The 2023 FIM Sand Races World Cup was the inaugural season of the FIM Sand Races World Cup. In October 2022 the FIM in conjunction with the , Portuguese and Argentinian Motorcycling Federations announced the launch of a new FIM Sand Races World Cup series starting in 2023. The inaugural season consisted of three events: The Enduropale du Touquet, France, the Enduro del Verano, Argentina and the Monte Gordo Sand Experience, Portugal. The Enduropale du Touquet and Enduro del Verano were well established and the two most popular sand races in the world. The Monte Gordo Sand Experience was a new event taking place on the large sandy beach of Monte Gordo. 36 riders contested the series and the Cup was won by British rider Todd Kellett.
Race calendar and results A provisional calendar was announced in October 2022 and the date of the Monte Gordo round confirmed in March 2023.
Round Date Location Motocycle winner Quad winner Womens winner Veterans winner Juniors1 winner Juniors2 winner Vintage winner Source 1 3–5 February Enduropale du Touquet Todd KellettYamaha Michel TranninHonda Amandine VerstappenYamaha Arnaud BesnierHonda 2 24–26 February Enduro del Verano Todd KellettYamaha Pablo Leonel VeraYamaha Mathilde DenisHonda Arnaud BesnierHonda 3 17–19 November Monte Gordo Sand Experience Yentel MartensHonda Keveen RochereauHonda Amandine VerstappenYamaha Arnaud BesnierHonda Matheo GeratKTM Sarah LeroyKawasaki Sebastien AntonyYamaha
Race formats
All three rounds took place on temporary courses on beaches. The Enduropale du Touquet was a single 3 hour race on the course. At Enduro del Verano there were two heats, a 20 minute sprint on a course on the Saturday and a six lap race on the full course on Sunday. Two 45 minute races on the course was the format at Monte Gordo.
Classes
The series was divided into classes:
Motorcycle Sand Races World Cup (up to 510 cc) Motorcycle Junior1 Sand Races World Cup (two-strokes 100cc up to 125cc, riders 13-17 years) Motorcycle Junior2 Sand Races World Cup (four-strokes up to 250cc, riders 15-17 years) Quad Sand Races World Cup (850cc) Quad Junior Sand Races World Cup (up to 550cc, riders 15-17 years) Vintage Sand Races World Cup (pre-1996 motorcycles) SSV Sand Races World Cup Women’s Sand Races World Cup Veterans Sand Races Trophy (riders 38+ years)
The Womens and Veterans classes run in the main motorcycle race. Junior1 and 2 classes both run in the same race.
Championship standings Points for final positions are awarded as follows:
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th+ Points 25 20 16 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Motos
+ Motorcycle Sand Races World Cup Rider LTO EDV MGS Points 1 Todd Kellett 1 1 2 70 2 Yentel Martens 3 3 1 57 3 Daymond Martens 5 5 3 38 4 Camille Chapeliere ret 2 4 33 5 Enzo Levrault 9 6 5 28 6 Lars van Berkel 4 4 26 7 Kevin Parpaix 11 9 7 21 8 Cyril Genot 2 20 9 Arnaud Besnier 13 10 11 14 10 Romain Laurent 6 10 11 Valentin Madoulaud 6 10 12 Matheo Miot 7 9 13 Alexis Collignon 7 9 14 Amandine Verstappen 17 8 9 15 Javier Vasquez 8 8 16 Jeremy Knuiman 8 8 17 Guillaume Renaux 9 7 18 Nathan Vidal 10 6 19 Jeremy Hauquier 10 6 20 Fernando Rubio ret 11 17 6 21 Mathilde Denis 19 12 16 6 22 Christophe Brucker 15 12 5 23 Brad Thornhill 12 4 24 Arthur Mioque 13 3 25 Ashley Greedy 14 2 26 Gautier Huyghe 14 2 27 Sion Talbot 15 1 28 Sebastien Antony 16 1 29 Thomas Penel 18 1 30 Gregory Deleu 18 1 31 Dominique Mieuzet 19 1 32 Andre Vossius 20 1 33 Laurine Hugues 20 1 34 Stephane Dufay 21 1 35 Bernard Perard 21 1 36 Jean Francois Mioque 22 1 Milko Potisek ret 0 Dennis Putkuri ret 0 Romain Dumontier ret 0 Marshall Meplon ret 0 Henk Pater ret 0 Mathieu Doveze ret 0 Declan Whittle ret 0 Edward Jary ret 0 Sources:
+ Womens Motorcycle Sand Races World Cup Rider LTO EDV MGS Points 1 Mathilde Denis 2 1 2 65 2 Amandine Verstappen 1 1 50 3 Laurine Hugues 3 16 Sources:
+ Veterans Motorcycle Sand Races Trophy Rider LTO EDV MGS Points 1 Arnaud Besnier 1 1 1 75 2 Christophe Brucker 3 2 36 3 Fernando Rubio ret 2 3 36 4 Gautier Huyghe 2 20 5 Dominique Mieuzet 4 13 6 Gregory Deleu 4 13 7 Andre Vossius 5 11 8 Bernard Perard 5 11 9 Stephane Dufay 6 10 10 Jean Francois Mioque 7 9 Sources:
+ Vintage Motorcycle Sand Races World Cup Rider LTO EDV MGS Points 1 Sebastien Antony 1 25 2 Felix Faure 2 20 3 Rodrigo Castro 3 16 Sources:
Quads
+ Quad Sand Races World Cup Rider LTO EDV MGS Points 1 Michel Trannin 1 3 4 54 2 Pablo Violet 3 2 3 52 3 Keveen Rochereau 2 1 45 4 Frederic Lefebvre 5 5 5 33 5 Pablo Leonel Vera ret 1 25 6 Ivan Solbas Cecilia 8 6 12 22 7 Oliver Vandendijck 2 20 8 Axel Dutrie ret 4 10 19 9 Benoit Sebert 6 7 19 10 Paulo Fernandes 7 8 17 11 Nuno Goncalves 4 13 16 12 Nathanaelle Abgrall 6 10 13 Sebastien Degrave 9 7 14 Glenn De Swarte 11 5 Thierry Vigier ret 0 Sources:
References