Enduro

Garcia, Freeman and Franke crowned Enduro World Champions at EnduroGP finale

Posted:

Monday, October 23rd, 2017

9:29 AM

The final day of the 2017 Maxxis FIM EnduroGP World Championship ‰ÛÒ the Acerbis GP of Germany in Zschopau ‰ÛÒ saw no fewer than three riders secure world championship honours.

Spain's Josep Garcia (KTM) was crowned Enduro 2 World Champion, Britain's Brad Freeman (Beta) put the finishing touches to his Enduro Junior campaign, while Germany's Maria Franke (KTM) secured the Enduro Women's title following the retirement of her title rival Laia Sanz (KTM).

Josep Garcia was crowned Enduro 2 World Champion

Following heavy overnight rain the 16th and last day of 2017 EnduroGP World Championship was unquestionably a challenging one. Needing to claim just a handful of points, Josep Garcia made a strong start to the day as he battled with McCanney brothers Jamie and Danny at the top of the Enduro 2 class. Easing his pace a little as the day neared its close, Garcia's fifth place result was more than enough for the Spaniard to win his first world championship title.

"I don't really have the words to describe what it feels like to be world champion,‰Û

Steve Holcombe was crowned EnduroGP champion yesterday but claimed both days wins to put the icing on the cake.

Not needing to prove himself in any way, having lifted the EnduroGP World Championship title with a winning ride on day one, Steve Holcombe (Beta) rounded out the GP of Germany in perfect fashion by topping the result sheets ahead of Loic Larrieu (Yamaha) with Christophe Nambotin (KTM) finishing third. With the top three riders separated by 44 seconds, fourth placed Matthew Phillips (Sherco) placed close to two minutes behind.

"Winning the title yesterday was amazing, but finishing the championship with a double class win is pretty special,‰Û

Brad Freeman gave Beta two championship wins for 2017 when he took out the Enduro Junior class

One of the closest championship battles was played out in the Enduro Junior class where Brad Freeman (Beta) and Davide Soreca (Honda) took the fight for championship honours down to the very last special tests. With Freeman looking like he'd done enough to win having opened up a healthy lead with just one lap remaining, a rear brake issue during the final enduro and extreme tests saw Soreca close to within five seconds with just the final motocross test remaining. Posting the second outright fastest time, Freeman topped the special test, the day and with it the championship.

"What a day. What a season. I can't believe it,‰Û

Maria Franke took the championship win over Laia Sanz i the Woman's class

In the Woman's class the head-to-head battle between Maria Franke (KTM) and Laia Sanz (KTM) failed to materialise as Sanz was forced to retire after just two special tests following a technical issue. Winning the day by more than two minutes, Maria Franke secured her first ever world championship title

"My dream was always to win a world title in motocross but to win an enduro title here in Germany is incredible,‰Û