2024 Italian Championship results: Warning shot from champion Steve Holcombe at Rnd 1
2024 Italian Enduro “Assoluti” Championship results: defending champion Steve Holcombe claims a confident win first time out on the Honda ahead of EnduroGP rivals.
Traditionally, these last few years at least, the Italian Enduro Championship plays host to a majority of EnduroGP World Championship riders getting their brains and bikes dialled ahead of the first GP of the season.
History tells us when a world champion jumps to a new team and a new machine for a new season, there’s always a bit of trepidation on the rider’s part at least as to how things will pan out.
Well you could say things panned out pretty well for Steve Holcombe in his first major race on the Honda RedMoto CRF250RX in E1 class. Beating GASGAS Factory Racing’s Andrea Verona into second and Nathan Watson, who replaced compatriot Holcombe in the Beta Racing team, in third place overall, it was a very confident start to 2024 for the world and Italian champion.
With many of the EGP teams being based in Italy, the home series is their stomping ground and the list of world champions present in Cavaglia included Sherco CH Racing’s Hamish Macdonald and Wil Ruprecht, Red Bull KTM’s Josep Garcia, Beta’s Brad Freeman, Fantic Racing’s Albin Norrbin, Kevin Cristino and Jed Etchells, and TM Racing’s Matteo Cavallo (among a long list of GP riders too big to mention).
Glorious mud?
Conditions were tough, typically British you might say in helping Holcombe feel at home with heavy rains sweeping through North Italy and making the tests hard, plus leading to the cancellation of day two.
A bit of extra water in the rocks can help though – check out Nathan Watson going feet-up for the clean. SSDT next Nathan...
Explaining he had never been at an event that was cancelled before it had started (day two that is), Holcombe was happy with his first real test on the Honda on day one: “It was a great race and a perfect start with the new team, everything was good. I had a couple of crashes, but had a really good feeling with the bike. We understood what we can improve in view of the PortugueseGP. I’m really happy how the team worked in difficult condition.”
Notable riders missing from the top of the results sheet are Josep Garcia and Brad Freeman. Garcia made the trip across from Spain to train in the Italian mud alongside his rivals and duly took the Friday Super Test win.
Although he did not take any test wins during the day on Saturday, the KTM rider was in contention for an overall podium before for a broken gear lever in one test left him stuck in second and losing a lot of time as a consequence.
Freeman meanwhile was less lucky than that even having hit a post with is hand in the Friday Super Test and not starting the Saturday morning. Enduro21 understands the swelling was so bad, on what is suspected to be a broken hand, that medics were unable to do an Xray. Although Brad says he will be at the start of the EnduroGP series on April 5 it was far from ideal for the Beta factory rider.
2024 Assoluti Italian Enduro Rnd1 results, overall top 50:
Photo Credit: Future7Media
