Opening Note

Austria today, two Spaniards level on points, one of them with five wins and the other with one. Lettenbichler has matched Jarvis at Romaniacs. BDR has released a new 520-mile loop in Idaho. onX has added emergency rescue to an app people already carry into the backcountry. This is a fuller issue than most, and Mads is grateful that the sport and the road have been cooperative.

MotoGP · Austrian Grand Prix · Red Bull Ring · Round 15 of 22 · Race Day

This issue goes out before the race, which begins at 13:00 local time and will be finished by the time most of you read this. What can be said with confidence is that the championship arrives in Austria in precisely the condition one would construct for maximum drama: Márquez and Martín level on 274 points, separated in the standings only by the number of Grand Prix victories each has accumulated — five for Márquez, one for Martín. Bezzecchi is 33 points behind in third, which is close enough that a win here combined with the right misfortune ahead of him would make things very interesting indeed.

Martín took pole on Saturday by 0.015 seconds — a margin that tells us Aprilia's RS-GP26 is comfortable at the Red Bull Ring, and that Martín arrived with something to prove after his arm-pump fifth at Misano. Acosta is third on the grid, Bezzecchi fourth. KTM's home circuit has historically produced at least one moment of significance for the orange machines; Acosta qualifying third suggests the tradition may continue. Bagnaia is seventh, which is better than recent form suggested was possible, and which Ducati will note with something between relief and concern.

Grid — Top Five

One statistical footnote that deserves mention: Márquez's recovery from 102 points behind after Mugello to championship leader is, per official MotoGP records, the largest deficit overturned to take the lead in the championship's history. Whether this is the narrative the season ultimately concludes with remains entirely unclear. There are 175 points still available. Austria marks the end of the European leg. The championship now travels east. Follow the full standings.

RawHyde Wild Card Rally · October 16–18 · Mojave Desert — three weeks out

Three weeks to the RawHyde Wild Card Rally at ZAKAR — and for anyone still deliberating, the window for early-bird pricing at $395 is the relevant detail. Standard registration is $450. The event runs October 16–18 at RawHyde's hundred-acre Mojave Desert facility in Mojave, California, with GPS-guided routes through Jawbone Canyon OHV, half-day riding clinics led by experienced instructors, chef-prepared meals, and a Saturday night casino that requires a specific temperament to describe without sounding like a travel brochure. Camping and dry RV spots are available on-site. The Mojave in mid-October is, for what it is worth, genuinely good riding weather.

Also worth noting: Barber Vintage Festival is October 9–11 in Leeds, Alabama — the 21st edition and the first since the death of founder George W. Barber. Between Barber and ZAKAR, October presents the unusual problem of having two compelling reasons to ride to different parts of the country within a single fortnight. One does what one can.

Romaniacs 2026 — Lettenbichler matches Jarvis, CFMoto sweeps the Adventure classes

The 23rd Red Bull Romaniacs — themed "Unstoppable," which proved to be an accurate description of at least one competitor — took place July 28 through August 1 in Sibiu, Romania. Manuel Lettenbichler won the Gold class overall by just over an hour, claiming his seventh career victory and equalling Graham Jarvis's all-time record at the event. The German, riding his factory KTM 300 EXC, controlled the race from the opening Off-Road stage, with four consecutive wins suggesting that "controlled" may be understood rather generously. Teodor Kabakchiev finished second; South Africa's James Moore was third in what the coverage described as a superb performance. Jarvis, for the record, contested the race on an electric bike and finished in the outright top twenty, which is either an advertisement for electric off-road machines or an advertisement for Graham Jarvis, depending on where one's loyalties lie.

The Adventure class, which has been expanding rapidly, produced the more unexpected narrative. Mario Román Serrano and CFMOTO — a pairing that would have seemed implausible five years ago at an event of this stature — swept all three Adventure categories. Román won Adventure Ultimate on a CFMOTO 450MT, winning the Prologue and three of four Off-Road days, finishing 14 minutes and 40 seconds ahead of Pol Tarrés. Rene Columna took Adventure Core; He Guishu claimed Adventure Lite. CFMOTO also filled the entire Adventure Lite podium. For a brand that most western riders still regard with residual suspicion, this is precisely the kind of result that makes continued suspicion difficult to sustain. Sam Sunderland, riding Triumph's Tiger 900 in Adventure Core, finished second despite completing the final Off-Road day with a broken clutch lever — which is either commendable determination or evidence that two-time Dakar winners approach mechanical failures with an equanimity unavailable to the rest of us.

Hells Canyon BDR-X released · IDBDR and COBDR closures · onX SOS launches

BDR's most significant 2026 release landed in August: the Hells Canyon BDR-X, a 520-mile adventure motorcycle loop circumnavigating Hells Canyon — the deepest river gorge in North America — across Idaho and Oregon. The route was unveiled on August 7 during the inaugural Yamaha Ténéré Trek Owner's Rally at Tamarack Resort in Donnelly, Idaho. GPX tracks are available now at ridebdr.com. This is a purpose-built BDR-X route, which means more technical terrain than the standard BDR routes and a design oriented toward skilled riders on capable machines rather than a wide-open format. If you've been looking for a reason to spend time in Idaho's backcountry beyond the standard IDBDR, this is a compelling one.

Active closures worth noting before you go: the IDBDR has a wildfire bypass required on Section 2 (MM115 Fire — temporary track available, labeled IDBDR-August2026-V2); the COBDR's Section 2 ALT Harder via Ophir Pass is closed weekdays through September 11 due to mine remediation works, with weekends open; and the WABDR has significant closures on Sections 4, 5, and 6 due to active wildfire north of Conconully. Always download the latest GPS tracks immediately before departure — the BDR website updates these in real time and the version you downloaded six months ago may not reflect current conditions.

onX launched onX SOS in July — an in-app emergency assistance service available as a $49.99/year add-on to existing onX Offroad subscriptions. The service connects to Overwatch x Rescue's 24/7 Crisis Response Center via cellular or satellite SMS, coordinates rescue, and covers evacuation costs with no monetary cap and no claims process to file. A tap of the in-app SOS button transmits GPS coordinates and account information to professional coordinators. The honest caveat, well-articulated elsewhere: onX SOS runs on your phone. It is not a Garmin inReach. It does not replace a dedicated satellite communicator for serious backcountry use. What it does do is add a meaningful safety layer to an app most riders already carry, at a price point significantly below standalone satellite subscription services. For riders whose use case is primarily route-following in areas with intermittent cell coverage — which describes the majority of BDR riding — it is worth considering.

Stark VARG SM Sköll · WABDR Fifth Edition map · Suzuki SV-7GX confirmed

Stark Future has revealed the VARG SM Sköll — a numbered limited edition of 500 units based on the electric VARG SM, priced at £12,990, which is £1,000 above the standard machine. The blacked-out specification is the relevant detail: dark anodising throughout, minimal graphics, the general aesthetic of something that would prefer not to be looked at directly. First deliveries are due before the end of the year. Mads is, in principle, resistant to limited edition motorcycles as a category; they tend to represent a paint scheme and a production number rather than a meaningful engineering revision, and the premium charged for the distinction is rarely justified by the object itself. The Sköll is an exception in one respect: it is genuinely striking, and 500 units is few enough that the designation carries some weight. Whether £1,000 of weight is a matter for the individual.

Suzuki has confirmed the SV-7GX for 2027, sharing an updated engine with the SV650. The SV-7GX sits in an interesting position: a middleweight adventure bike for riders who are not entirely certain they want a middleweight adventure bike, which is not as small a market as it sounds. More detail as the full specification arrives.

On the practical side: BDR has released the WABDR Fifth Edition 2026 map, corresponding to the significant route revision that marks the Washington BDR's 15th anniversary. If you are planning a WABDR run, the updated print map is now available and the GPS tracks have been substantially revised — particularly in Sections 2 and 3, both of which have changed from the previous version. The new tracks are labelled WABDR-June2026. Download them before you go.