Cycle News Staff | May 31, 2023
Beta’s Brad Freeman and KTM’s Josep Garcia shared day wins at the FIM EnduroGP World Championship in Finland, May 27-28. Freeman took the win Saturday and Garcia Sunday.
Photos by Future7Media
The opening day of competition at round three of the championship in Heinola was a battle of the ages. Freeman best managed the rugged, old-school enduro terrain to claim his fifth consecutive EnduroGP day victory. Teammate Steve Holcombe was next best in second, with Garcia third. All three won their respective Enduro3, Enduro2, and Enduro1 categories.
Freeman was quick to attack on the opening Enduro Test. Stopping the clock over 15 seconds faster than Holcombe.
Although losing a little time on the opening Extreme Test won by Holcombe, Freeman duly won the following cross test and enduro test to extend his lead. A mistake from Holcombe on the final cross test offered some added breathing room to Freeman’s lead as he held strong to win the day.
Garcia steadily progressed during the day. Needing more time than he hoped to adjust to the terrain, he ended his day with a solid final lap for third overall.
Coming through for his best result of the season, CH Racing Sherco’s Hamish MacDonald finally cracked the top five with fourth.
Closing out the top five, the battle for fifth between GasGas rider Andrea Verona and Beta-mounted Theo Espinasse went right to the wire. Coming down to the final test, Verona narrowly beat Espinasse by half of a second.
The tables turned on the second day of competition with Garcia emerging as victor. Overnight the Spaniard found that little bit extra needed to fight with the leading duo of Freeman and Holcombe, and duly won.
Showing solid pace in the closing stages of day one, Garcia knew the Enduro Test was his weak point. Despite having just completed six hours of racing, he headed back out into the forest that evening to walk the special test again and find some gains.
That tactic paid off and by winning the opening cross test, the Spaniard was up to speed with his rivals. Freeman attacked on the opening enduro test to lead over Holcombe and Garcia, but with Garcia answering back with the fastest time on the first extreme test, Freeman’s advantage was not as big as he’d hoped for.
Lap two saw Garcia fastest again on the cross test and extreme test. But with a crash from Freeman on the enduro test the tables had turned. Holcombe was now in control of the race lead as they began the third and final lap, with Garcia second and Freeman third.
Again, Garcia topped the enduro test on lap three to see the lead change once more. But with the enduro test to follow, the pressure was on. With conditions now at their toughest, the Spaniard was incredibly fastest for the first time that weekend. And with enough in hand on the final extreme test, he played his cards just right to take a memorable win.
For Holcombe it looked like he also had the better of his teammate. However, despite having three seconds in hand entering the final test, it wasn’t to be. A brilliant effort from Freeman on the extreme test saw him snatch the runner-up result by just 0.7 seconds.
Verona broke through for fourth, finishing 14 seconds ahead of Sherco rider Hamish MacDonald. CN
SATURDAY
- Brad Freeman (Bet)
- Steve Holcombe (Bet)
- Josep Garcia (KTM)
- Hamish MacDonald (She)
- Andrea Verona (GG)
SUNDAY
- Josep Garcia (KTM)
- Brad Freeman (Bet)
- Steve Holcombe (Bet)
- Andrea Verona (GG)
- Hamish McDonald (She)