World Hard Enduro Podcast

We had the chance to have Thomas Scales on the podcast. A young South African rider making waves in the Hard Enduro World Championship. It was surprising to learn that Tom is relatively new to hard enduro but has strong roots and a foundation racing in SA. For the past few years he has been focused on the Junior World Championship had in 2025 finished the season I 3rd overall. This year it is clear that he’s stepping up his g...

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We had the opportunity to visit Stark HQ on our way to Romaniacs this year and sat down with Eddie Karlsson and Seb Tortelli to talk about Sta...

We have officially passed the half way mark of the season and are well into the second half with round 5 taking place at Abestone Hard Enduro in Italy. A race that has been part of the FIM championship on and off for 4 years since 2021. Minestrone is a section of the race that has been well known since the beginning but this year appears to be the defining section and the true test and separator between the top guys. 

We chat t...

We got to meet Tobin at Red Bull Romaniacs this year and what it pleasure it was to also have him on the podcast. Fresh US blood on the international stage of hard enduro is something we hope to see more of in the future. In this episode we chat to Tobin about his Romaniacs experience from doing Silver class as a “warm up” and getting a good understanding of how things work at an intense race like Romaniacs before enter...

Round four of the Hard Enduro World Championship was most definitely a unique race on the 2026 calendar. Forza Orza made its debut appearance and was a very unusual location and track for the riders. Based in an abandoned zoo, Mike had to put in a lot of work setting a track in such challenging conditions. Short, punchy and in your face… this race definitely suited riders with more trials and super enduro experience over tho...

Another Romaniacs under the belt and another year with many stories to tell from the gold class track. Four intense days of racing for the top guys with countless kilometers raced and grueling Leatt LiveManiacs challenges. Each day came with its own set of unexpected issues and of course constantly changing results. From crashes to dead batteries, seized forks, questionable tyre choices and shirtless finishes… this year was ...

In this episode we chat to an up and coming US junior rider, Braxton Hintze. This is a rider who is quickly working his way through the ranks of the US hard enduro series at just 18 years old. A rider who  started his off-road career with desert racing, Braxton has had quite a unique history with riding. 

It takes one coach as we discover with Braxton to change the trajectory of a riders career and progression and in this ...

In this episode we chat to a top junior rider,  Lenny Geretzky who is a rider for the Mario Roman Sorry Bro Team. Lenny covered some really insightful topics in this episode. 

A standout point was from the mental side of riding hard enduro. A sport known to push riders to the physical extremes, requires a strong mindset which may not come naturally to a lot of riders. Lenny shares how focusing on training the mind is key t...

Silver Kings was a cracker of an event and race as round three of the championship. Three days of racing in the Idaho mountains gave the riders and spectators everything they hoped for! From vibes in the parade, carnage in the prologue, close calls and tight racing on day 2 and ending with a drag race to the finish! 

Once again we sit down with Mike to talk about what went down behind the scenes and on the ground. As you know t...

We’re back with another post race recap with Mike and this time we’re taking Erzberg rodeo. If you’re a fan of hard enduro and weren’t at the race, you were probably sat watching the race live. 4 hours of absolutely madness watching riders doing the most and trying to not only survive but overcome what the Iron Giant had in store. 

Red Bull does such an incredible job of race coverage for this ic...

In this episode we sat down to chat with the other half of the Brightmore brothers - Mitch. The older of the two and setting the bar high with a number of championships already under his belt, Mitch is paving the way for juniors looking to become pro in hard enduro. 

We chat about what it was like growing up with a brother like Ashton and the rivalry and competition between the two. Having someone to consistently train with was...

In this episode we had the opportunity to chat with the youngest of the Brightmore brothers - Ashton. A long overdue interview with a rider who has been making waves in the hard enduro scene fr a few years now, especially in the junior championship. A very insightful episode getting to the roots of how his riding career started from a young age in trials. Ashton was a competitive rider from the beginning and as he shares in the epi...

In this episode we sit down with Toby Martyn, a trials champion who has had an interesting career so far, moving to super enduro and now competing in the hard enduro world championship. Not only is he new to the scene but he is also completely new to hard enduro. Undoubtedly a tough sport to jump head first into, but despite the odds, Toby seems to be taking to it like a fish in water.

Toby started his off-road journey quite young, ...

Firstly, we’d like to make a special note about Felix Bähker who had a very unfortunate accident during race day 1 and sustain some serious spinal injuries. Hard enduro is a tough sport and at times the circumstances riders are in can be quite dangerous. A Go Fund Me page has been set up to support Felix. Every small amount counts to help this young rider on his road to recovery - https://www.gofundme.com/f/felix-muss-zuruck-...

In this episode we're chatting to a young rider who is an up and coming South African talent who has already made a name for himself, Matt Stevens. 

We get straight into the topic of why Matt has chosen not to focus on riding in Europe and the HEWC and why his sights are on USHE. We touch on the financial investment of both options and which would give a young rider the best chance for success. We clarify what Matt's pl...

Round one of the 2026 Hard Enduro World Championship recently took place at Alestrem in France. To get a better idea of how this race went and a more in-depth understanding of what happened behind the scenes, we sat down with Mike Skinner who was on the ground and deep in the action. 

We touch on a variety of topics such as Stark in hard enduro, media coverage of the race, the unpredictable weather and how that created ...

In this episode we chat to an iconic duo of Matt's. Matt Green is a returning guest to the podcast and Matt Adams has been his main support while racing in the United States. We got to sit down and chat to both of them and reflect on their time together. This was truly an intercontinental interview across three time zones.

In 2026 Matt Green did something no other rider in the world championship has done... he took on part o...

The start of the 2026 championship is a week away and we had the opportunity to chat with Sherco rider, Teodor Kabakchiev. The last time he was on the podcast was just before the Roof of Africa 2024 and honestly, a lot has happened since then.

We dive into a variety of topics start with what training looks like for Teo in preparation for the new season. He shares how he is an all round rider and enjoys a variety of disciplin...

In this episode we had the opportunity to chat to Mike Skinner who is a legend in the hard enduro paddock and has been involved in the sport for 12 years. He's seen the sport change and evolve over the years and has truly been on the inside of what can sometimes be seen as a sport with many decisions made behind closed doors. 

We got to speak to Mike about the 2026 season and if he believes that the sport is on the righ...