The title chase in the FIM Sand Races World Championship Moto Women is currently led on maximum points by French racer Mathilde Martinez \u2013 Honda while Belgian Randy Naveaux \u2013 Yamaha is also protecting his unbeaten record in the Quad class. But with the format featuring one longer race per class instead of the two-race format followed at the opening rounds in Morocco and Italy, this could all change as physical fitness and machine reliability become even more important factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 2026 FIM Sand Races World Championship reaches the halfway point this coming weekend when round three \u2013 the Ronde de Sables Loon Plage \u2013 is staged on the coast of northern France where Norway’s H\u00e5kon Fredriksen \u2013 Yamaha Monster Drag’on Tek will aim to extend his nine-point Moto class lead in the face of fierce opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After taking the early championship lead at September’s Morocco Sand Race with one-three finishes over the two days, twenty-four-year-old Fredriksen backed this up with one-two scores last time out at the Bibione Sand Storm for second overall to extend his advantage over Damien Knuiman \u2013 Yamaha from the Netherlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A strong second in Morocco with a victory in race two at Mazagan, the twenty-year-old Dutchman finished third in Italy to establish a ten-point cushion ahead of the fight for third that is currently tied between Belgian Cyril Genot \u2013 Honda and Jeremy Hauquier \u2013 Yamaha Monster Drag’on Tek from France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pair shared contrasting fortunes at the opening two rounds with Genot running two-one in Italy for the overall victory after struggling in Morocco where he retired in the closing stages of race two following a second-placed finish in the opening race. Hauquier ended the first round in third overall, but lost ground on the leading pair at Bibione where he finished the weekend in sixth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strong showings are expected this weekend from riders including home heroes Joey Nuques \u2013 Honda and Adrien Petit \u2013 Honda, while defending champion Todd Kellett \u2013 Honda is currently sitting twenty points adrift of the leader in sixth following a technical issue in Morocco and a crash in Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With just one two-and-a-half-hour race to decide the overall result at Loon Plage on Sunday afternoon, this could very well play into the hands of Kellett who excels in the longer races, but the competition is lining up to dethrone the British rider and the pressure is firmly on the twenty-nine-year-old’s shoulders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In her first season contesting the Moto Women class, Martinez dominated both races in Morocco and then ran two-one in Italy with her sole defeat inflicted by wild card rider Kiara Fontanesi \u2013 GASGAS. With defending champion Mathilde Denis \u2013 Yamaha trailing by just fourteen points, the twenty-seven-year-old knows she has no room for complacency in a discipline where one mistake can prove pivotal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Belgium’s Daniel Drooghaag \u2013 KTM travels to France with maximum points in the Moto Veteran class and a fourteen-point advantage ahead of France’s Mathieu Reine \u2013 Yamaha while the Moto Vintage and Moto Junior classes \u2013 that will contest separate one-hour races on Sunday \u2013 are led by experienced French rider Pablo Henouille \u2013 Honda and young Israeli racer Ben Almagor \u2013 KTM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Naveaux has won all four Quad races staged so far this season to open up a ten-point advantage ahead of his compatriot Oliver Vandendijck \u2013 Honda with Dirk Schelfhout \u2013 Honda completing a Belgian one-two-three and Schelfhout is also setting the pace in the Quad Veteran class with his maximum points from the first two rounds giving him a fourteen-point lead over Portugal’s Nuno Goncalves \u2013 Yamaha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With strong performances expected from riders including Britain’s Harry Walker \u2013 Yamaha, who has shown great speed this season, but suffered race retirements at both opening rounds, as well as Belgium’s Glenn De Swarte \u2013 Honda and defending champion Pablo Violet \u2013 Yamaha, the action will be intense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The title chase in the FIM Sand Races World Championship Moto Women is currently led on maximum points<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17456,"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-17455","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