In an exciting opening day of competition at round five of the 2024 FIM EnduroGP World Championship, Andrea Verona claimed his third victory of the season at the GP of Slovakia.
Hot on the Italian’s heels was Nathan Watson, with Steve Holcombe in third. Tasmanian Kyron Bacon secured a hard-fought win in the FIM Junior Enduro World Championship.
With Friday night’s Akrapovic Super Test kicking off the action in Gelnica, where Brad Freeman emerged victorious, riders took to the start ramp on Saturday morning for a full day of racing at round five of the Paulo Duarte FIM EnduroGP World Championship.
Fired up by his win on Friday evening, Brad Freeman took to the first test of the day, the Maxxis Enduro Test, and set the fastest time by nearly two seconds. The Acerbis Cross Test was where Andrea Verona made his intentions clear and topped the timesheets to take an early lead.
The Polisport Extreme Test saw a new contender come into play. Steve Holcombe set the fastest time to end lap one in third. Verona retained his early lead, with Brad Freeman close behind in second thanks to his test one win.
Lap two saw even more incredibly close racing, with Verona clocking another test win early on. Fuelled by his stellar runner-up performance in the Akrapovic Super Test the night before, Nathan Watson won the Acerbis Cross Test, placing three seconds clear of teammate Freeman.
Samuele Bernardini put his head down on the Polisport Extreme Test to set the fastest time by over a second ahead of Nathan Watson, who clocked another impressive result. However, Verona proved that consistency is key, and after two laps had extended his overall lead to 12 seconds.
A two-way battle ensued on lap three between Andrea Verona and Nathan Watson, with the pair taking it in turns to claim test wins. Verona put in his best time of the day, six seconds clear of Watson on the Maxxis Enduro Test. Matteo Pavoni wowed on the final test of the day, setting the fastest time ahead of countryman Bernardini and Theo Espinasse.
Unfortunately, hopes of securing maximum championship points were distant for Josep Garcia, with the Spaniard finishing fourth overall after a series of time-consuming mistakes. Holding onto the championship lead by just three points after day one, he will be looking for redemption tomorrow. Brad Freeman completed the top five behind Garcia.
“I’m really happy to have got my third overall win of the season here!” Verona said. “I didn’t make any big mistakes all day and rode pretty well from the first test until the last test. It feels great to win by 17 seconds because the riders at the top level are so competitive, but I just felt really good on the bike and did my best.”
Nathan Watson was happy with his first days result, saying, “My weekend started off great with the Super Test coming second, so that was a nice confidence boost. I started off a bit steady but after that I put in some good times all day and I really enjoyed the conditions, so I’m super happy to come away with this result.”
Steve Holcombe was also happy with third but admitted he was hoping for a little more, “I had a good day, but honestly I was hoping for more. I knew from early on that some of the tests were suiting the bigger bikes a bit more, but I just got to work and I’m glad it paid off with the Enduro1 win. I’m looking forward to day two!” Holcombe said.
CLASS RESULTS:
Finishing third in EnduroGP, Steve Holcombe comfortably topped the Enduro1 class with 11 seconds to spare ahead of second-placed Josep Garcia. Theo Espinasse rounded out the podium in third.
Mirroring the EnduroGP top two, Andrea Verona claimed his seventh consecutive Enduro2 victory of the season, with Nathan Watson in second. Securing his best result of the season so far, Australian Wil Ruprecht managed the heat well to come home as third-fastest.
Brad Freeman extended his lead in Enduro3 with a commanding victory on day one. Hamish MacDonald finished second, beating Matteo Cavallo by 48 seconds.
In the GALFER FIM EnduroGP Junior Enduro World Championship, it was an intense two-way battle for first place. Ultimately, Kyron Bacon emerged victorious after a series of consistent top-two results throughout the day put the Australian ahead by four seconds. Championship leader Max Ahlin held the lead all day until the final test where Bacon just edged out the Swede for the top spot. The victory marks a debut Enduro Junior category win for Bacon.
“I’m super pumped about getting my first win in Enduro Junior, I’ve been over a few times now so I feel like I’m finally getting used to the tests. The conditions suited me and the bike felt great so I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” Bacon said.
Rounding out the top three was Thibault Giraudon, with Matej Skuta in fourth. Leo Joyon finished fifth on day one.
The super-competitive Enduro Youth class provided plenty of excitement. Championship leader Manuel Verzeroli extended his advantage further, enjoying his fourth win of the season after an impressive day. Romain Dagna put the pressure on Verzeroli all day, finishing just seven seconds behind the Italian on day one.
Just a further six seconds down on Dagna was Luca Colorio, proving how competitive the Enduro Youth category is. Fourth place went to current championship runner-up Alberto Elgari, with Pietro Scardina in fifth.
Results: Paulo Duarte FIM EnduroGP World Championship, Round 5 – Day 1
EnduroGP
1 Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 1:06:07.03;
2 Nathan Watson (Beta) 1:06:24.07;
3 Steve Holcombe (Honda) 1:06:29.44;
4 Josep Garcia (KTM) 1:06:40.04;
5 Brad Freeman (Beta) 1:06:52.78;
6 Wil Ruprecht (Sherco) 1:07:27.74;
7 Hamish MacDonald (Sherco) 1:07:47.15;
8 Theo Espinasse (Beta) 1:08:13.26;
9 Samuele Bernardini (Honda) 1:08:16.67;
10 Matteo Cavallo (TM Racing) 1:08:35.04…
