{"id":17007,"date":"2026-10-24T10:21:30","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T02:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/?p=17007"},"modified":"2026-10-24T10:21:33","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T02:21:33","slug":"martinez-lines-up-moto-women-title-in-2026-fim-sand-races-world-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/martinez-lines-up-moto-women-title-in-2026-fim-sand-races-world-championship\/","title":{"rendered":"Martinez lines up Moto Women title in 2026 FIM Sand Races World Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A double winner in the Moto Women category at last month’s opening round of the 2026 FIM Sand Races World Championship in Morocco, Mathilde Martinez \u2013 Honda heads to Italy for round two \u2013 the Bibione Sand Storm \u2013 starting today – looking to build on her early lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0twenty-seven-year-old, a\u00a0multi-time French national Motocross Champion, is making her\u00a0series debut\u00a0this year, although she already has solid experience racing in sand having won the\u00a0Championnat de France des Sable (CFS) Women’s title\u00a0and led home the female field at this year’s\u00a0Enduropale du Touquet Pas-de-Calais\u00a0where she finished an impressive\u00a0sixty-seventh overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her background racing the\u00a0FIM Women’s Motocross Championship\u00a0means she also is no stranger to infamous sand tracks like\u00a0Valkenswaard\u00a0in the Netherlands, and she aims to capitalise on her specialised skills in this season’s\u00a0five-round series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’s true that [sand] is demanding,”\u00a0she said.\u00a0“That’s why I only train on sand. Last year was my first full season in the French Sand Championship. Before that, I’d already competed twice at Grayan [in the Gurp TT] and twice at Le Touquet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Honda offered me the chance to compete in the full FIM World Championship following Le Touquet 2026. I’ve never been entered in this championship before because I’ve raced in events that clashed with the CFS. I followed the races last year and it’s true that the tracks make me want to race.”\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martinez was following in her father’s footsteps when she learned to ride at the age of three before beginning her racing career four years later and she went on to win back-to-back 125cc national women’s Motocross championships in 2016 and 2017 followed by the main women’s title in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For her first assault on the Moto Women class, she has been working with her Team Honda SR Motoblouz coach Christophe Meyer on riding and with former FIM MX3 Motocross World Champion Pierre-Alexandre Renet on her physical conditioning and it appears all the pieces of the puzzle are falling nicely into place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You always hope to win, but anything can happen during the race. I work hard to reach this level, so I’m glad the hard work is paying off. Winning the title would mean a lot of things, but above all it would be a reward for all the hard work I’ve put in over the years.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third edition of the Bibione Sand Storm \u2013 that incorporates the Massimo Zamparo Trophy in memory of the event’s founder who sadly passed earlier this year \u2013 will once again follow a two-race format with competitors in the elite Moto and Moto Women classes facing a pair of ninety-minute motos to decide the winners while Quad riders will contest two one-hour races.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2025 FIM Sand Races World Championship, Bibione Sandstorm \u00a9 Frederik Herregods Photography <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Following the opening round in Morocco at the end of September, Norway’s H\u00e5kon Fredriksen \u2013 Yamaha Monster Drag’on Tek leads after backing up his victory in the opening race with third in race two with his nearest challenge coming from twenty-year-old Dutch racer Damien Knuiman \u2013 Yamaha who ran four-one on the series’ first-ever visit to Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Completing the Moroccan podium, Frenchman Jeremy Hauquier \u2013 Yamaha Monster Drag’on Tek, who won last season’s bronze medal, carded five-two last time out and will be looking to build on this solid foundation in Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unpredictable nature of a sport that is so notoriously tough on riders and their machines means while the results from round one provide a good benchmark to assess form, there are no certainties \u2013 a fact that is well illustrated by the fortunes of defending champion Todd Kellett \u2013 Honda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The twenty-nine-year-old, champion for the previous three seasons, was third in the opening race in Morocco before suffering an electrical issue in race two that dropped him down the order and the British star knows he must start to reduce the deficit in Italy this weekend if he is to retain his title for another year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a talent-packed entry, other riders who could make a big impact include the French trio of Joey Nuques \u2013 Honda, Antoine Alix \u2013 Suzuki and Luca Quenot \u2013 Yamaha who all enjoyed a solid weekend in Morocco, while Belgian Cyril Genot \u2013 Honda is another leading rider playing catch-up after mixed fortunes at round one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Moto Veteran category, Belgium’s Daniel Drooghaag \u2013 KTM set the pace in Morocco where he led home Frenchmen Maxime Jeanne \u2013 Yamaha, Mathieu Reine \u2013 Yamaha and Gr\u00e9gory Deleu \u2013 Yamaha and a close battle is expected this weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defending Quad champion Pablo Violet \u2013 Drag’on Yamaha from France had a testing weekend in Morocco where Belgium’s Randy Naveaux \u2013 Yamaha dominated with two race wins to claim an early lead, but he can expect strong opposition with his fellow Belgians Oliver Vandendijck \u2013 Honda and Quad Veteran pace-setter Dirk Schelfhout \u2013 Honda along with Frenchman Alois Waloszek \u2013 Yamaha among the riders likely to feature near the front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

France’s Fabien Michel \u2013 Laeger’s is another rider to watch out for, as is Britain’s Harry Walker \u2013 Yamaha and Belgian Gleen De Swarte \u2013 Honda, while Schelfhout’s Veteran lead could be threatened by racers including France’s Axel Dutrie \u2013 Drag’on Yamaha and defending champion Benoit Sebert \u2013 Drag’on Yamaha and Portugal’s Nuno Goncalves \u2013 Yamaha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Competing together in a pair of forty-five-minute races, the Moto Junior and Moto Vintage classes always provide exciting competition. Heading into Italy it is young Frenchman Felix Cardineau \u2013 Triumph who is setting the pace in the Junior category, while his compatriot Pablo Henouille \u2013 Honda claimed a double win in the Vintage class in Morocco.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A double winner in the Moto Women category at last month’s opening round of the 2026 FIM Sand<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[311,505],"class_list":["post-17007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-motorsports","tag-sand-races"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t