Fredriksen sets Moto pace at the Bibione Sand Storm

Series leaders heading into the opening day of competition at the Bibione Sand Storm – round two of the 2026 FIM Sand Races World Championship – on the shores of the Adriatic Sea in northern Italy, Håkon Fredriksen – Yamaha Monster Drag’on Tek maintained his hold on the Moto class as Randy Naveaux – Yamaha matched him in the Quads.

In a repeat of last year’s opening day result, the Moto Women category was topped by Italian wild card Kiara Fontanesi – GASGAS who engaged in a fierce battle with series leader Mathilde Martinez – Honda as Maxime Jeanne – Yamaha led home the Moto Veteran entry, Ben Almagor – KTM topped the Moto Juniors, Pablo Henouille – Honda won in Moto Vintage and Dirk Schelfhout – Honda tightened his grip on the Quad Veterans.

With the weather dry, but overcast for the ninety-minute Moto race, points leader Norway’s Fredriksen had first gate pick and he converted his starting position on the inside of the opening sweeping left-hand turn into a wire-to-wire win after soaking up race-long pressure from Belgian Cyril Genot – Honda.

Lap after lap the pair set a furious pace at the front of the field with Fredriksen – who won the opening race at round one in Morocco at the end of September – gradually pulling away, taking full advantage of Genot’s fluid leak in the closing stages to win by a margin of just over fifty seconds following seventeen hard-fought laps.

Dutch racer Damien Knuiman – Yamaha impressed at the opening round and the twenty-year-old continued to turn heads as he brought it home in third just under one minute and twenty seconds further back, almost two minutes clear of last season’s bronze medallist Jeremy Hauquier – Yamaha Monster Drag’on Tek who in turn was just one-and-a-half seconds ahead of his fellow Frenchman Adrien Petit – Honda.

The final rider to complete seventeen laps, defending champion Todd Kellett – Honda from Great Britain recovered from a fall on lap two to slice his way through the field from outside the top twenty to sixth, almost five-and-a-half minutes behind the winner.

The most successful rider in the history of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship with six titles, Fontanesi quickly settled into a rhythm inside the top twenty and climbed to fourteenth overall at the flag on a total of fifteen laps, finishing just over seven seconds ahead of French rider Martinez who tracked her virtually every step of the way as she crossed the line in sixteenth.

Ending the race two laps down on Fontanesi and Martinez, defending champion Mathilde Denis – Yamaha from France kept her title hopes alive in third.

Sitting second in the Moto Veterans class at the start of the day, Frenchman Jeanne’s total of fifteen laps was one clear of class points leader Daniel Drooghaag – KTM from Belgium with Mathieu Reine – Yamaha from France a further lap adrift in third.

The Quad race saw a great battle between Belgian rider Naveaux and Great Britain’s Harry Walker – Yamaha. The leading pair quickly pulled ahead of the pack at the start and for the entire duration of the sixty-minute race there was never more than a few bike lengths between them.

Naveaux led down the long straight running parallel to the tideline on the opening lap before Walker took the lead, but the Belgian regained the advantage with a wide, sweeping line allowing him to maintain his momentum around the outside of his rival.

For the remainder of the race the order at the front remained unchanged until, with just minutes left on the clock, Walker’s persistence was rewarded when he dived up the inside when Naveaux was slowed by a lapped rider, but the series leader struck back at the end of the straight and after the pair exchanged passes again on the final lap the victory went to the Belgian by less than a second.

The top eight riders all managed to complete ten laps, but the timings tell the true story and third-placed Oliver Vandendijck – Honda from Belgium was almost four minutes behind the winner with his compatriot Gleen De Swarte – Honda another four seconds further back before a gap of just over three-and-a-half seconds to Schelfhout who was the fourth Belgian in the top five.

Schelfhout’s performance saw him run out winner in the Quad Veteran class by over three minutes ahead of Portugal’s Nuno Goncalves – Yamaha with France’s Axel Dutrie – Drag’on Yamaha one lap down in third followed by defending champion Benoit Sebert – Yamaha.

Racing alongside the main Moto class, but with a race duration of forty-five minutes, Israel’s Almagor fought off a persistent challenge from defending Moto Junior champion Matheo Great – Husqvarna to win by just over fifteen seconds.

Portugal’s Goncalo Cardosa – KTM matched the leading pair’s total of eight laps in third, but the race ended in disaster for series leader Felix Cardinaux – Triumph from France who was forced to retire after completing three laps.

A double Moto Vintage race winner in Morocco, France’s Pablo Henouillle – Honda extended his win-streak to three in a row on a total of eight laps when he led home his compatriots Anthony Golleau – Honda and Sebastien Antony – KTM who both finished one lap down.