FIM Sand Races World Championship heads to France for Ronde de Sables Loon Plage

The 2026 FIM Sand Races World Championship reaches the halfway point this coming weekend (7-8 November) when round three – the Ronde de Sables Loon Plage – is staged on the coast of northern France where Norway’s Håkon Fredriksen – Yamaha Monster Drag’on Tek will aim to extend his nine-point Moto class lead in the face of fierce opposition.

• Håkon Fredriksen defends Moto class advantage in Northern France
• Can Randy Naveaux maintain his unbeaten record in Quad class?
• Home rider Mathilde Martinez aims to extend her Moto Women lead

The title chase in Moto Women is currently led on maximum points by French racer Mathilde Martinez – Honda while Belgian Randy Naveaux – Yamaha is also protecting his unbeaten record in the Quad class, but with the format featuring one longer race per class instead of the two-race format followed at the opening rounds in Morocco and Italy, this could all change as physical fitness and machine reliability become even more important factors.

After taking the early championship lead at September’s Morocco Sand Race with one-three finishes over the two days, twenty-four-year-old Fredriksenbacked this up with one-two scores last time out at the Bibione Sand Storm for second overall to extend his advantage over Damien Knuiman – Yamaha from the Netherlands.

A strong second in Morocco with a victory in race two at Mazagan, the twenty-year-old Dutchman finished third in Italy to establish a ten-point cushionahead of the fight for third that is currently tied between Belgian Cyril Genot – Honda and Jeremy Hauquier – Yamaha Monster Drag’on Tek from France.

The pair shared contrasting fortunes at the opening two rounds with Genot running two-one in Italy for the overall victory after struggling in Morocco where he retired in the closing stages of race two following a second-placed finish in the opening race. Hauquier ended the first round in third overall, but lost ground on the leading pair at Bibione where he finished the weekend in sixth.

Strong showings are expected this weekend from riders including home heroes Joey Nuques – Honda and Adrien Petit – Honda, while defending champion Todd Kellett – Honda is currently sitting twenty points adrift of the leader in sixthfollowing a technical issue in Moroccoand a crash in Italy.

With just one two-and-a-half-hour race to decide the overall result at Loon Plage on Sunday afternoon, this could very well play into the hands of Kellett who excels in the longer races, but the competition is lining up to dethrone the British rider and the pressure is firmly on the twenty-nine-year-old’s shoulders.

In her first season contesting the Moto Women class, Martinez dominated both races in Morocco and then ran two-one in Italy with her sole defeat inflicted by wild card rider Kiara Fontanesi– GASGAS. With defending champion Mathilde Denis – Yamaha trailing by just fourteen points, the twenty-seven-year-old knows she has no room for complacency in a discipline where one mistake can prove pivotal.

Belgium’s Daniel Drooghaag – KTM travels to France with maximum points in the Moto Veteran class and a fourteen-point advantage ahead of France’s Mathieu Reine – Yamaha while the Moto Vintage and Moto Juniorclasses – that will contest separate one-hour races on Sunday – are led by experienced French rider Pablo Henouille– Honda and young Israeli racer Ben Almagor – KTM.

Naveaux has won all four Quad races staged so far this season to open up a ten-point advantage ahead of his compatriot Oliver Vandendijck – Honda with Dirk Schelfhout – Honda completing a Belgian one-two-three and Schelfhout is also setting the pace in the Quad Veteran class with his maximum points from the first two rounds giving him a fourteen-point lead over Portugal’s Nuno Goncalves – Yamaha.

With strong performances expected from riders including Britain’s Harry Walker – Yamaha, who has shown great speed this season, but suffered race retirements at both opening rounds, as well as Belgium’s Glenn De Swarte – Honda and defending champion Pablo Violet – Yamaha, the action will be intense.

The single two-hour Quad race gets the points-scoring action under way at 14:30 on Saturday (7 November) with Moto Vintage taking to the sand on Sunday (8 November) at 08:45 followed by Moto Junior at 10:15 before the main Moto race starts at 14:00 (all local time).

Sunday’s action will be streamed LIVE on FIM-MOTO.TV beginning at 09:00 (local time). For more information click here.

WATCH THE LIVE ACTION ON FIM-MOTO.TV

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By using the tag #FIMSandRaces, fans will also be able to interact on social media with riders and like-minded enthusiasts.

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