Francesca Fights Back in Portugal

The penultimate round of the Women’s FIM Enduro World Championship took place this weekend in Portugal and Francesca Nocera was determined to hold onto the red plate she’s carried since the season’s opening round.

Still recovering from an ACL tear sustained in May and with only two weeks of rest between rounds, Francesca knew consistency would be key over the two days of racing aboard her Honda CRF250 RX.

The small town of Vila de Rei, right in the heart of Portugal, provided a challenging 50-kilometre course of dry, dusty, rocky terrain interspersed with pinewoods, testing the riders’ skill and endurance.

On Saturday, Francesca started strong but was forced to retire during the second Cross Test due to a mechanical issue, a pivotal moment that cost her the lead and valuable championship points. Determined to make up ground, Francesca returned on Sunday with the bike fully repaired and by the third special test, she had found her rhythm and secured the top spot overall, finishing more than a minute ahead of second place. It was a remarkable fightback that reduced her championship deficit.

Although she leaves Portugal third in the championship standings, Francesca is fired up for the final round in Germany from 17–19 October, with her sights set on claiming the world title.

Francesca Nocera 🎙

“Day one started well winning the first test but throughout first lap I started to sense there was a problem with the bike and unfortunately with losing too much time on the transfer and unable to fix it, I was forced to withdraw. With some extra fire in the belly for the second day, I started off pushing really hard and was able to win the day by over a minute. We only have one race of the championship left in Germany in five weeks time, but like always I will push until the very last moment to stay in the title fight. Thank you to everyone for being by my side no matter what.”