Image: Supplied.

Former EnduroGP title-winner Wil Ruprecht will return to home soil in 2025, returning to ShopYamaha Off-Road Racing in the rebranded Australian Enduro Championship (AEC).

After departing Australia in 2018 as the national E1 champion, Ruprecht achieved international success in becoming one of only four Australians to win the Enduro World Championship. Now, he’s reunited with the ShopYamaha team that helped launch his career.

“I have remained in contact with AJ Roberts over the years and he has been a bit of a sounding board for my career during my time in Europe,” said Ruprecht. “So when I mentioned to him that I was thinking of coming home, he was quickly able to get something together for me.

“Racing the World Enduro Championship has been an amazing experience where I have met and worked with some great people and I wouldn’t change it, but the time was right to come back to Australia. AJ always told me something would be here for me when I came back, so I’m excited to work with him again.

“It’s also come at a good time as Motorcycling Australia (MA) is revamping the Australian championship with a new look and some changes to the racing, and hopefully, I can assist them in achieving a higher profile for off-road racing in Australia.

“So far things are going well and I’m settling back into the Australian way of life, but the opening rounds aren’t too far away, so it’s time to get serious and get after it.”

The 26-year-old Ruprecht will team up with ShopYamaha Off-Road Racing regular Will Dennett in an all-E2 roster onboard the WR450F when the series begins in Kempsey, New South Wales, this March. His grand prix championship came within the E2 class in 2022 while riding for TM.

Meanwhile, reigning E1 champion Kyron Bacon is expected to head overseas full-time, though details of which team the highly-rated Tasmanian will ride for are yet to be confirmed.