Source: Supplied.

An incredible Junior class victory in a guest appearance with Johansson Yamaha Official Junior Enduro Team for Wil Ruprecht at the weekend’s FIM Maxxis EnduroGP World Champion finale in Germany has promoted a target of obtaining a full-time seat in the series for 2019.

Ruprecht, who finished this year’s Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) seventh in the E2 standings after missing the first two rounds with Yamalube Active8 Yamaha, stunned the Junior category in Saturday’s stage when he claimed a convincing victory before earning seventh on day two for third in the J1 division.

The youthful talent says he’s eager to make the transition to the world stage in hopes of achieving his goal of earning a world title, with his performance at the weekend only strengthening his desire.

“It’s been an amazing weekend for me and I want to thank the Johansson team for giving me the opportunity to race the EnduroGP World Championship,” Ruprecht explained. “This is where I want to end up and hopefully secure a few world championships in the future. Coming to Germany I didn’t know where I would end up, so decided to ride within my potential.

“I’ve been riding a Yamaha 450F back home so jumping on the team’s WR250F was a bit of a change. I really enjoyed racing their bike during the weekend here in Germany. I felt really strong on day one and was happy to get the victory.

“On day two I was leading for the first two laps, but a few unfortunate mistakes forced me to settle for seventh. Overall, it’s been an awesome experience to race with the best junior riders in the world and I hope I can be back next year to race the full series.”

Ruprecht earned an AORC Junior title in 2016 before making the move to E1 in 2017, which saw him once again claim top honours in the series rankings.