The 2024 Indoor Enduro of Champions brought together world-class riders from SuperEnduro, Hard Enduro and EnduroGP all under one roof…here’s five things that stood out from this unique night’s racing.

52 world titles under one roof, Walker shining brightly, EnduroGP royalty racing elbow to elbow, the kids more than doing alright…the inaugural Indoor Enduro of Champions in Newcastle was a spectacular and fascinating night of racing.

The brainchild of Paul Edmondson, the former world champion and now also Triumph Racing Enduro Team manager say he long dreamt of creating an indoor event which brought together the different disciplines of enduro – “like it used to be”.

Last weekend the Fast Eddy team did just that with a more flowing track than we see in SuperEnduro, “like Barcelona back in the day”, it was a winner in our books. In the modern era of enduro it was also unique. Here’s Enduro21’s pick of the talking points from the night…

Jonny and Triumph well-gelled

Looking just about as shiny and new as he ever has, Jonny Walker unveiled the Triumph enduro model under the spotlights inside the Utilita Arena, Newcastle before jumping on it and recording a perfect night of fastest in Superpole, and three moto wins.

Two things were clear: the Triumph clearly works and Jonny has immediately gelled with it. It was hard not to get swept up in the spectacle of Jonny Walker grabbing his moment in the limelight but the guy had to perform on his first outing on the new bike and this was a solid test which he passed with flying colours.

For all the “we haven’t really tested it much” talk from Walker, jumping back on a four-stroke for the first time in three years, he looked like a duck in water. Jonny set the pace on the track from the get-go and was impressive under pressure to step up a gear when he needed to quash the challenge of getting toppled off the time sheets.

He also had the air of a rider on top of their game in the races. Fast starters like Steve Holcombe, Harry Edmondson or the flying Stark electric bikes beat Walker in every moto but he was confident switching lines and picking off riders anywhere on the track.

The 2024 AMA EnduroCross season begins this weekend, October 12, where Walker and Triumph Racing will contest the first two rounds before returning to Europe for the opening SuperEnduro race in December…unless he starts winning in EX then we reckon plans might change.

52 world titles under one roof

Random fact alert: Enduro21 counted 52 world championship title holders under one roof in Newcastle. And that’s not to mention any AMA, X Games, European, national or any other major event crowns in trophy cabinets.

Brad Freeman, Steve Holcombe, Taddy Blazusiak, Billy Bolt, David Knight, Dougie Lampkin, Paul Edmondson, Harry Edmondson, Jed Etchells, Jamie McCanney…excuse us if we missed someone.

Ok, not all of the above were riding – Paul Eddy was the organiser, Billy is still recovering and heading to two Hard Enduro rounds, Dougie was there because his son Fraser was racing (and winning) and Jamie is still injured – but credit to the organisers for bringing such pedigree together.

There was so much off-road royalty walking about there should have been red carpet laid down.

Stark are fast – Taddy and Eddie are ready

To our minds it is nuts that the Stark Future Racing duo Taddy Blazusiak and Eddie Karlsson’s careers are effectively put on hold while the FIM drag their feet making a decision about allowing electric motorcycles to race in enduro.

Some events and federations around the world have said yes, no problem, but where they want to be alongside the likes of Walker at races like this remains out of the question for now.

Being an independent event, the Indoor Enduro of Champions welcomed Taddy and Eddie (plus one privateer in the Clubman class for the record) on the Stark Vargs and it is without question they added to the show and competition on track.

Karlsson and Blazusiak were immediately in the mix with Eddie vying for top spot through qualifying and Taddy bagging second place on the podium.

As anyone who’s ridden a Stark will tell you, they are fast and they have proved themselves in Arenacross. But on this evidence it is clear they should be competing alongside each other in SuperEnduro and EnduroCross.

The naysayers who shout they shouldn’t be racing petrol bikes have no case in our view. It’s the same as racing a two-stroke against a four-stroke or 125 against a 300. Clearly the bikes are good but the riders made the difference and it added to the spectacle.

EnduroGP boys can do indoors

After all admitting they hadn’t put in any specific training for the event, the EnduroGP riders on show in Newcastle (Brad `Freeman, Steve Holcombe, Harry Edmondson, Jed Etchells) very quickly got up to speed on the logs and rocks (*mostly on the rocks!).

Most Enduro21 readers will know the world championship includes technical riding and specifically the Friday Super Tests which are usually a mix of man-made obstacles and can be pretty close to an outdoor EnduroCross track.

There was no escaping the smiles from these guys tackling a different kind of intense racing which took them elbow to elbow – the determination to beat each other was tangible!

Steve Holcombe went third fastest in qualifying showing his speed but a costly mistake in Super Pole, and the rocks, made his own life hard in challenging for the podium.

Brad Freeman showed he has the instinctive aggression needed for the indoor track too, very much out the same mould as Taddy or Knighter to watch. It boded well for the Beta rider who put in spectacular and determined rides to pull off P3 on the podium.

Along the way Brad had to do battle with Holcombe but also a flying Fast Eddy Racing rider Harry Edmondson. Harry was sharp out the blocks, smart in the first turn on the rocks and consistently fast to challenge Freeman for the podium.

Jed Etchells was in the mix and part of the fascination watching the three motos was seeing how and where the GP riders were fast (a rail of a rut around the last turn was a joy to behold). They lost out slightly compared to Jonny, Eddie or Taddy in some places but not in others and watching how they gelled with the track across the night left us thinking it was a shame the race was a one-off…

One for the kids

One big positive alongside all the above was having an Under-19 class at the Indoor Enduro of Champions.

Chances for kids to race indoor enduro are, well, when does it happen? Giving young riders the opportunity to get to a start gate, race the tight, indoor track and feel what it feels like to do the intense racing in front of a crowd they could hear was an experience like few others and we hope it spurs a few of them on.

Like many kids sports, it mixed body sizes and ages which meant 85s against 125s against bigger bikes. Damn some of the kids on 85s were brave on the jumps!

Victory on the night in the U-19 class went to a chip off the block, Fraiser Lampkin on a Beta UK 125. There’s a place waiting for this guy in SuperEnduro Juniors that’s for sure.

Photo Credit: Future7Media | Andrea Belluschi