IN
THE
WIND
P44
HOLCOMBE EMERGES VICTORIOUS AT
FRENCH GP
A
fter day one of the French
stop of the FIM Enduro
World Championship, it looked
as though things were falling
Alex Salvini's way. The Italian
managed to nab the win on day
one from Beta rider Steve Hol-
combe by a fraction of a second.
Holcombe held a comfortable
lead all day only to succumb to
Husqvarna-mounted Salvini in
the last test, leaving Holcombe
to collect second ahead of Beta
Boano's Brad Freeman. It was a
thrilling victory for Salvini after a
rough start to his day.
"I really started the day very
badly by hitting a tree on the first
stage," said Salvini. "Holcombe
took the opportunity to take nine
seconds out of me. In the same
test, on the next lap, I made
another mistake and he took
another nine more! But I did not
give up and gave everything in
the Super Straight (final test)—it
paid off!"
Day two was a marked reversal
of fortune Holcombe, who not
only won the day, but emerged
with a significant lead in the title
chase after Salvini struggled with
electrical problems. Salvini sal-
vaged a 12th-place finish, which
allowed Holcombe to stretch his
championship lead to 30 points.
Even with Salvini's struggles,
it wasn't an easy win for Hol-
combe, who had an ambitious
Christophe Nambotin to deal
with, the Frenchman eager to
please his home crowd with a
win. But Holcombe was able
to pull off the win, much to his
relief.
"I was not really happy with my
second place yesterday," said
Holcombe. "The plan today was
to avoid the stupid falls that cost
me the victory; I did that! With
the misfortunes of Salvini, I can
arrive in Germany a little calmer,
even though the plan remains to
win!"
The final step of the Endu-
roGP podium was a fight to the
finish between TM rider Eero
Remes and Beta-mounted
Christophe Charlier, with the
spot ultimately going to Remes
by a mere 0.25 of a second.
Yamaha's Loic Larrieu rounded
out Sunday's overall top-five.
Enduro World Championship
racers now head to the final
round of 2018 in Germany on
October 13-14, where champions
will be crowned. CN
EnduroGP
SATURDAY:
1. Alex Salvini (Hus)
2. Steve Holcombe (Bet)
3. Brad Freeman (Bet)
4. Eero Remes (TM)
5. Loic Larrieu (Yam)
SUNDAY:
1. Steve Holcombe (Bet)
2. Christophe Nambotin (GG)
3. Eero Remes (TM)
4. Christophe Charlier (Bet)
5. Loic Larrieu (Yam)
Beta rider Steve
Holcombe is
one step closer
to defending his
EnduroGP world
championship.
