Enduro

Steve Holcombe Takes EnduroGP World Championship Lead at Italian GP

Posted:

Tuesday, September 4th, 2018

11:43 PM

Steve Holcombe now holds a sixteen point lead in the EnduroGP championship. Photo: Future7Media

Beta factory rider Steve Holcombe has moved 16 points clear at the top of the FIM EnduroGP World Championship standings following a hugely successful GP of Italy, held in Edolo, northern Italy.

Revelling in the wet and challenging conditions Holcombe topped the opening day of competition by a sizeable one-minute and 27 seconds before going on to secure a 32 second margin of victory on day two. In doing so he moved ahead of championship rival Alex Salvini in the EnduroGP standings with two rounds remaining.

Holcombe won both days at the Italian EnduroGP. Photo: Future7Media

Going all out at the start of day one the Brit won all three special tests on the opening lap to open up an important lead. Excelling on the long, one-lined enduro test, in winning nine of the day‰Ûªs special tests he secured a commanding overall victory. Despite a few mistakes early on day two Steve soon found his rhythm, going on to take his third overall day win of the championship.

‰ÛÏI always knew that this Italian GP would be a really important one for me and my World Championship campaign, but I never imagined things would go as well as they did," Holcombe said. "Not just because of my winning result, but it‰Ûªs been a great event ‰ÛÒ a true Italian enduro. It‰Ûªs never great when one of your rivals has technical issues like Alex (Salvini) did, but that‰Ûªs racing unfortunately.

Steve Holcombe in Italy. Photo: Future7Media

"The wet weather was good for me in a way, I guess, but I was really up for this race," Holcombe continued. "I‰Ûªve been working hard during the summer to be ready for the final races of the season and everything went really well here. I pushed hard from the start of day one, and that really paid off.

"I felt comfortable throughout the day and managed to open up a good lead, which I held till the end of the day. I always knew it would be harder to open up such a gap on the second day. I made a few mistakes on the first lap but felt strong so I pushed hard for two laps and managed to get the job done. It‰Ûªs great to be leading the championship, now it‰Ûªs all about continuing to work hard and staying focused on the upcoming races.‰Û