IN
THE
WIND
P40
EnduroGP Gets Green Flag In Portugal
T
he 2021 FIM EnduroGP World
Championship finally got
underway in Portugal, June 19-20,
with Beta's Brian Freeman coming
away with the overall victory in the
EnduroGP (overall) class. He also
topped the Enduro 3 class.
Freeman got things started with
the opening-day win over Beta
teammate Steve Holcombe by
nearly 36 seconds, with KTM's
Josep Garcia taking third 52.6 sec-
onds behind the winner, Freeman.
Holcombe's season got off
to an auspicious start when the
defending champion overshot a
turn in the very first special test
and buried his bike in the mud,
losing approximately 40 seconds
in the process.
On day two, TM rider Wil Rupre-
cht, of Australia, came from behind
to edge out Freeman by 8.48
seconds and take the win, with
Holcombe third and Garcia fourth.
It was Ruprecht's first career win.
"It's awesome to get my first
EnduroGP win, I'm so happy with
that," said Ruprecht on Sunday.
"Today was a tough day, the tests
were so rough after day one.
Everyone was on the limit today,
pushing for the win. Winning in
these conditions, against these
riders, is crazy and will take a while
to sink in what's just happened. It's
been a brilliant weekend and an
incredible way to start the season."
In the overall ranking, Freeman
took top honors over Rupretch,
with Holcombe taking third and
Garcia rounding out the podium.
Holcombe was the overall win-
ner in Enduro 2 over Rupretch
and Garcia.
In the Women's class, six-time
champ Lais Sanz (GasGas) came
out strong on day one, taking the
win, but struggled in what were
wetter conditions on day two,
finishing third.
GasGas rider Mireia Badia
edged out Jane Daniels (Fantic)
by two seconds for the win. Sanz
finished 12 seconds behind Badia
to claim third.
CN
ENDUROGP
Day One
1. Brian Freeman (Bet)
2. Steve Holcombe (Bet)
3. Josep Garcia (KTM)
Day Two
1. Wil Rupretch (TM)
2. Brian Freeman (Bet)
3. Steve Holcombe (Bet)
Beta's Brian Freeman
got the 2021 FIM
EnduroGP season
started with the
overall victory.
PHOTO: FUTURE7MEDIA
