The Sanchification of Don Quixote: WHES set the stage at MounTurner.

Corps de Ballet in the paddock: there is nothing more magical than the sun shining on the start line.

If ever you've seen a solid Hard Enduriac pull off the perfect pivot turn whilst perched precariously on the side of a precipice you will purport that it is poetry in motion.

It is the perfect performance.

It is as if you are at the ballet.

First Position!!... poise, then perform and proceed.

But even if it looks like Swan Lake out there on the track, I can very much assure you that it is Don Quixote behind the scenes at WHES.

The plot of this, the most wonderful ballet (which is actually based on the book, which is considered the founding work of Western literature) essentially revolves around the adventures of two key people: a lofty eccentric called Don Quixote and his humble and very grounded squire, Sancho, who spends his entire life trying to keep the Don's head out of the clouds.

Don does not see the world for what it is! He sees the world for what he thinks it needs to be. Sancho, on the other hand, is ever humble and busy in the background just getting shit done.

Now allow me the pleasure of introducing you to our Sancho; Emma Petrig.

She is the tractor motor that chugs W.A. Hard Enduro along, navigating all that stands in the way of the riders riding and the spectators enjoying the finest stage show the West has to offer.

Laughing Bulldog captures our Sancho: Emma Petrig is making WHES happen.

In 2025 WHES stepped out from under the dark cloud hanging over Motorcycling W.A. It was a bold move, but it was one that had to happen because, at the end of 2024, Hard Enduro simply could not function under the new rulebook; rules such as 'No obstacles within 3 m of the track'. It couldn't work. It wouldn't work. It didn't work.

So, a Par de Trois led by Grant McCarthy (Prez), Jakob Petrig (Vice), Emma Petrig (Sec), and supported by all of the preceding '24 WHES committee members, decided to do something about it. They went out on their own!

It meant lawyers, it meant waivers and it meant risk; for the club, and for the volunteers and for the riders. But it was a risk that we were ALL willing to take. And that could be no more evident than from the event that just was.

MounTurner Madness had the largest rider and volunteer turnout of any previous W.A. Hard Enduro event!

I talked to machine behind the mania at the end of the race and Emma said this about the new non-MWA format: "It gives me the chance to move and change on the fly. If something does not work, I can change it without having to seek approval from a governing body. This means the events evolve better and faster. It is easier for me and that means it is easier for the club. You can see the smiles on the riders. They are all prepared to sign the waiver and race at their own risk because they believe it is safer than what they do out there in the bush. Here they have support, and they have medics, and they have sweeps." Let's face it, there is none of that out in the scrub where we all bash bars and feel quite fine about it on any other weekend.

Her attitude, her organisation and her commitment to the sport has set the stage for what is going to be the most incredible year for WHES so far.

So much happened at MounTurner I simply cannot fit it all in one article. But, like the riders out there on the track, I am going to give it a good hard crack.

In the first instance a bunch of plus 45's turned up for the first time ever and made some of the young guns feel very inadequate. Three of them put in 4+ laps.

All I can say is "HOW?".

Apparently one of them is "of pedigree" and was the man to catch on the day. That said, Luke Pike sure gave Josh Petrig some curry, kept him honest lap after lap and pushed him to probably do the lap he did not want to do in order to win the race.

Gotta love the 'last lap'll win it' effect of Hard Enduro.

Luke laughs about it now. "He did it easier than his time suggests. I think he wasn’t going to do another lap until he saw me going for my 4th not long before the cut off. He put his helmet on and was gone!"

Josh Petrig certainly is the imperfect gentleman.

The Women's Class was FINALLY bigger than a Pas de Deus. Nancy Blazun, who has been riding WHES for quite a time said "Last year it was Jade Moon and myself, this year we had 8 super charged gutsy women. So proud of Moni Mon Tscho, Claudia Mateos, and Keren Rosi with what they achieved on the day and Sienna Petrig and Diana getting podium finishes."

And on the subject of pedigree (or should I say Petrigee), how much heart does Sienna Petrig have? Her KTM simply did not have half the energy that she had on the day. Trying and failing to come up with a fix for her battery issues, she resorted to jump starting the bike way out back of the paddock time and again to stay in the race and finish on the third step of the podium.

From Laughing Bulldog Images, you can see it in her eyes; she was never going to DNF. "It was quite a mission. A lot of bike pushing that day. But I still got a lap in so that's something."

Hard Enduro is all about heart and Sienna Petrig's beats harder than most!

And the main event? The Corps de Ballet?

It had to be, for the first time in MounTurner history, the release of both Silver and Gold on the switchback hill known fondly as Ol' Painless.

Like all events (other than the super enduro round at Mildwood), all classes are on the WHES tracks at the same time in 2025. This is certainly set to create some of the most insanely entertaining interactions in the scene.

VA Technic rider Harris Baxter-Green bagged a podium top step which seems crazy to me, given I saw him spend what seemed like a solid half-hour on Ol' Painless putting his massive size behind half a dozen other riders to help them get up the slope.

Gold riders putting a Silver lining on Ol' Painless

With riders banked along every incline of the switchback, Gold Class winner Sam Rogers just threw down the gauntlet and shot up the side of the busted granite talus scree that just ached to eat rims and tyres, leaving a dozen riders in his wake.

It set the tone for his race, having pulled away from Jakob Petrig on the first lap and in short time, he extended his lead by almost a lap.

Riding with a fractured wrist after a crash and losing 10 minutes digging himself out of a hole on a power hill, it was all Petrig could do to fight from finishing a lap down. But Rogers was faultless and had it in the bag from start to finish.

Start to finish: Sam Rogers dominated the race. And on a borrowed bike no less!

Some big step ups have been made in the ranks since 2024. The most alarming is the launch of young Chase Lardner from his first year of Juniors in 2024 on a KTM150EXC straight into Gold.

Riding the stunning blue LGM Industries 2025 KTM300EXC, I saw him alone on the side of Ol' Painless early in the race and I was very certain he was regretting his life choices.

But he has assured me that he did make the right call going to Gold even though he conceded to learning pivot turns out on the mountain during the race. He finished sixth in Gold class and was all smiles, so who am I to argue with the boy!

No regrets: Chase Lardner jumped up to Gold after only one year in the Junior class.

What a show. MounTurner turned it on and WHES made miracles happen to bring it to the stage.

And, after all of that, who is Don Quixote you ask? The chivilrous hopeless romantic and ever-eager eccentric. The person that eats sleeps and dreams Hard Enduro. The person that we hope never has his lofty rhetoric Sanchified.

I will leave you all to guess!

Any ideas Mr President?

The Sanchification of Don Quixote: when romantic ideology meets reality!!!

As it happens tickets are currently on sale through the W.A. Ballet.