VOLUME 57 ISSUE 39 SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 P33
Battle Of The Betas In EnduroGP
F
actory Beta riders Brad Free-
man and Steve Holcombe
traded wins at the GP of Italy in
Spoleto, September 26-27.
Reigning World Champion
Freeman delivered a perfect
performance on Saturday. From
the start of the day, the Brit took
the lead and never relinquished
it. Consistent and quick all day,
he always kept his opponents at
least 30 seconds behind him.
He won all three special tests on
the first lap and remained in the
top three for all the rest. Freeman
therefore won the day by more
than 45 seconds ahead of his
teammate and rival, Holcombe,
who won both rounds the previ-
ous week.
"I started with the wrong setup
and some bike issues," said Hol-
combe. "So, I couldn't relax and
my riding style was therefore not
like it usually is."
Third on the day was Italian
Thomas Oldrati (Honda).
Rain and chilly weather greet-
ed the racers on Sunday. As a re-
sult, the organizers were forced
to make changes to the course,
and the cream rose to the top.
This time, Holcombe dominated
this day. Even in the middle of
the deluge, Holcombe remained
master of his discipline. His bike
problems of the day before were
forgotten, and the Brit was able
to relax into a strong rhythm. He
nevertheless had to keep a close
eye on Freeman.
The 2019 EnduroGP World
Champion, Freeman, was threat-
ening during the first lap, the gap
between the two even dropping
below half a second at times. But
Freeman was forced to let victory
slip through his fingers, losing
a few seconds to Holcombe in
each of the tests on the last laps.
He had to settle for second.
Third on Sunday was French-
man Loic Larrieu (TM), who was
more than a minute behind the
British duo. CN
Steve Holcombe won again in
EnduroGP, but it wasn't a perfect
weekend. PHOTO: FUTURE7MEDIA
