Victories for Teo Kabakchiev, Antoine Magain, and Julien Roussaly
This weekend, the Sherco Racing Factory riders were active on multiple fronts: the Castagn’Hard in France, national Enduro championships in Spain, Portugal, and Italy, as well as the X-Trial World Championship. Teo Kabakchiev, Antoine Magain, and Julien Roussaly secured new victories.
Hard Enduro : Castagn’Hard (Privas, France)
The Castagn’Hard took place in Privas under wintry conditions, with snowfall. The race spanned two days: on Friday, a special stage to be completed twice served as a qualifier for the evening prologue in the city. The prologue standings determined the start order for the next day, in waves. On Saturday, the riders had to complete 2.5 laps of a loop with progressively difficult sections.
Teodor Kabakchiev dominated the event by winning both the prologue and the main race. Mario Roman finished third on Friday and second on Sunday.
The next event for the Sherco Racing Factory team is on March 30 for the Spanish Enduro Extreme Championship.
Teodor Kabakchiev :
“I had a good race. I won the prologue, the supertest, and the main race. The latter was harder than expected: more than five hours on the bike with very demanding sections. The level of French riders keeps rising.”
Mario Roman :
“Overall, it was a good weekend in France with the team. Since Alestrem, I’ve only done a few training sessions, so we decided to take part in Castagn’Hard for the first time. It was a great race, I liked the sections, and I love the muddy snow and tough conditions. The only downside was a big fall during the prologue: when I landed on my lower back, I compressed a nerve and struggled to finish the prologue and the first lap of the main race. Fortunately, after warming up by pushing my bike, the pain went away, and I was able to enjoy the rest of the race. The bike worked really well in these conditions, with great power everywhere.”
Spain Enduro Championship :
At the opening of the Spain Enduro Championship, Antoine Magain achieved a double victory in both the overall and Enduro-3 categories, taking the lead in the provisional standings.
The first round of the 2025 Spain Enduro Championship took place in Pantón, Galicia. The competition spanned two days, with a 55 km course featuring three special tests, mainly on grassy terrain, to be completed in four laps on Saturday. Antoine Magain took the lead right from the start by setting the best times in the special stages. After 12 specials on the first day, he claimed an overall victory and also won in Enduro-3. On Sunday, with one lap less, he dominated once again and took another victory in both the overall and Enduro-3 categories.
Antoine Magain
“I’m really happy to start the season this way! Saturday was a solid, consistent, and high-performing day from start to finish. Sunday was very close, but I managed to stay focused until the end despite a small crash. Of course, with Josep’s absence, the competition for victory was intense. A big thank you to my mechanic Alexandre Febvret and Christophe Nambotin for their hard work throughout the weekend. Thanks to the entire Sherco Spain team and my partners.”
Portugal Enduro Championship :
In Portugal, Julien Roussaly claimed victory in the third round of the championship after a tough race at Monsaraz, marked by very muddy conditions due to heavy rains in the previous days.
The 50 km course, which had to be completed three times, included three special tests: an Enduro Test, a Cross Test, and a very rocky Extreme Test. Julien Roussaly won six out of the eleven specials of the day, securing the overall victory and taking the lead in the provisional standings.
Julien Roussaly
“A very tough race physically with a lot of rain in the days before, so the terrain was very greasy! Three laps to complete with a total of eleven specials. I managed to win six of them and fought with Roni Kytonen for the win. It was a good day despite the muddy conditions. We’re gaining points in the championship, which is great! The next round is in fifteen days.”
Italy Enduro Championship :
In Italy, the third and fourth rounds of the Assoluti d’Italia di Enduro took place in Camaiore on March 15-16. Due to difficult weather conditions, the specials were shortened.
The 40 km course included a 4 km Cross Test on the beach, a second 3 km Cross Test, a 1 km Extreme Test, and a 3.5 km Enduro Test.
Hamish MacDonald delivered a strong performance, finishing fifth and eighth overall, and placing fourth in the provisional standings. He is currently in fourth place in the overall scratch rankings and third among foreign riders. Notably, in the first four days of the Championship, he was the fastest in the 300cc 2-stroke category.
Teo Espinasse had a tough weekend, finishing P22 and P30.
Hamish MacDonald
“Day 1: It was tough to find good sensations in these conditions, but I set some good times and won a few specials. Fifth overall and third in scratch. Day 2: The beach specials aren’t my strong point, so I lost some time, but I made up for it in the Enduro and Extreme specials with a few best scratch times. There’s still room for improvement. Eighth overall and fifth in category.”
X-trial World Championship :
In he sixth round of the X-Trial World Championship in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, Jack Peace competed in his first X-Trial of the season, finishing fifth. Benoît Bincaz took seventh place
Jack Peace :
“I’m happy with my riding! I was fourth in the first qualification round, second in the second round, an excellent result. I’ll try to build on this for the next round in Cahors this Saturday evening.”
