WIND
IN THE
P64
the start to the championship
I was dreaming of," Holcombe
said. "To be honest, it's been an
incredible two rounds in Portu-
gal. Like round one last week-
end, round two here in Valpacos
was super tight racing. There are
three of us who can win every
day. The pressure is on not to
make a mistake, but I'm enjoying
the battle and loving my time on
the Honda. I'm still figuring a few
things out, like today I tried to
ride smoother and that paid off
with the EnduroGP and Enduro1
class win."
Verona edged out Garcia by
approximately 20 seconds to
take second overall. Saturday's
winner, Garcia, suffered a couple
of falls that held him back. "The
second day didn't start as well,"
Garcia said. "I felt just as fast,
but two minutes from the end
of the first enduro test, I had a
fall and bent the handlebar. I
finished like that and lost about
15 or 20 seconds, which is a lot,
considering we're fighting for
specials by a second. From that
moment on, I kept pushing until I
got within seven seconds of the
leader. Holcombe, Verona and I
were fighting for the win all day.
But in the end, this time, it wasn't
possible."
Verona said, "The battle
today with Steve and Josep was
incredible. Of course, I wanted
to win, but I can't be too upset
about finishing second because
I gave it everything. The times
were so tight, and it could have
gone either way. I'm super happy
with my speed, fitness and rid
-
ing."
After two of seven rounds,
Garcia and Holcombe are tied at
the top of the leaderboard with
Verona holding down third 10
points back. Watson is fourth,
21 points behind Verona. Italy's
Samuele Bernardini (Honda) is
fifth, three points behind Watson.
In the Women's class, Ameri
-
can Rachel Gutish went 8-3 over
the weekend and is now tied for
second in class in the champion-
ship, 12 points behind Spain's
Mireia Badia (Rieju).
CN
Day 1
1. Josep Garcia (KTM)
2. Steve Holcombe (Hon)
3. Andrea Verona (GG)
4. Brad Freeman (Bet)
5. Hamish MacDonald (She)
Day 2
1. Steve Holcombe (Hon)
2. Andrea Verona (GG)
3. Josep Garcia (KTM)
4. Nathan Watson (Bet)
5. Jamie McCanney (Hus)
(Left) Josep Garcia won day one
but had a couple of falls on day
two. Garcia and Holcombe are now
tied at the top of the championship
leaderboard. (Right) American Rachel
Gutish made the Women's podium on
Sunday and is now third in the class
championship.
