2020 Portugal FIM EnduroGP Results
Cycle News Staff | November 10, 2020
Beta’s Steve Holcombe and KTM’s Josep Garcia split wins in the second-to-last round—the Acerbis GP of Portugal—of the 2020 FIM EnduroGP Championship, November 7-8. Holcombe started off the weekend with Saturday’s EnduroGP (overall) win, while Garcia ended it with the win on Sunday.
Saturday’s race was ultimately decided in the last special test. Holcombe’s Beta teammate Brad Freeman held a slim 2.17-second lead over Holcombe, who let it rip in the final test and ended up taking the day’s victory by just 1.76 seconds over Freeman!
“I’m so upset and disappointed!” Freeman said. “I really thought I’d set a good time on the last special test, or at least enough to ensure the victory. And then Steve arrived and set a crazy-fast time!”
Competing in his first EnduroGP in three years, Garcia managed to find his way on to the podium in third.
Garcia found his groove on Sunday, winning by a full 15 seconds over Freeman. Holcombe ended up third but heads into the final race of the season next week at the same venue with a seven-point lead over his teammate, Freeman.
In the E1 class (up to 250cc two- and four-stroke), TM rider Andrea Verona leads Honda’s Thomas Oldrati by just three points going into the final. Holcombe leads the way in E2 (250-plus two-stroke up to 450cc four-stroke), and Freeman leads the E3 category (250-plus two-stroke and 450-plus four-stroke).