The 2026 Australian Enduro Championship kicks off in Roma, Queensland in March, and the timing feels perfect: hot, dusty, and just uncomfortable enough to remind everyone that AEC isn’t here to play nice. It’s our premier off-road series. From there, the series snakes its way down the country, Queensland, New South Wales, back to Queensland, then Victoria, New South Wales again, and finally South Australia, a proper spread of terrain, conditions and club flavour that should reward the riders who can adapt.

And the headline before we even talk classes is this: Daniel Milner is done as a full-time racer. No number one plate circulating the pits, no “default champion” to measure everyone against each weekend. That changes the feel of the whole paddock. The outright is open, the pressure shifts, and for a lot of riders this is the first season in a while where they can genuinely believe the title could be theirs.

We caught up with former AORC champ Josh Green to ask who to watch in 2026.

Outright King

Green didn’t hesitate when we asked who that outright crown now points to. “You’d have to be pretty hard to beat Will Ruprecht,” Green said, before immediately reminding us it’s never that clean: “Corey McMahon and Jai Dixon are right there too, and it’s a long season.” That matters in enduro more than any other discipline, one broken lever, one derailed chain, one smashed rim in the wrong test, and your title math changes in about ten seconds.

With Milner retired, the outright becomes a three-headed conversation fast. Green’s shortlist: Will Ruprecht, Corey McMahon, Jai Dixon but he can’t call the exact order this early. “They would be my top three guys… who knows in what order?” What’s interesting is the context: last season, Ruprecht was the main rider who could consistently trade punches with Milner on outright wins, while McMahon and Dixon both proved they can win rounds when the day suits them (or when the chaos hits the right people).

Green also pointed out a key Ruprecht variable: sand. He’s deadly in bulldust and faster terrain, but sand-heavy weekends can be the swing factor and this calendar has enough sand and rough stuff to matter.

E1: Coops call

E1 shapes as the most “defined” class on paper, mainly because Cooper Sheidow is the known quantity. Green’s view was clear: “I think Cooper’s to lose, to be honest.” He’s done this before, he knows how to manage AEC weekends, and he’s been in E1 long enough to understand where you win time and where you simply avoid losing it.

But E1 also has two wildcards that could make it messy. The first is Max Purvis, now signed and bringing serious raw speedm the kind that can win tests and then disappear into the trees five minutes later if the track gets too memory-based and technical. Green’s assessment was honest: Purvis will have “really standout rounds” and also rounds where “he really struggles,” depending on whether it’s open and moto-ish or tight enduro.

Then there’s Jackson Versteegen, the young rider under Milner’s wing. Green rates his potential and Milner’s ability to sharpen riders quickly: “Milner is very good at taking riders under his wing and showing them the ropes… he turned Corey from a good rider to a really good rider over a year.” That’s the quiet threat in E1, Jackson could arrive at Roma much further along than most people expect.

Green’s lean: Cooper as the favourite, with Purvis as the swing factor and Jackson as the unknown who could jump into the fight early.

E2: Ruprecht’s class to lose

E2 is the headline class because it’s where the likely outright champ lives — Will Ruprecht — and Green didn’t dance around it: if you’re picking a favourite for 2026 overall, it starts here. He’s riding with more calculation than most, and Green even joked about the “another level” of thinking and race management that separates him when problems happen mid-test.

The pressure comes from two angles. One is Jye Dickson, now back on familiar machinery with KTM and in a stronger environment. Green described Dickson as insanely talented and consistent but with a personality quirk that’s almost funny: he’s too mellow. Green reckons Dickson sometimes needs to be “amped up” to ride with that extra edge, because his smoothness can turn into conservatism. The upside is: smooth and consistent wins championships when other people throw away points.

The other major name is Andy Wilksch, who, when healthy, can absolutely win tests and rounds. Green won’t count him out: “You can never count Andy out… he works hard… he knows the Beta well now… he’ll be there.” The only catch is the usual Wilksch variable — injuries and interruptions — because the talent is obvious.

Green’s lean: Ruprecht the benchmark, Dickson the ever-present points machine, Wilksch the rider most likely to spike a round and throw the class into chaos.

E3: McMahon looks terrifying

If E2 is the “tough” class, E3 is the one that could become a straight-up statement season because Korey McMahon on the big-bore has Green genuinely impressed.

Green’s description of McMahon’s progression last year wasn’t subtle: “He came out swinging… he was a different rider… super smooth, super calculated… risk was less.” And then the best part: Green’s astonishment that McMahon managed a season without the usual big moments, “normally McMahon smacks his head five times a year”, which tells you the riding style has changed, not just the speed.

The extra layer is the Milner factor. With Milner not racing, Green believes the entire operation now revolves around making Korey and Jye win, not splitting focus with the boss chasing his own results. “Now Milner needs Korey and Jye to win because it makes him look good… where before it was Milner who had to win.” That’s a real dynamic shift, and it could be worth time in preparation, bike development and weekend strategy.

Put simply: if McMahon starts 2026 the way he finished last season, E3 could become the class everyone watches because Green thinks he’s not just an E3 guy anymore. He’s an outright guy.

Green’s lean: McMahon as the E3 favourite and a real overall threat, especially if the season turns into a consistency war.

EW: Gardner still the standard

The women’s class still revolves around Jess Gardiner. She has the experience, craft, and the kind of race IQ that makes her brutally hard to beat over a season. Green’s position was clear: “You’d have to be hard pressed to go away from her winning.”

But the rider who can genuinely put heat on Jess is Maddie Simpson, especially if her increased racing schedule sharpens her instead of breaking her. Green called it a benefit if it goes right: more racing can make you “mongrel fit” and tougher, and he even argued that in Australia we don’t race off-road enough, so adding ProMX weekends can actually be performance-positive.

Green’s take on the key matchup was simple: Maddie has the raw speed to win rounds, Jess has the season-management and craft to win titles. If Maddie strings her good weekends together and avoids the fatigue/injury trap, 2026 could get properly interesting.

Green’s lean: Jess is the safest pick, Maddie is the biggest disruptor, and the schedule could either supercharge her or cost her.

EJ: Kogon Locke the guy to beat

EJ looks like it’ll run through Kogon Locke again. Green believes Locke is still in the class and if so, he’s the defending reference point: “If he’s riding EJ all season, he will be hard to beat… super talented.” The name Green highlighted as a genuine contender is Marcus Nolan, stepping out of juniors into EJ with speed and a motocross base.

Green’s lean: Locke vs Nolan as the obvious early storyline — plus the annual EJ surprise packet that turns up mid-season and ruins everyone’s neat predictions.

2026 AEC calendar

Green’s quick-hit read on the season’s danger zones:

  • Roma (QLD): hot, demanding, and capable of bike damage if the tests go “extreme” again. “Roma is obviously really hot, difficult… you could easily derail a chain or smash a wheel and your season is over early”
  • Dungog (NSW): the classic two-day enduro — long, mental, and the most “enduro” feeling round. “Dungog’s always a cool one… they get a right heap.”
  • QMP (QLD): dust, dryness, and visibility pain. “No doubt dusty and real dry, as usual.”
  • Casterton (Vic): sand and cross-country makes rough racing and that makes fatigue and mistakes. “Always sandy… they do cross countries… it’s quite rough.”
  • Kempsey (NSW): Still waiting on the format but it will be prime conditions if not dusty.
  • Coonalpyn (SA): conditions roulette in SA. “SA is a mix. You don’t know what you’re going to get.”