2024 EnduroGP World Championship results from day one at the GP of Wales where Steve Holcombe has taken a confident victory ahead of Brad Freeman and Josep Garcia scrapping for the scratch podium.

EnduroGP Rnd 6, Wales Day 1 in a nutshell:

• Day one in Wales dawned brighter and cool enough, perfect conditions for enduro you could say. The tests were in good fettle as well dry overall but definitely wet in places with bog sections and stream crossings and ditch jumps which made life trickier as the day progressed.
• It wasn’t an easy day either with notable retirements from Theo Espinasse, Roni Kytonen, and John Shirt – get well soon Shirty.
• The battle of Britain between Brad Freeman and Steve Holcombe started early with both in determined mood, using local experience and with plenty of home support all day for all the UK riders.
• But it was Steve Holcombe who claimed the advantage early on the long mountainside Enduro Test where the Honda Racing RedMoto rider establish a lead on the first lap he never let go.
• It felt like the others – Josep Garcia, Andrea Verona, Nathan Watson and a rash of blue Sherco riders – were getting used to the tests while Holcombe and Freeman were in attack mode from the get-go.

 

 

 

 

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• A 15 second comfort zone for Holcombe started to deflate as the riders hit the third lap and he admits “playing it a little too cautious”. Freeman was also being his dogged self and took test wins on the bounce on the final lap to shorten Holcombe’s lead.
• A final visit to the Extreme Test saw a plus-10 seconds gap re-emerge for Holcombe after a mistake from Freeman, allowing a “safe” final Cross Test for the RedMoto rider to claim the day win.
• That final Cross test next to the paddock where the day had begun nine tests and six and a half hours earlier, saw Freeman and championship leader Josep Garcia post near identical times with the Beta rider edging it to claim second place by 1.3s.
• Neither rider was happy with himself at the finish and blamed “too many mistakes” and Brad also “on the back foot” from a costly mistake in the Super Test last night which counted today.
• Third for Garcia looked like a bad results if you judged his reaction at the finish where the Spaniard was clearly not happy with himself. But with his nearest championship rival Verona behind in fourth, the net result is a 10 points advantage still and third is not so bad as the Brits ran riot on home soil. (Championship standings: Garcia on 192, Verona 182 and Holcombe 174).
• GASGAS’s Verona finished fourth, perhaps distracted by the prospect of wrapping up the E2 world title this weekend and that left the next big fight of the day to complete the top five, with a sub-category for who would be best Sherco rider.
• In that mix all day were Nathan Watson, Wil Ruprecht, Hamish Macdonald and Zach Pichon trading 5th to 8th all day.
• It was Ruprecht who won through after today’s 10 tests taking P5 with four seconds covering all four riders of those riders above at the final timing beam.
• Shoutout also to Dan Mundell taking P10 in his first GP in two years.
• Meanwhile in the Juniors Australian EnduroGP rookie Gus Riordan continued his flying form from last night’s Super Test into day one.
• Starting with a later number than anyone near him in the timesheets, the KTM USA rider supported by Fast Eddy racing this weekend (surprisingly not the factory team…) was like an orange lightning bolt and blitzed the first two laps for a near 20 seconds’ advantage.  
• With more than a chance of wrapping up the championship today, points leader Max Ahlin pulled test wins in the third lap to close Riordan’s lead and it went right to the wire as the Aussie crashed in the last test.
• But he’d done enough to make a huge impression on the GP paddock for a win in his first-ever GP and first race in Europe. Ahlin will continue his march towards the Junior title in second place with Leo Joyon completing the EJ podium.
• The Youth class could have seen the 2024 world championship sewn-up this weekend but points leader Manuel Verzeroli had a French Sherco rider standing in his way today. It’s far to say the 125s were working hard in some of the tests – the water holes and ditch jumps are a lot easier when you can rely on torque!
• Coming into the final test Verzeroli had the advantage but Romain Dagne blitzed a five second deficit into a 1.7s win. Pietro Scardina made Fantic the third manufacturer on the podium, 35s behind overall.
• A test one win for Rosie Rowett set up a good day for the Rieju squad in Enduro Women. Along with her teammate and points leader, Mireia Badia, the pair set the pace and pulled clear of Elodie Chaplot, Rachel Gutish and Nieve Holmes competing for the third spot.
• A mistake in the Extreme Test on the second lap was costly for Rowett, handing Badia a half minute advantage. Rosie was taking time back but a small mistake in the final Cross test meant Mireia could make it four day wins on the bounce.
• “It’s been a long time coming” David Knight said as he excited the parc ferme having won the Open World Cup class overall on day one. Not the open scratch win, but a world championship race in the UK. Despite “not even looking at the times all day”, Knighter took the win scratch by 26s from Alfie Webb with Ross Danby completing a British 1-2-3 (overall).

2024 GP of Wales Day 1 results, EnduroGP overall:

E1 class:

E2 class:

E3 class:

Junior overall:

Youth 125 class:

Enduro Women:

Open class scratch (top 20):

Photo Credit: Future7Media | Andrea Belluschi