BIG BUCKS ON OFFER FOR AEC RACERS!

Yamaha Motor Australia has announced an expanded race contingency program that’s now available to all Yami-mounted riders in the 2026 Australian Enduro Championship (AEC), not just race-team riders. And there’s a total of $345K up for grabs this season alone!

Yamaha Motor Australia (YMA) has been an enormous supporter of enduro/off-road racing in Australia for many years (along with many other racing disciplines). And we’re not just referring to how much YMA has tipped in to help fund both professional race teams and privateer riders over the years. We’re talking about sponsorship – in the form of cold, hard cash as well as logistical and infrastructure support – for the multi-round Australian Enduro Championship (AEC) and for the Australian 4-Day Enduro (A4DE). That’s why Yamaha has been naming rights sponsor for the AEC since its inception in 2005, and for most instalments of the annual A4DE since 2010. So, we weren’t surprised to hear Yamaha’s recent announcement that it will once again be the naming rights partner for the 2026 Australian Enduro Championship.

“This takes the relationship of giving back to the off-road community to well over 20 years for Yamaha,” YMA’s Motorsport Manager, Scott Bishop, told Transmoto. “And it’s not just a matter of throwing over some money. There are also things like the 20 boxes – which is about 40 kilometres – of track bunting used to mark out each and every round of the AEC and donated to the host club.”

But Yamaha’s support for the off-road racing scene doesn’t stop there. For 2026, YMA has expanded its race contingency program for the Australian Enduro Championship by making it available to all riders. It’s called “Yamaha BLU CRU Bonus Bucks” and, as YMA’s Scott Bishop explains, “These bonuses are similar to what we’ve offered team riders in recent years, but 2026 is the first time Yamaha will open up its contingency program to all Yamaha off-road riders in the AEC. The Bonus Bucks are on offer for class and Outright podium finishes at each of the AEC’s 12 rounds and for the final Championship places. The program will apply to the AEC’s major Senior classes – E1, E2, EW and EJ. It doesn’t apply to E3 – as Yamaha doesn’t have a machine for that class – or Junior (U16) riders.

“Regardless of whether you’re on a Yamaha-supported team or just racing the AEC on a Yamaha, a podium result is always worth being rewarded”, Bishop went on to say. “That’s why we elected to make our bonus payments available to all Yamaha riders competing in this year’s AEC. It doesn’t matter whether you are on a YZ, a WR or even a TT-R; standing on the podium at a national event in the Senior Championship classes is a significant result that should be celebrated and rewarded. It is our aim to give deserving riders some financial assistance via podium results and provide further motivation to race the championship on a Yamaha.”

So, how do riders qualify for this financial support from Yamaha?

“We intentionally haven’t put strict restrictions on the program – other than riders will need to start and finish the day on a Yamaha and have the Yamaha logo on the bike. It would be preferable to keep the bike in OEM blue or white, but it’s not essential,” Bishop explained.

To see exactly how many ‘Bonus Bucks’ are on offer for Yami riders at this year’s AEC, check out the table we knocked up (below) from the numbers YMA gave us. We’ve also created another table to calculate the total potential Bonus Bucks payout for YMA ($345,600, assuming every rider in every class is on the podium at every round, and fills every Outright podium), along with a table that tallies what a rider stands to earn if he (or she) nails the perfect AEC season (a cool $141,000!).