Cycle News Staff | August 8, 2022
KTM’s Josep Garcia won both days of the EnduroGP of Hungary, August 6-7, proving he is indeed back after an early-season injury.
Photos by Future7Media
“I can’t believe I’ve managed to win both days this weekend,” said the Spaniard who also competes in the E2 class. “It feels great to have done that. Returning from injury to this block of racing in Slovakia and now here in Hungary, I was a little nervous about my chances. But with a lot of help from my team, family and friends we got it done.”
GasGas Rider Andrea Verona and TM Racing’s Wil Ruprecht, however, continued to battle it out for the overall EnduroGP Championship. Verona held a small points lead coming into the Hungarian round, but it grew to a comfortable 28-point cushion after Ruprecht DNFed with a mechanical on day one and outdueled Ruprecht for second place on day two. With just one round left, the Italian, Verona, is now poised to win the championship.
Verona did, however, clinch the E1-class Championship for the third time. It was also his fifth straight championship including in the Junior division. Thomas Oldrati is second in the class but cannot catch Verona.
“I am really happy with this result, five in a row is amazing,” said Verona on Sunday. “I had a good weekend with 3-2 overall and a double win in E1. Saturday, I crashed many times, and I was a bit disappointed because it cost me a lot of time. Today was better, just one mistake really, and I did some good test times. Now we have a good points leads in EnduroGP and we’ll focus on being as prepared as we can be on the last GP.”
However, all is not lost for Ruprecht who is still in control of the E2 division. He leads Honda’s Nathan Watson of Great Britain by 12 points.
The race for the E3 Championship is still up for grabs. Swede Mikael Persson (Husqvarna) took back the championship lead in Hungary, but not by much. After going 2-2 over the weekend in the class, Persson is just three points ahead of Beta’s Brad Freeman, who struggled with an injury.
Sherco’s Zach Pichon clinched the Junior Championship. “It’s an amazing moment in my life,” said Pichon who will no doubt be the next big name in World Enduro. “Enduro Junior World Champion feels so good and it’s going to take a bit of time for this to sink in. This is my first season in enduro, and I can’t believe how well it’s gone.” CN
ENDUROGP
Day One
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- Josep Garcia (KTM)
- Nathan Watson (Hon)
- Andrea Verona (GG)
- Jamie McCanney (Hus)
- Alex Salvini (Hus)
Day Two
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- Josep Garcia (KTM)
- Andrea Verona (GG)
- Wil Ruprect (TM)
- Marc Sans (Hus)
- Hugo Blanjoue (KTM)