Cycle News Staff | June 25, 2024
Josep Garcia and Andrea Verona traded day victories at the FIM EnduroGP of Italy, June 22-23. The race was round four of the FIM EnduroGP World Championship.
Josep Garcia won day one of the EnduroGP of Italy and is the Championship points leader.
The opening day of racing saw Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Garcia charge to victory. The Spaniard headed Beta Factory Racing’s Brad Freeman in second, with GasGas Factory Racing’s Verona third. The KTM rider, Garcia, secured a 10-second winning margin in EnduroGP, along with a very healthy 44-second victory in Enduro1.
“It’s been a great day, but very hard,” Garcia said. “The Extreme test was super tough and was easy to make a mistake on.”
“I’m happy with this result,” Freeman said, “but know there is still more to come because I made a few too many mistakes.”
After the scorching heat on day one, day two was a contrasting mud bath. Heavy overnight rain ensured the dust of day one would be a distant memory, as riders battled slippery special tests littered with mudholes.
Andrea Verona topped day two by half a second.
The racing was tight all day and, in the end, to the homecrowd’s delight, Verona took the day’s win by a whisker. In the wet and wild weather, the Italian narrowly beat Honda Racing RedMoto Enduro Team’s Steve Holcombe by half a second.
“It feels amazing to win today at home,” Verona said. “I was fighting all day long with Steve. I gapped him a little until I crashed in the last Enduro test and I lost everything. On the final test, I went full gas and managed to take the time back and win by half a second.”
“It never feels good to lose the race on the last test, but I rode good today,” Holcombe said. “Andrea just pipped me in the final test by half a second. Conditions today were wet and wild, so I’m pleased to have been strong in the mud.”
Honda rider Steve Holcombe went 4-2 over the weekend.
Saturday’s winner, Garcia, was third on Sunday. “It was a tough day for me,” Garcia said. “I crashed in the Enduro test and got stuck in the trees. I lost nearly 50 seconds. So, from that point, I was only thinking to recover. Coming back to third in EnduroGP is a like a win for me today for sure!”
In the overall EnduroGP Championship, Garcia leads with 144 points, followed by Verona with 134 points and Holcombe with 128 points. Brad Freeman (85) and Nathan Watson (80) round out the top five.CN
ENDUROGP (Top 5)
Saturday
- Josep Garcia (KTM)
- Brad Freeman (Bet)
- Andrea Verona (GG)
- Steve Holcombe (Hon)
- Nathan Watson (Bet)
Sunday
- Andrea Verona (GG)
- Steve Holcombe (Hon)
- Josep Garcia (KTM)
- Antoine Magain (She)
- Zach Pichon (She)
