VERONA TAKES MAIDEN OVERALL ISDE WIN

KTM’s Andrea Verona has finally beaten his teammate, Josep Garcia, to the individual honours at the ISDE in Portugal, spearheading Team Italy’s World Trophy win in the process.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Josep Garcia arrived in Portugal chasing a record sixth individual Six-Day win on the trot! Instead, his KTM teammate, Italy’s Andrea Verona – who took almost 30 seconds out of Garcia on day one – held on to win by the sort of margin that makes for a long flight home for the Spaniard. Verona also led Team Italy to the World Trophy victory, while Red Bull KTM Factory Racing also took the Manufacturer’s Team Award.

Here’s what the KTM team said about their uber-successful ISDE…

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Verona has secured his first ever individual win at the 6DAYS following a memorable performance in Grândola, Portugal. In addition, and to round out an exceptional season of racing, the reigning Enduro2 World Champion secured the World Trophy title as part of Team Italy. Teammate Josep Garcia finished as a close runner-up in the individual standings, helping Team Spain to fifth overall at the 100th edition of the prestigious event.

On the opening day of 6DAYS 2026, Verona kicked the event off with a blistering pace to top the timesheets by almost 30 seconds over Garcia. Through the remaining days, the Italian maintained his speed and consistency, finishing second on the next three stages before slipping to third on the penultimate day of racing. Then, in the final cross test, the KTM 450EXC-F rider finished second to round out his exceptional week and secure victory in the individual classification – a result that helped him win the World Trophy category with Team Italy and the Enduro2 category.

Andrea Verona: “It’s the end of day six and I’m really happy! I’ve won my first individual 6DAYS title, which is an amazing feeling, and we’ve also won both the World Trophy and Junior World Trophy with Team Italy, so it’s been an incredible event for all of us. The final motocross test went well. I got a good start and settled into second place, which was enough to secure the overall victory. I’m really happy with how everything went and especially with the final result. I want to say a huge thank you to everyone involved, especially Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Team Italy for all their hard work and support throughout the week. It’s been an amazing 6DAYS!”

Arriving in Grândola with a record-breaking run of five individual victories to his name at the 6DAYS, Garcia was focused on making it six. Ultimately, losing close to 30 seconds to Verona on day one proved costly, although the Spaniard rebounded in style to win the next three days and finish second on Stage 5 to reduce the deficit to under 10 seconds. However, in the final cross test, he placed eighth and missed out on taking a sixth individual victory. Garcia’s solid performance at the 6DAYS secured first overall in the Enduro1 classification.

Josep Garcia: “The 6DAYS is done and Team Spain finished fifth overall, while I was second in the individual classification. As always, I gave it everything I had, but just came up short of victory. The heat made things more difficult today and I suffered a little bit out there, but I gave it my best. I’m really proud of myself and the whole team for what we’ve achieved. A huge thank you to everyone who has supported us throughout the week.”

Adding to KTM’s success at 6DAYS 2026, the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team of Verona, Garcia, and American Grant Davis comfortably secured the Manufacturer’s Team Award. Representing Team USA in the Women’s World Trophy category, FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Brandy Richards won the class together with teammates Korie Steede and Rachel Gutish by a considerable margin of nine minutes and 23 seconds.

Fabio Farioli – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Enduro Team Manager: “It’s been an amazing 6DAYS. Both riders have fought hard since the very first day, and I have to congratulate them because they’ve both ridden incredibly well. When you have two riders fighting for the overall victory, with one finishing first and the other second, naturally one is happier than the other, and I’m really proud of both of them. Despite some challenging conditions with the dust and a few organisational issues, they continued to perform at their very best throughout the week. For KTM to also take victory in the Manufacturer’s Team Award is fantastic. We’ve shown incredible strength throughout the event, and the results are a reflection of all the hard work that has gone into preparing for this race.”