Wil Ruprecht has reasserted his authority on the 2026 Yamaha Australian Enduro Championship presented by MXstore (AusEnduro) with a clinical victory in Kempsey’s round nine on August 8.

Aboard his Shop Yamaha WR450F, Ruprecht won all five special tests in challenging conditions which put the acid test on all riders. It was Ruprecht’s seventh Pro Enduro victory of the season and extended his lead in the ‘best of the best’ class to 22ps over Jye Dickson (KTM DM31 Racing) with three rounds remaining.

Dickson was second in Pro Enduro from fast-finishing teammate Korey McMahon, followed by Kogan Lock (GASGAS) and Jeremy Carpentier (JGR Racing Yamaha).

“The conditions were really dry and dusty but we got the job done today,” said Ruprecht, the 2022 world E2 enduro champion.

“I had a lot of heat from Jye (Dickson) and Korey (McMahon) who wouldn’t let me run away with it and kept me honest all day.

“It was a round where you just had to limit mistakes and not override the tracks. I’ll now rest and recover and try to do it all again tomorrow.”

The other Pro class victories in Kempsey’s sprint format went to Carpentier (E1), Ruprecht (E2), McMahon (E3), Jess Gardiner (JGR Yamaha, EW) and Kai Austin (Empire Kawasaki, EJ) – McMahon and Austin also with blemish-free scorecards.

For results from round nine, click here.

Pro Enduro
Ruprecht enjoyed a laser-like focus from the outset, but Dickson wasn’t going to let him turn it into a one-way street.

The gap between the pair was just seven seconds after three special tests before Ruprecht broke the back of the challenge in the fourth and extended his advantage to 27 seconds.

From there it was all about savvy management to seal the deal, with Ruprecht winning by 31 seconds. McMahon was a further four seconds behind in third.

McMahon remains second in Pro Enduro on 171pts behind Ruprecht (193pts), and followed by Dickson (143pts), Lock (119pts) and Carpentier (104pts).

Lock was in some discomfort after tweaking his shoulder in the fourth special test but managed to close out the day.

E1
E1 was on a knife-edge all day, and it took some Carpentier magic in the final special test to knock Cooper Sheidow (Yamaha Australia) off the top spot.

The standings were literally turned on their head as Carpentier reversed a two-second deficit into a two-second victory to keep the heat on Sheidow in the championship battle.

Jett Yarnold (Yamaha Australia) was the other special test winner when he burst out of the blocks, and he finished well clear of Luke Chellas (KTM) and Ryan Hayward (GASGAS).

Sheidow leads Carpentier by 26pts (186 to 160), while Chellas (123pts) took advantage of Stefan Ganquist’s Kempsey absence to move into third position.

E2
Ruprecht has a stranglehold on the E2 championship, with another flawless execution taking him to 197pts ahead of Lock (156pts) and Dickson (150pts).

Meanwhile, it’s a stirring battle for fourth between Oliver Paterno (Yamaha, 123pts), Will McInnes (KTM, 122pts) and Jake Henderson (Simford KTM, 116pts).

Paterno was fourth overall in round nine from Broc Nichols (Husqvarna).

E3
McMahon again put the sword to his E3 rivals, with his quest for back-to-back championships looking more and more like a done deal with every outing.

McMahon led all the way on Saturday, with Broc Grabham (Stark) and Max Midwinter (KTM) unchallenged in second and third.

Billy Hargy (Husqvarna) was prominent early before fading to sixth behind Max Rikys (KTM) and Thomas Foster (Husqvarna).

McMahon, who also recently won the Hattah Desert Race, is on a perfect 200pts from Midwinter (170pts) and Grabham (126pts), who moved back into third at the expense of Rikys (124pts).

EW
Another luckless outing for Danielle McDonald (Yamaha Australia) during her return home from American duties, with the 19-year-old superstar 40 seconds in front of Gardiner before a small crash in the final sprint saw her front brake seize.

With her challenge evaporating, Australian Motorsport Hall of Famer Gardiner didn’t waste the golden opportunity as she wrapped up her fifth win of the season. Madi Simpson (Yamaha) and Madison Healey (KTM) were second and third.

Gardiner has moved to 191pts ahead of Simpson (171pts) and Healey (143pts), who dislodged Emelie Granquist (Triumph, 141pts) out of third.

EJ
Austin had the bit between his teeth in round nine, and didn’t dial back the pressure all day.

His rewards were mutiple: victory for the third time in eight outings, and also surging from fourth to second in the championship behind Bjorn Cardenas (KTM).

The gap is just 2pts (152 to 150), with Marcus Nowland (Yamaha, 147pts), Mason Phillips (Kawasaki 141pts) and Oscar Harris (KTM) also remaining genuine contenders.

Cardenas wore Nowland down to finish second today, from Archie Salopayevs (KTM) and Harris.

Images: JB Photography