury, his first win in four months, delivered with the authority of a champion. He lost time in the main race losing his bike, but the pace is there. In Abetone, expect Bolt to be a factor across the full weekend.
Four rounds remain. The title fight is Lettenbichler's to lose, but this sport, on terrain like this, has a habit of rewriting those sentences.
Terrain That Tests the Machine
Two hours plus a lap on Apennine rock and roots is as much a test of hardware as of the rider, and it is why the championship's technical partners are visible rather than decorative. Plews Tyres — whose EN1 Tough One extreme rear has carried riders to world championship success — supplies the grip that turns a blown climb into a clean one. S3 Parts covers the components that take the direct hits: hard enduro footpegs, skid plates and protection. And Factory Links builds the Race Series bearing and seal kits that keep linkages, swingarms and wheels turning long after the water and grit have got in. On a course like Abestone, that hardware is often the difference between a finish and a DNF.
Beyond the World Championship
HEWC-registered riders have also been busy away from the series. Mitch Brightmore took victory at the Wild Willys Extreme Enduro in the UK, while the 16th Red Bull Tennessee Knockout ran at the Trials Training Center in Sequatchie on 28–30 August, drawing an international entry alongside the AMA National Hard Enduro regulars. Neither event forms part of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship and neither affects the world championship standings — but both underline the depth of the global hard enduro calendar.
Cameras Rolling
The Tuscan mountains will also be a backdrop for something beyond the racing. The Next Generation documentary — filmed by Foolhardy Film and Warwick Film — is tracking the riders who will define the future of this sport across the final five rounds of 2026. Abestone is round one of five for the cameras.
Everything you see trackside this weekend could end up in the film.
Event Information
Event: Abestone Hard Enduro
Venue: Abetone, Toscana, Italy
Dates: 4–6 September 2026
Race Schedule
Friday 4 September
- 08:30 — Opening paddock
- 12:00–16:00 — Registration + technical verifications
- 16:00–17:00 — Training area
- 18:00 — Press Conference
Saturday 5 September
- 08:30 — Qualifications
- 12:00 — Sprint Race Bronze + Iron (1H)
- 14:00 — Sprint Race Silver (1H)
- 16:00 — Sprint Race Gold (1H + 1 lap)
- 18:00 — Straight Rhythm
- 20:00 — Sprint Race Awards & Party
Sunday 6 September
- 08:30 — Bronze + Iron Final (2H)
- 10:45 — Bronze + Iron Awards
- 11:30 — Silver Final (2H)
- 13:45 — Silver Awards
- 14:30 — Gold Final (2H + 1 lap)
- 16:45 — Gold Awards
Championship Standings — After Round 4
- Manuel Lettenbichler (GER) — leads
- Mitch Brightmore (GBR) — 2nd
- Ashton Brightmore (GBR) / Teodor Kabakchiev (BUL) — 3rd/4th, 1 point apart
- Billy Bolt (GBR) — in pursuit
View Full Championship Standings →
About HEWC
The FIM Hard Enduro World Championship is the world stage for the toughest discipline in off-road motorcycling. Eight rounds. Four continents. One champion.
Abestone Hard Enduro, Round 5 of the 2026 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship, runs 4–6 September in Abetone, Italy. Full results and updated championship standings will follow on fim-hardenduro.com.
Media contact: Adam Nunn, Media Manager, media@fim-hardenduro.com