Hard work pays off as Axel Semb takes charge of FIM Junior Enduro World Championship

With four consecutive race wins, Fantic Factory Racing Team’s Axel Semb is the rider to beat in the FIM Junior Enduro World Championship.

Following his dominant run at both the GP of Spain and the Polisport GP of Sweden of the Paulo Duarte FIM EnduroGP World Championship, the 22-year-old Swede has raced ahead with a sizeable points lead in the Junior class.

Fourth both days at round one in Portugal, Axel’s start to the championship practically went unnoticed, never quite challenging the top three.

Now, seven weeks later, all that has rapidly changed, and as we head into the summer break, the young Swede finds himself riding high with an 18-point lead in the Junior class.

“In Portugal, I probably wasn’t as 100 per cent ready as I feel now. So I think that’s the change,” tells Axel, at his home round in Sweden. “Obviously, I really wanted this result, but you never know. I came into the weekend with the mindset of just doing my best, which resulted in going 1-1.”

Modestly playing down his results, Axel’s victories in Sweden were fairly commanding. With over 40 seconds in hand each day, there were times when his race lead exceeded one minute. Dig a little deeper and his day two performance would have slotted him into 10th overall in EnduroGP.

“I felt comfortable on the bike. I wasn’t stressing and was simply going with my flow,” explained Axel, when quizzed about that top-10 overall pace. “For sure, I made mistakes, but they were not the biggest. The only major moment was a crash on the final lap of day one. Otherwise, it was a steady ride, within my level!”

While 2025 is so far going to plan for Axel, he knows not to take anything for granted. In 2024, he began his season with a debut win at round one in Portugal, adding a further two wins to his tally at round two. But it was round three, at the GP of Romania, where things began to unravel. And it’s taken until now to set right.

“In Romania, I hit my head quite hard when leading and it took a long time to come back from that,” he recalls.

“It seemed to follow me all year. It felt like there were struggles to enjoy the racing, both in my riding and in my head, so it’s just nice to find my normal self. It’s been a lot of hard work to just get back to where I know I can be.”

So, as we enter this summer break until the Forsiteservices GP of Wales in early August, are the thoughts of that 18-point championship lead weighing on his mind, or is the goal of winning races all that matters?

“Right now, I want to keep on going like normal and not worry about the standings because there is a long way still to go.

“I’ll try to stay home and spend some time with family and friends, but in between I will keep doing the work.”

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2025 Paulo Duarte FIM EnduroGP World Championship

Round 1: GP of Portugal – Fafe – 4-6 April
Round 2: GP of Spain – Oliana – 2-4 May
Round 3: GP of Sweden – Skövde – 23-25 May
Round 4: GP of Wales – Rhayader – 1-3 August
Round 5: GP of Italy – Darfo Boario Terme – 26-28 September
Round 6: GP of Germany – Zschopau – 17-19 October

2025 Expotrade FIM Women’s Enduro World Championship

Round 1: GP of Portugal – Fafe – 4-6 April
Round 2: GP of Wales – Rhayader – 1-3 August
Round 3: GP of Germany – Zschopau – 17-19 October