Aussie grit for Ricky Madden at the FIM Enduro Vintage Trophy

Team Australia are one of the furthest-travelled nations competing in this year’s FIM Enduro Vintage Trophy (EVT) in Zschopau, Germany, but the lure of vintage enduro is too hard for them to resist, believes Ricky Madden.

With around four hundred and thirty riders from over seventeen nations competing, the tenth edition of the FIM EVT is proving to be one of the strongest editions yet.

Australia have long been advocates of the event and are once again passionately supporting it in 2026.

Ricky Madden (Maico), Ashley Sprenger (Husqvarna) and Andrew Dennett (Husqvarna) have all made the long trip from Australia to Germany to compete and are embracing this annual festival of vintage enduro.

“Obviously, coming from Australia isn’t the easiest thing to do,” says Madden. “To get our bikes here, we’ve had to fly them to Europe, which was expensive. But it is what it is and we make it work for us.”

For Madden, it has taken many late nights in his garage just to get his Maico GS 400 ready to come here.

“The bike I’m racing is one I found in Australia,” he explains. “It had been in pieces for about forty years, but I have been able to restore it and get it ready to race again.”

Zschopau is the sixty-one-year-old’s third time racing the FIM EVT. And like so many others competing, it is an event that has reignited his passion for racing.

“I raced a lot of 6DAYS® when I was younger, and when you finish them, you think that’s it. But the FIM EVT gives you another opportunity to come back again and keep racing.

“I’m sixty-one years old now, but I’m still racing against the guys I raced with over thirty years ago. So I think that’s ultimately why we love doing this race and never want to miss it.”