Endurocross the next big thing?

Is endurocross the next big thing in two-wheeled motorsport? Young Ruben Chadwick hopes so.

The 15-year-old Brisbane trials rider first saw endurocross on a Red Bull Romaniacs DVD and told his father, Michael, that’s what he wanted to do. So when the inaugural Enduro-X event was staged at Archerfield in February, he entered. And he won the event with two second places and a win in the final! “That’s when I thought we need to nurture this,” Michael says.

So Ruben entered the second round a few weeks later at Parramatta in Sydney where he scored two seconds and a sixth. Despite that “slight setback”, Rubern bounced back and won all three races in the final event at Calder Park in Melbourne. Not bad for a first effort at a brand new sport in Australia.

It’s now got Ruben and Michael thinking about heading to Europe or the US to tackle the gruelling endurocross circuit and eventually the crazy Erzberg Rodeo. Endurocross is only eight years old and is a niche motorsport that blends the gentleman’s art of trials riding – the world’s slowest motorsport – and the manic speed of motocross. Riders race against each other – not the clock – over a series of difficult obstacles including giant truck tyres, boulders, sand, logs and water hazards. Endurocross has taken off in Europe and the USA, attracting both motocross and trials riders.

“Trials is the basis of all motorcycle sports,” says Michael whose father started the Western District Trials Club in 1981 on their Upper Brookfield property. It is still one of the biggest trials clubs in Australia. “Endurocross is like extreme enduro and the ones that are any good are the trials riders.”

Michael says that with a bit of sponsorship support, he would like to take Ruben to Europe or the USA next year to compete. “We’re just battlers, but we love bikes,” he says. If you would like to help Ruben achieve his goals, you contact him on bultaco1@tpg.com.au.