Cycle News Staff | July 5, 2023
Steve Holcombe and Andrea Verona split wins at the EnduroGP of Slovakia, July 1-2. Beta Factory Racing’s Holcombe topped day one and GasGas Factory Racing’s Verona took day two.
Steve Holcombe topped day one at the EnduroGP of Slovakia and is also the new championship leader.
Photos by Future7Meda
Unfortunately, the weekend’s racing was marred by the passing of Slovakian racer Jaroslav Diro during Friday’s Super Test. Despite the best efforts of the onsite medical team, Diro, who was competing in the Enduro Open Four-Stroke class, succumbed to injuries sustained in a fall.
Saturday
Holcombe and Verona battled back and forth all day. It wasn’t until the final tests that Holcombe was able to pull away from Verona, taking the day’s victory by 27 seconds.
Sherco’s Wil Ruprecht finished out the day in third place. Theo Espinasse (Beta) was fourth and Hamish MacDonald (Sherco) was fifth.
Championship leader Brad Freeman (Beta) had a short day after crashing out during the second test.
“Our enduro world was rocked yesterday with the sad passing of Jaroslav Diro in yesterday’s Super test,” said Holcombe. “My thoughts are with his family today, and naturally I want to dedicate this victory to him. As ever Slovakia always puts on a great race and I really enjoyed the tests today. They got chewed out towards the end of the day. I was able to keep pushing hard and come out on top.”
Verona said, “It feels great to be back on the EnduroGP podium after what’s been a difficult couple of rounds. I fought a lot with Steve today, and I feel like I can build on that tomorrow. I would like to send my thoughts to the family and friends of Jaroslav Diro after yesterday’s events.”
Ruprecht had mixed emotions at the end of the day. “It was devastating to learn the passing of Jaroslav Diro and he was in my thoughts all day,” he said. “He was one of us and I send my condolences to his family. Despite the difficult circumstances, it is nice to be back inside the EnduroGP top three after a tough start to the year. The course was good today and I hope to carry my form into tomorrow.”
GasGas Factory’s Andrea Verona got back to his winning ways on Sunday.
Sunday
The final day of racing was a memorable one for Verona with the Italian securing the victory in challenging conditions. Rain and mud made for an interesting day of racing.
In what’s been a difficult season to date for the defending EnduroGP Champion, Verona came good, while making the most of a technical issue suffered by yesterday’s winner Holcombe, to master the mud and rain and claim the overall win.
Holcombe placed a close second to take over the EnduroGP championship points lead while MacDonald secured his debut EnduroGP podium with third. Sweden’s Mikael Persson (Husqvarna) was fourth and Jamie McCanny (Husqvarna) fifth.
“I’m really happy with [the win],” Verona said. “It’s been a great day. It feels incredible to finally get an overall win. The conditions today were super tough in the mud and rain, but I think everyone was finding it tough, so I had to keep pushing and not panic about mistakes. These last few GPs were tough, so I want to thank everyone who helped me get this win.”
“It’s been a fantastic battle with Andrea today in the rain,” said Holcombe. “The conditions were a bit wild out there, so it was a case of battling through. I had an issue on one of the Enduro tests and lost a bunch of time. I gave it everything towards the end, but it wasn’t enough to win. Overall, it’s been a very good race for me, heading into this summer break I’m now leading the EnduroGP and Enduro2 classes, so it will be big motivation to keep working hard and be ready for the final two races in Portugal.”
Not yet fully healed from his collarbone and shoulder injuries from the previous rounds, KTM’s Josep Garcia gutted out top-10 finishes both days.
KTM’s Josep Garcia suffered both days, his recently plated shoulder barely up to the task in the long enduro tests. He sustained a broken collarbone and a dislocated shoulder at the previous GP in Sweden. He limped home in the top 10 both days but did go 3-2 in the E1 class.
“The EnduroGP of Slovakia has been a tough one,” Garcia said. “Unfortunately, a rider passed away while racing the Super Test, which was a very sad moment for our sport. Then on Saturday, I spent the first half of the day trying to find my feeling on the bike—how hard I could push and how was my strength. I felt okay, but after a month off the bike, my endurance wasn’t there. On Sunday morning I woke up feeling terrible and aching everywhere, but I knew I had to carry on. Once the day got going, I found a nice rhythm and even though I wasn’t at 100 percent, I knew I could fight for the win in E1.”
Holcombe leads the championship with 169 points to Freeman’s 151. Verona is third with 145 points and Garcia fourth with 130. CN
Saturday
EnduroGP
- Steve Holcombe (Bet)
- Andrea Verona (GG)
- Wil Ruprecht (She)
- Theo Espinasse (Bet)
- Hamish MacDonald (She)
Sunday
EnduroGP
- Andrea Verona (GG)
- Steve Holcombe (Bet)
- Hamish MacDonald (She)
- Mikael Persson (Hus)
- Jamie McCanney (Hus)