Round one of the 2025 Japan Enduro Championship in Hiroshima proved a muddy start to the season with defending champion Ryota Baba putting Yamaha up for the win ahead of Sherco Japan’s young rider, Tomoya Suzaki.

As it tradition these past few years, the opening round of the Japan Enduro Championship (JEC) has been held in the suburbs of Hiroshima. Similarly, the past seasons have seen wet conditions with rain or snow in the early Spring in Japan and it was no different as the 2025 JEC series began.

180 riders from all over Japan gathered for this opening round on a course prepared with approximately 12km in total and which included two different special tests.

Both special tests were just over 2km long, but the rain that continued through the morning of the race day transformed the two tests, turning it into “hard” enduro conditions. The weather forced organisers to make several course and time changes in response to the conditions.

In the early stages of the race, the defending champion Ryota Baba (Yamaha), young rider Tomoya Suzaki (Sherco) and Takase Tanaka (Honda) in third made their way to the top of the time sheets and their early speed proved crucial.

On the third lap, a traffic jam occurred during a special test. As a result, the time for the third lap were cancelled, and the difficult situation continued with 27 riders starting in the A class, but 10 of them ended up dropping out midway through the race.

It was Ryota Baba, riding a Yamaha, who emerged victorious on this difficult day. “I was just focused on getting back home alive. The bike and my physical condition were fine. The track was heavy and muddy, so I think it was good that I was conscious of keeping the engine running at high rpm. I’m not yet at a level where I can compete on the world stage, but I’ll keep working hard.” Baba said.

Tomoya Suzaki, who finished in second place, said: “I’m very happy to second in this race. There were moments when I felt I was fast. I feel that this Sherco 4T 300cc is a very fast bike in muddy conditions. I hope to do well in the next round!”

Next round of JEC is May 10-11 in Fukushima.

JEC 2025 R1 Hiroshima Results:

A-Class

1. Ryota Baba, Yamaha YZ250FX

2. Tomoya Suzaki, Sherco 300 SEF

3. Takase Tanaka, Honda CRF450RX

4. Yukihito Ota, KTM 350 EXC-F

5. Yoshikazu Hosaka, GASGAS MC 300

6. Ren Ishidoya. Beta RR 300

B-Class

1. Yusuke Nobehara, Yamaha YZ250X

2. Nobuhisa Owari, KTM 350 EXC-F

3. Kenichi Sukeno, TM 250EN ESFi

4. Youji Ohara, KTM 250 EXC-F

5. Ayumu Kusuhara, KTM 250 EXC-F

6. Takafumi Ogino, Beta RR 300

Women’s class

1. Natsume Kinoshita, KTM 250 EXC

2. Chihiro Ichinose, Beta X-Trainer

3. Akiko Matsumoto, Kawasaki KX112

Words Credit: Hisashi Haruki BIG TANK Magazine / BIGTANK.ORG

Photo Credit: JEC Official