2024 EnduroGP World Championship results from day two at the Slovakian GP in Gelnica where Josep Garcia turned day one disappointment around for a dominant win ahead of Brad Freeman and Andrea Verona.

 

EnduroGP Rnd 5, Slovakia Day 2 in a nutshell:

  • Each morning of a GP there are a few minutes of calm before the storm when the riders, warmed up and kitted up, wait outside parc ferme before their allotted time to enter and collect their bikes. Sometimes nervous, riders can be steely faced, short on words and have a 1000-yard stare as they focus on the day ahead. Forced to stand next to their closest rivals for a minute or two, some sit and chat in small groups, some ignore each other depending on how they get along but its a fascinating time for any spectator.
  • On day two outside the parc ferme in Gelnica, Josep Garcia had a different look in his eye. Spurned from “only” finishing in fourth place on day one, he turned up today and you could see he wanted it before he even got to his hands on his KTM handlebars.
  • Once onboard Josep had pulled 15 seconds on day one winner Andrea Verona by test two, after lap one and three tests he had a seven seconds lead overall which he extended to 20 seconds after lap two, in part thanks to impressive times in the long and technical enduro test.
  • His exponential march ahead could have continued but for a mistake in the final extreme test but it didn’t matter, it was already in the bag and the Spaniard maintained for an 18:51 winning margin: “The goal was the bounce back to the top today and we did it. From the first test I changed my way of riding the tests from yesterday and I opened a gap on the first lap which I was able to manage the whole day. Anyway, the riders are pushing a lot so you have to push in every test 100%. The enduro test was technical but also long and was a place where you could win time but also lose a lot of time.”
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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  • How close do you want the fight for positions? At one point less than one second separated the top four in one single test. It remained extremely close all day between the two Beta teammates Brad Freeman and Nathan Watson, along with day one winner Andrea Verona, standing as the only riders to claim test wins today.
  • The podium scrap finished suitably close between Freeman and Verona, just 0.5s in favour of the British rider for his joint best result of the year in second: “It’s been an up and down weekend,” said Brad at the finish, “some good test, some bad. So I was taking the good with the bad and I wouldn’t really say I was in the fight for the win today. I was the best of the rest, Garcia was simply better than everyone else. I’m still struggling a little bit and to win a GP you just got to be on it and I’m just not right now. Looking forward to the EnduroGP of Wales.”
  • “Too slow” in the first test for day one winner Andrea Verona sees the points swing back away slightly in EnduroGP class but the Italian remains the boss in E2: “It was an up and down day, I started too slow, lost 15 seconds and was too calm basically. Lap two and three I was better, more aggressive and I closed back into third overall but it was not enough to be in the fight.”
  • Nathan Watson settled for a not unfamiliar fourth place after a solid weekend. Day two saw him just off the podium and 0.25s ahead of Steve Holcombe who completes the top five, again disappointed with his own performance.
  • P6 and P7 again went to the Sherco boys Wil Ruprecht and Hamish Macdonald with Matteo Cavallo on their heels in eighth on the TM, Samuele Bernadini P9 and Theo Espinasse 10th.
  • After a promising start today, where he was well inside the top 10, Jed Etchells went out halfway through lap two with a mechanical on his Fantic. “It’s a little bit of a shame because I was riding well today and the bike was feeling good and I wanted to show that I wasn’t crap like yesterday but it wasn’t to be.” Jed explains.
  • Tasmanian Kyron Bacon completed the double in the Junior class, taking both day victories, a narrow seven seconds ahead of championship leader Max Ahlin. It’s like buses, you wait ages for a Yamaha win and two come along at once! ’23 Youth champ Kevin Cristino improved for third place today but was almost one minute down the lead pair.
  • The Youth class results were a repeat performance for Manuel Verzeroli, the Farioli squad’s youngster flying high on their hand-built 125 KTM. His championship position was bolstered considerably by his closest rival Alberto Elgari retiring after test one this morning with a crash.
  • Romain Dagna grabbed his second P2 for Sherco and Pietro Scardina takes the third step on the podium for Fantic, both cementing their places in the top three for the world championship with two rounds remaining. 
  • Czech rider Jiri Hadek, P3 on day one, upped his game on day two in the Open class to take the scratch win by 27 seconds. Belgian Tim Louis had to settle for second ahead of Britain’s Alfie Webb narrowly third by just 1.65s.

RAW video highlights showing the speed these guys are pulling through the trees: 2024 EnduroGP Slovakia RAW highlights – flying through the trees!

2024 GP of Slovakia, day 2 results, EnduroGP overall:

endurogp_slovakia_results_day_2_enduro_gp-1endurogp_slovakia_results_day_2_enduro_gp-2

E1 class:

endurogp_slovakia_results_day_2_enduro_1

E2 class:

endurogp_slovakia_results_day_2_enduro_2

E3 class:

endurogp_slovakia_results_day_2_enduro_3

Junior overall:

endurogp_slovakia_results_day_2_junior-1

Youth 125 class:

endurogp_slovakia_results_day_2_youth

Open class scratch:

endurogp_slovakia_results_day_2_open

 

Photo Credit: Future7Media | Andrea Belluschi