McMahon fends off Ruprecht to win AusEnduro thriller in Kempsey

Published On: August 10, 2026Categories: News

Korey McMahon has soaked up relentless pressure from Wil Ruprecht to prevail in a high-stakes round 10 of the 2026 Yamaha Australian Enduro Championship presented by MXstore (AusEnduro) in Kempsey on August 9.

McMahon (DM31 Racing KTM) led from start to finish in the sprint format, but it was far from a walk in the park with Ruprecht (Shop Yamaha) trimming his lead to just 0.31 seconds at one stage.

But McMahon dug in to win his second Pro Enduro round in 2026 and keep the pressure on Ruprecht heading into the final weekend of AusEnduro action at Coonalpyn (SA) on September 5-6.

Ruprecht’s lead is now 19pts (215 to 196) over McMahon, followed by Jye Dickson (DM31 Racing KTM, 163pts) in third.

“Keeping the championship alive was the main goal today, so I couldn’t be happier,” said McMahon.

“We’ll just keep fighting until the end. The bike was awesome all weekend and we are very happy with where we are at.”

McMahon (E3) and Ruprecht (E2) also celebrated class victories in round 10, alongside Cooper Sheidow (Yamaha Australia, E1), Danielle McDonald (Yamaha Australia, EW) and Kai Austin (Empire Kawasaki, EJ).

Pro Enduro
McMahon, Ruprecht and Dickson started and finished in the top three positions, with the Pro Enduro heavy hitters a step above the rest of the pack on the new sprint course.

After McMahon came out swinging, Ruprecht and Dickson made their move on the third of six sprints – but that only served to galvanise McMahon, who found another gear to edge clear on the run home.

Ruprecht and Dickson were 10 and 17 seconds behind McMahon, followed by Cooper Sheidow (Yamaha Australia), Jeremy Carpentier (JGR Yamaha) and Broc Grabham (Stark Varg) in positions 4-6.

Sheidow (147pts) remains in fourth ahead of Kogan Lock (GASGAS,132pts) and Carpentier (120pts).

Korey McMahon didn’t flinch under constant pressure

E1
Sheidow and Carpentier fought tooth and nail all day, with the final margin between the pair just over 10 seconds, while Jett Yarnold (Yamaha Australia) finished in a clear third place ahead of Ryan Hayward (GASGAS) and Luke Chellas (KTM).

Sheidow’s fifth victory of the season was decisive, and he now enjoys a 29pt (211 to 182) over Carpentier with a maximum of 50pts available in the South Australian finale.

Stefan Granquist (Triumph, 142pts) is third.

Cooper Sheidow’s fifth E1 win of the season was all class

E2
Ruprecht is now in the box seat to win the E2 championship, surging to a 48pt lead in Kempsey after victories on Saturday and Sunday.

It was the same Ruprecht and Dickson quinella in both outings, but on Sunday Will McInnes (KTM) launched himself onto the podium for the first time this season.

It was enough for McInnes (142pts) to edge his way past Oliver Paterno (Yamaha, 138pts) into fourth on the ladder behind Ruprecht (222pts), Lock (174pts) and Dickson (172pts).

Wil Ruprecht is now within a whisker of E2 title success

E3
Another benchmark E3 outing for McMahon in round 10, who extended his advantage in every special test to stop the clocks nearly two minutes ahead of Grabham.

Max Midwinter (KTM) was in second early before Grabham got his measure, while Max Rikys (KTM) and Trent Puddy (KTM) were fourth and fifth.

Despite McMahon’s 100 per cent winning record, Midwinter’s also delivered a hard-nosed campaign. His metronomic consistency has kept him in the championship hunt, 30pts (225 to 190) adrift of McMahon, with Grabham (148pts) and Rikys (142pts) involved in a real arm wrestle for third.

Max Midwinter has been a pillar of E3 consistency

EW
Danielle McDonald (Yamaha Australia) finally hit the jackpot after bike issues had been a recent bugbear.

This time there were no such concerns for the 2024 EW champion and current leader in the American Grand National Cross Country Series as she won all six special tests to collect the winner’s trophy ahead of the two women who she will compete alongside in the Women’s World Trophy at the 2026 FIM International Six Days Enduro – Madi Simpson (Yamaha Australia) and Jess Gardiner (JGR Yamaha).

The gap between Simpson and Gardiner was a wafer-thin one-second, while Madison Healey (KTM), Courtney Rubie (GASAS) and Emelie Granquist (Triumph) saw out the to six in a strong women’s field.

Gardiner (211pts) is now within sight of a 10th AusEnduro title, with Simpson (193pts) in a secure second as Healey (161pts) and Granquist (156pts) look set to take their battle until the end of the championship.

Danielle McDonald produced a masterful start-to-finish victory

EJ
Austin may not have been the same steamroller as Saturday – mainly thanks to the strong work of Marcus Nowland (Yamaha) – but he was still a cut above as he moved into the EJ champinship lead on his Kawasaki.

It’s now all set up for a blockbuster final two rounds, with Austin leading on 175pts from Bjorn Cardenas (KTM, 172pts), Nowland (169pts), Mason Phillips (Kawasaki, 150pts) and Oscar Harris (KTM, 144pts).

Nowland (second) and Cardenas (third) joined Austin on the round 10 dais.