Defending champion James Moore has started his Roof of Africa title defence in the best possible way. He set the fastest time in Thursday's Time Trial at Round 6 of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship, finishing 15.74 seconds ahead of championship leader Manuel Lettenbichler. The weather was bright and clear all day, and the sunshine helped dry out a Maloti Mountains course that had been soaked by recent rain.
Moore sets the benchmark
Each rider did two timed laps, and only the best one counted. Moore improved by more than two minutes on his second run to set a 25:01.91. His 6:01.8 first sector on that lap was the fastest recorded all day. Lettenbichler was second on 25:17.65. The German set the quickest opening sector of the first runs, then took more than a minute off his final sector on his second lap.
Ashton Brightmore was only 0.70 seconds behind Lettenbichler in third on 25:18.35. His 5:49.0 middle sector was the fastest of the day. For the Junior World Championship, that puts Moore and Ashton, the top two in the class, within 17 seconds of each other before the racing even starts.
Penalty drops Mitch Brightmore to ninth
Mitch Brightmore's day was the hardest to read. On raw time, his second lap of 24:11.99 was the fastest of anyone, including a best-of-day 11:30.3 in the final sector. However, a five-minute penalty took his official time to 29:11.99 and dropped him to ninth. That leaves the championship runner-up 4:10.08 behind Moore, and almost four minutes behind Lettenbichler, in an event decided on combined time.
Kabakchiev and Young stay in touch
Teodor Kabakchiev was fourth on 26:11.04 and Wade Young fifth on 26:20.74. Matthew Green (27:08.41) was sixth, and Thomas Scales and Lorenzo Gandola were only three hundredths of a second apart in seventh and eighth. Matt Stevens completed the top ten. Forty-four riders appear on the official Gold classification.
The real work starts now
The Time Trial has set the start order, but in the Roof's combined-time format the gaps are small. Two long days in the mountains still lie ahead, where navigation, endurance and mechanical reliability will decide the result. For Mitch Brightmore, the target is clear: he needs to win back four minutes on Lettenbichler before the title picture gets any harder.
Day 2 starts at 7am on Friday, 25 September, with riders heading into the Maloti Mountains from Music Box to Bushmans. Follow the action at the Roof of Africa and see how it affects the title race in the 2026 HEWC standings. After Lesotho, the championship moves on to Sea to Sky in Türkiye on 8–10 October.