Fantic Factory Racing Enduro’s Théo Espinasse, Thibault Giraudon and Riccardo Pasquato secured podium finishes in their respective classes at the GP of Wales, the final round of the 2026 season. Team Specia Academy rider Valentin Mersin claimed the silver medal in the Youth World Championship.
The final round of the EnduroGP season took place this past weekend (7-9 August) in Rhayader. The small Welsh town, with its long-standing enduro tradition, once again welcomed the World Championship, delivering a spectacular weekend and attracting an extraordinary crowd.
The Motoclub Rhayader prepared a technical and demanding course featuring four special tests, each to be completed three times on each race day, for a total of 24 special tests throughout the weekend. The 70-kilometre course began with the first Cross Test on hard and dusty terrain, followed by the 1.3-kilometre natural Extreme Test, located within the Saintswell track. The lap then continued with the 4.6-kilometre Enduro Test, a technical and fast special test, before concluding with the second 4.8-kilometre Cross Test inside the Cwmythig Hill motocross circuit.
Théo Espinasse felt comfortable from the get-go aboard the Fantic XE 300, quickly establishing himself as a podium contender in the E3 class. A strong performance saw him claim second place on the opening day, while also securing seventh overall. On Sunday, he was once again fighting at the sharp end, but a minor technical issue on the final lap cost him the chance to return to the podium. He nevertheless retained fifth place in the final E3 World Championship standings, rounding off an intense season with his victory at the EnduroGP of Portugal as a major highlight.
Following his outstanding home GP weekend in France, Thibault Giraudon arrived in Wales not quite feeling at his best due to a fever, but battled through to claim third place in Junior 2 on the opening day. His fourth-place finish on Sunday saw him secure third place in the J2 World Cup. In the Junior overall standings, he finished the season in fifth place.
Riccardo Pasquato returned to the Youth podium with a strong third-place finish on the final day, following fourth place on Saturday. With a total of five podium finishes, including two victories, to his name, the Italian was one of the breakthrough stars of the season. He led the standings early on and still finished fifth in the Youth World Championship, despite missing three GPs due to an arm injury that put an early end to his title challenge.
There is still a Fantic XE 125 rider claiming a championship medal, thanks to a superb season from Team Specia Academy rider Valentin Mersin. At the GP of Wales, the Frenchman secured the second GP win of his career, finishing his first season in the Youth World Championship as runner-up.
Antonio Specia, Fantic Factory Racing Enduro Team Manager:
“It has been a pretty intense but also very rewarding EnduroGP season. We are happy with the results we achieved, although, looking at the final standings, with a little more luck we could have done even better. Thibault Giraudon’s third place in the J2 World Cup was a great result, and Théo Espinasse also had what it takes to fight for a top 3 in the E3 World Championship. With Riccardo Pasquato, we made a strong start: he was leading the Youth World Championship, but then the arm injury ruled him out of the title fight. With Valentin Mersin, a Team Specia Academy rider, we still managed to bring a Fantic home in second place, and let’s not forget it was only Valentin’s first year in the World Championship. He surprised many people, exceeding even our own expectations, but above all, he confirmed that the work we are doing with our young riders is paying off. We are very pleased with that.
At every GP, we managed to put at least one rider on the podium, and we won race days in every class, from E3 to the Junior overall and Youth. It was great to see and shows that we have worked well as a team. All in all, it was a positive EnduroGP season for Fantic and for the whole crew. A big thank you to everyone for their support.”
