Rachel Gutish: Winning two world titles and finding a home in FIM EnduroGP

Winning the Expotrade FIM Women’s Enduro World Championship at the GP of Portugal II in Fafe, RIEJU Factory Team’s Rachel Gutish became the first world champion crowned in the 2026 Paulo Duarte FIM EnduroGP World Championship.

Starting out the season as the Expotrade FIM Women’s Enduro World Champion, many expected RIEJU Factory Team’s Rachel Gutish to successfully defend her title. Her proven pace, consistency, support from RIEJU, and sheer determination to succeed put her on paper, at least, as the rider to beat.

But somehow, when she fulfilled those expectations at the GP of Portugal II, the penultimate round of the Expotrade Women’s Enduro category, it seemed to come as surprise, even to Rachel herself.

After the podium celebrations on Sunday evening in Fafe, we sat down on the grass with Rachel, in the shade of the Portuguese sun, to ask if the realisation of becoming a two-time world champion had begun to sink in…

Congratulations, Rachel, you’ve done it again! Are you beginning to feel like a two-time world champion yet?

Rachel Gutish: “It feels a little weird to wrap the title up in mid-June, which makes this interview hard. I don’t know how I feel, so we’ll go with happy! Really, we just didn’t expect it to happen so soon. We weren’t prepared and were kind of flat footed. For sure, I feel like I should be happier, and I know that will come. Honestly, I’m just glad to be sat down on the grass and smiling because I’m tired after that race!”

How were the nerves starting out this morning, knowing the title was possible? And how did it compare to how you felt on the morning of winning your first world title?

“I was less nervous today than at the final round last year in Germany because I knew even if it didn’t happen today, then I still had time. I felt that I could have had a catastrophe today and I would still be in a position to pull off the championship in Wales. However, I did have a double espresso this morning, like in Germany, and I was jittery lining up for that first special test, so no more coffee for me, it doesn’t sit well!”

As the world champion, did that put a target on your back coming into the 2026 season?

“I felt less pressure this season. I will never again be the first American to do this, and for me that was what last year was all about. Nobody from my country had won before. So now that it’s done, this year was about going for it again and having fun with it. I just love riding my dirt bike and I feel lucky I get to do this for a job.”

Rewinding back to round one in Sicily and round two in Spain, we saw some up and down moments, some unforced errors, how did you deal with those and keep pushing forward?

“My Dad says my biggest enemy is myself. I’ve beaten myself more often than others have beaten me. On day one in Sicily, I don’t know how that happened – to check-in one minute early like that. I’ve done 10 6DAYS, so I was upset at myself for that mistake.

“Failing the sound test was frustrating because it was something we weren’t able to solve at the time, due to the new bike and new mapping system. But after that happened, I went home, got sound testing equipment and worked on it. With the team, we tried different exhaust packing and mapping, and now we’re within the safe decibel margin. Unfortunately, I was sick on day two in Spain. I felt awful, but I knew I had to tough that out. I don’t think anyone in our class is a quitter. If we were prone to giving up, we’d have left this sport a long time ago!”

We can see the high level of support RIEJU have for Women’s Enduro, fielding both you and Rosie Rowett. You have rewarded them with two world titles, and before that Mireia Badia won in 2024. What does that mean for you to represent them?

“We don’t get a lot of support in Women’s Enduro, we work full time. Most of us are heading back to work between races. And those are sacrifices you don’t see from the podium. We can’t train full time the way others do. So from first to 12th, there are no quitters.

“At the beginning of 2025, Sherco USA went bankrupt and I lost my ride there. I thought I was done racing because I had no support in March. When Mireia Badia retired with RIEJU, they called and I immediately signed. They gave me a second lease on life. Actually, Mireia is now the new team manager, so they have a female team manager, too. This is another reason why I want to ride for them. I feel they are the most progressive team in the paddock.”

As a two-time world champion, do you think is it time others took a lead on this to grow the championship further?

“There will always be some reluctance among teams to spend money when they don’t have to. In the States, we now have three or four full-time factory riders who make a salary and race for a living. Part of the reason is because the person who manages the KTM Offroad team is heavily involved in the USA’s 6DAYS team and he realised that if he wanted a competitive women’s team, like he had with World and Junior, he needed women to race, train and ride full time. So he supported them through KTM, GASGAS and Husqvarna. That resulted in other teams following his lead. Yamaha and Kawasaki now have a female rider. So once the ball is rolling, momentum builds. In EnduroGP, we don’t have an imperative reason yet to support the women.

“I do have two ideas. Similar to the FIM E-Xplorer series, we could have a duo championship, where each team combines top male and female riders for a standalone EnduroGP title. It would be a slow entry, but would build. There needs value added instead of enforcement.

“Secondly, we need structural changes as to how the manufacturer’s championship is scored. Right now its Enduro1, Enduro2 and Enduro3, what would be better if riders of all gender and categories were scored. Count top EnduroGP rider, top Women Enduro, and top Open Enduro – if we’re trying to prove whose motorcycle works best that’s a better way to showcase it. It would give the manufacturers an incentive to want to support it. These are changes that would work and could be easily implemented.”

Is a five-round championship enough or would you like to go to a full seven-round championship?

“Right now, less rounds makes racing in EnduroGP accessible for women riders. I’m afraid that if we push too hard and too fast, without the buy-in of the teams, then the championship will be myself and Rosie Rowett with RIEJU, and maybe Francesca Nocera on Honda because no one else could afford it.”

The final round of the Expotrade Women’s Enduro will be the Forsiteservices GP of Wales, what will the mindset be like going there as the newly crowned world champion?

“I’m looking forward to it. The past two years were dry, so I’m told I’ve yet to race a proper muddy Welsh enduro. But in general, I do feel like I’ve found a home here in EnduroGP. I like being here, like I belong here more than in the States. I didn’t think that would happen racing 3000 miles from home, but it did. This is where I’m meant to be, and what I’m meant to be doing. And I want to keep doing it!”

Congratulations on your world title, Rachel, on behalf of everyone in the Paulo Duarte FIM EnduroGP World Championship!

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2026 Paulo Duarte FIM EnduroGP World Championship

Round 1: GP of Italy – Custonaci, Sicily – 10-12 April
Round 2: GP of Spain – Oliana – 1-3 May
Round 3: GP of Finland – Vierumäki, Salpausselkä – 22-24 May
Round 4: GP of Portugal – Fafe – 12-14 June
Round 5: GP of Portugal II – Fafe – 19-21 June
Round 6: GP of France – Saint-Agrève – 17-19 July
Round 7: GP of Wales – Rhayader – 7-9 August

2026 Expotrade FIM Women’s Enduro World Championship
Round 1: GP of Italy – Custonaci, Sicily – 10-12 April
Round 2: GP of Spain – Oliana – 1-3 May
Round 3: GP of Portugal – Fafe – 12-14 June
Round 4: GP of Portugal II – Fafe – 19-21 June
Round 5: GP of Wales – Rhayader – 7-9 August