Holcombe, Garcia Share EnduroGP
Of Sweden Wins
B
eta's Steve Holcombe
and KTM's Josep Gar-
cia both spent time at the
top of the box during the
FIM EnduroGP of Sweden,
June 2-4. Garcia kicked
things off with the overall
victory on day one, but
Holcombe came back to
win day two.
Going head-to-head with
Beta's Brad Freeman, Gar
-
cia narrowly beat his rival
for the win on day one by
just eight seconds after
almost one hour and 30
minutes of timed racing.
Proving just how tight the
top three are in EnduroGP,
Holcombe closed out the
podium just 19 seconds
behind his teammate Free
-
man.
"I felt good on the bike the
whole day, which was important
because the fight at the top is
so tight," said Garcia. "I had one
crash, but luckily it wasn't too
major. I'm enjoying the battle
now; everything is feeling good
and I'm ready for more tomor
-
row."
"It's been good results all
round, but I feel like I let that win
slip away, if I'm honest about it,"
said Freeman. "Josep and my-
self were battling every test and
in the final enduro test I lost nine
seconds and that was it."
"Finishing on the podium
again is brilliant," said Hol
-
combe, "but I wasn't quite able
to get to Josep and Brad today.
After walking all the tests, they
didn't cut in how I expected
them to and I think that caught
me off guard a bit. I'll do some
homework tonight and see if I
can close the gap tomorrow."
Garcia was again leading on
day two when the KTM rider suf
-
fered a hard crash that took him
out of the race. Unfortunately for
the Spaniard, Garcia sustained
a broken collarbone that will
require surgery.
It turns out Holcombe did all
his homework and emerged as
the day's winner after overtaking
Freeman on the final lap. It was
Holcombe's first victory of 2023.
RedMoto Honda's Nathan
Watson thrived in the Swedish
terrain for third.
In the championship stand
-
ings, Freeman has pulled out to
a substantial lead over his Beta
teammate, Holcombe, 151-127.
Garcia is third with 112, and Ve-
rona is fourth with 108. Sherco's
Hamish MacDonald is fifth with
81 points.
CN
Day One
1. Josep Garcia (KTM)
2. Brad Freeman (Bet)
3. Steve Holcombe (Bet)
4. Nathan Watson (Hon)
5. Andreas Verona (GG)
Day Two
1. Steve Holcombe (Bet)
2. Brad Freeman (Bet)
3. Nathan Watson (Hon)
4. Andrea Verona (GG)
5. Theo Espinasse (Bet)
WIND
IN THE
P68
Steve Holcombe closed out
the EnduroGP of Sweden
with the win, padding his
championship points lead.
PHOTO: FUTURE7MEDIA
