Yamaha Racing Revved Up for Off Road

2026 will see Yamaha continue their commitment to off road racing with a plethora of supported teams and riders locked in for the new season as well as our ongoing commitment to the championship.

ShopYamaha Off Road
Headlining Yamaha’s presence in off road is the ShopYamaha Off Road team, managed by former champion, AJ Roberts. The team has long been the benchmark in off road racing and AJ’s passion continues to drive the team forward, year after year.

The team will again have a two-pronged attack, retaining the services of 2022 World Champion, Wil Ruprecht in the E2 class and can reveal New Zealand motocross champion, Maximus Purvis, as the teams E1 pilot.

Ruprecht returned to Australia at the end of the 2024 season and reunited with AJ to go racing in 2025. They achieved instant success and won the opening round of the championship and were locked into a season long war against, Daniel Milner.

The pair traded wins until the rounds were contested on the softer, sand-based surfaces, where Ruprecht isn’t at his best. But he has learnt from that and has spent considerable time in the off season working on his sand riding and knows that good results on those conditions will go a long way to answering his quest for the 2026 championship.

Based in New South Wales, Ruprecht is the ultimate professional on and off the track and will leave no stone unturned as he prepares for the new season.

“Last year was my first time back in Australia for a while and I wasn’t able to adjust to some of the conditions we faced fast enough. I was fit, but I wasn’t versatile, so I have incorporated a few different things into my preparation this year and hope that it will reward me at the end of the season.

“The team has been great, and we already have a good setting with the bike and I feel comfortable. So, it’s just keeping my head down, doing the work and being ready to go when the opening weekend comes around in March, as it will be hot and sweaty in Roma that time of year,” Ruprecht explains.

Joining him on the ShopYamaha Team will be New Zealand motocross ace, Maximus Purvis. Purvis made a guest appearance with the team last year at the Kyogle round of the championship and with no off-road racing experience in the AEC, Purvis charged his way onto the podium in the E1 class and was around the top six in the Pro Enduro division.

For Purvis, he enjoyed that style of racing in what was the most technical loops of the year and was keen to give it a go full time in 2026. He who currently leads the New Zealand MX1 championship but will switch to off road at the of their championship in February and tackle the AEC with the ShopYamaha team.

“I had a good time racing at Kyogle last year and while I didn’t understand everything about what I was doing, I loved the riding and wanted to do more, so when AJ offered me the chance to do the full series this year, I was on board right away.

“I know I have plenty to learn which also means there is a lot of improvements that can be found as I get a better understanding of the riding. I’m looking forward to it and will be ready to go when the championship gets started.”

Yamaha JGR Off Road Team
At the end of the 2025 season, off road riding legend and multiple time Australian and World Enduro Champion, Jess Gardiner contemplated her future. She had a massive year competing in all kinds of races in all kinds of places and was exhausted and drained. The thought of stopping cross her mind.

But all it took was a couple of weeks off the bike suddenly she was rejuvenated and ready to race again. Since that decision, she has spent every minute of her spare time working on the team or riding her bike as she prepares for another crack at the Australian Enduro Championship in 2026.

She will be back to headline the team again with Jeremy Carpentier tackling the E1 class and assisting with the upkeep of the bikes while Lorna Lock will flag the flag for the team in the Junior Girls.

With the departure of Danielle McDonald at the end of the 2024 season as she took up a ride with Yamaha in the US, Gardiner was out to find a like-minded replacement and Lorna Lock captured her eye.

On board a YZ85 and in her first year of doing the compete AEC season, Lock was a revelation taking round win after round win, regardless of the conditions and showed she has a huge future in front of her in racing. Gardiner enjoys the mentoring role she plays with Lock and believes if she continues with the hard work, she will maintain Australia’s place as one of the best female off road riding nations in the world.

For Gardiner, she knows her racing days are numbered but if this is the final year or not, that is yet to be decided, but she will take on an enjoy the moment attitude for the 2026 season.

“I want to focus on all the good things about racing this year. The joy of riding my bike in some amazing terrain, the satisfaction of working with Lorna and seeing her grow as a rider and making the team the best it can be,” she begins.

“Having said that I have no intention of taking it easy. I still want to win, I still want to put in the work and I’m preparing as well as I can because this still means so much to me. There are always plenty of challenges to face and every year the level of competition gets better, so I have to be on the top of my game if the championship success is to continue,”

Yamaha Support
Yamaha will again offer support to a range of riders competing in the AEC. The Yamaha BLU CRU Support team of Cooper Sheidow, Jett Yarnold and Fraser Higlett will continue for 2026 with all three riders more than capable of pulling down a class win.

Contesting the E1 division, along with Maximus Purvis, the class will be a sea of blue, and the chance of a Yamaha podium lock out in the class is a viable option.

Madi Simpson will also work double time as she does both the WMX and ProMX as well as the EW class at the AEC. Simpson, the 2024 Junior Girls champion, stepped up to the senior women’s class last year and instantly gave Jess Gardiner something to think about.

Now with the full year of experience under her belt, Simpson will be out to dethrone Gardiner in 2026.

GYTR Yamaha Junior Racing
The YJR duo of Marcus Nowland and Harley Hutton are back in action for the new year. Nowland, who has won several AEC junior championships, now moves into the senior divisions and will contest the U19 class (EJ). The 16-year-old from Parkes in New South Wales has stepped up his commitment to racing in 2026 as he will contest the AEC but also other high-profile events like Hattah and Finke.

Harley Hutton will handle the J4 duties for YJR in his final year of junior racing. Hutton has moved from racing the YZ125 he was on last year to the YZ250F and has already seen improvements in his speed and consistency. He will be out for a big year to finish his junior racing in style.

Yamaha Supporting the Sport
Yamaha will again be the naming rights partner for the Australian Enduro Championship, taking the relationship of giving back to the off-road community, well over 20 years.

And it’s not just a matter of throwing over some money, there are also things like the 20 boxes, which is about 40kilomtres of track bunting used to mark out each and every round of the AEC and donated to the promoting club.

Yamaha BLU CRU Bonus Bucks
And for the first time, Yamaha will open up its contingency program to all Yamaha off road riders in the AEC and allow riders to earn money on podium results. Enter on a Yamaha, then complete the days’ racing on a Yamaha in the major classes at AEC rounds, and we will reward you for your finish.