BMW Motorrad Motorsport’s Gerhard Forster in action during last year’s Roof of Africa hard enduro.

Andreas Lettenbichler on the G 450 X at the Hell’s Gate event in Italy.

After a meeting of the world's top five Extreme Enduro race promoters about the present and future of the Hard-enduro race scene, an announcement has been made that will see a new World Xtreme Enduro Championship series begin in 2011.

Extreme Enduro is best described as 'man and machine against incredibly difficult terrain and against the time-clock'. The sport is relatively new compared to traditional Enduro and Motocross disciplines; however, its popularity is increasing worldwide with the formation of races like the Indoor World Cup championship and the US Endurocross Series. Establishing a new World Xtreme Enduro Championship series is an important milestone for top riders, manufacturers and, of course, for the sport to achieve a much better global public awareness.

Attending the meeting were Erzberg Rodeo-Mastermind Karl Katoch, fellow race promoters Martin Freinademetz (Red Bull Romaniacs), former Italian Enduro Champion Fabio Fasola (Hell's Gate), German race promoter Uli Hanus (Roof of Africa), and Britain's Steve Ireland (The Tough One). At the end of the day, the 'Big Five' agreed that it was about time to elevate their efforts to the next level by joining forces and presenting a unique championship series to the off-road world.

The plan is for this Extreme Enduro championship series to elevate the sport like never before and give the competitors new opportunities - commercial and otherwise - that they have never had before, when racing in hard enduro races. The race series will take the form of a worldwide tour that culminates in one champion at the end of the year. Riders will be awarded points at each round of the series and the rider who has gathered the most points in the end will be the World Xtreme Enduro Champion.

Next year (2010) will serve as the marketing and promotional year for the championship, which will officially get underway in January 2011 at The Tough One event in Shropshire, England. There will be a big presentation and launch of the WXEC Tour in June 2010 at the Erzberg Rodeo in Austria, where all five race promoters will present the series - including its rulebook - to a worldwide audience and by then it will be clear whether one or two further events are going to be added to the series.

Confirmed 'hard enduro' events for 2010 include The Tough One, Shropshire, England (23 January); Hell's Gate, Castelvecchio Pascoli, Italy (6 February); Erzbergrodeo, Eisenerz, Austria (3-6 June); Red Bull Romaniacs, Sibiu, Romania, (exact dates TBA); The Roof of Africa, Lesotho, South Africa (25-27 November).

More information will be available in due course on the www.wxec.info website.