The FIM Hard Enduro World Championship gears up for its eagerly awaited series opener in Serbia, the Xross Hard Enduro Rally. With seven rounds scheduled for 2023, the four-day race that begins next Wednesday is set to put the world’s best Hard Enduro competitors through their paces from the very start of the series.

The Xross Hard Enduro Rally is Serbia’s only world championship level motorsport event.

The Xross Hard Enduro Rally has been steadily growing in Hard Enduro stature since its first edition in 2014. When it joined the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship it became the first world championship level motorsport event to be held in Serbia.

Originally starting out as a ’small‘ event on the Kopaonik mountain, the event has grown and expanded to include the additional Mount Tara and Mokra Gora mountains, with Zlatibor becoming the new central location for the race. With the AKRAPOVIC prologue on Wednesday May 17th getting racing underway, each of the following three race days feature time-trial style racing over three unique 100-kilometre long courses. With the added difficulty of GPS navigation, it serves as a true Hard Enduro Rallye.

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Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Manuel Lettenbichler enters round one as the defending FIM Hard Enduro World Champion. Despite missing the 2022 series opener due to injury, Lettenbichler made his return in style by winning round two at the Xross Hard Enduro Rally. Going on to clinch four more victories, he ultimately wrapped up the title in style. There’s no doubt that in 2023, the German will want to win again in Serbia, an event he already rates highly.

The 2023 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship gets underway with round one in Zlatibor, Serbia on May 17-20.

STORY: Manuel Lettenbichler Wins Xross Hard Enduro Rally In Serbia (May 2022)
STORY: FIM Hard Enduro World Championship Adds 24MX Hixpania Hard Enduro To 2023 Schedule (March 2023)

photos (c) Predrag Vuckovic/Red Bull Content Pool