Over the weekend the Beta Factory Enduro Team made its way to Wales for the penultimate round of the 2024 EnduroGP World Championship, held at Rhayader, a town with a historic tradition in enduro racing, which was the setting for the entire race weekend of an event so highly awaited by British enduro fans and marked the comeback of a stage of the World Championship in Wales after a 15-year gap since the last race run in 2008, attracting a large crowd right from the evening of the Super Test on Friday 2nd August.
The Motoclub Rhayader, with the support of Track Inspector Maurizio Micheluz, organised a race of the highest level, with three technical and demanding special tests to be repeated three times a day, plus a fourth Cross Test, for a total of twenty special tests over the weekend. The course covered a total of 66 km and was sub-divided into: a Cross Test, 4.8 km long inside the Cwmythig Hill motocross track; an Enduro Test, a 4.6 km technical course over hard, dry ground with tricky muddy sections; and an Extreme Test, a 1.3 km natural course inside the Saintswell motocross track.
An excellent race for Brad Freeman in his home GP. The British rider won both race days in the E3 Class, showing himself as the leader in the provisional standings. In the EnduroGP Class the British rider also ran a very good race, finishing twice in 2nd position, only 0.15 seconds behind the leader on Sunday.
Nathan Watson had a good home GP and on both race days the British rider finished in 3rd position in the E2 Class, missing out on second position by just a few seconds. At the end of the Welsh GP Nathan Watson remains firmly 2nd in the provisional E2 Class Standings.
Worth mentioning is the excellent performance of Leo Joyon from Team OXMoto, who finished in 1st position both days of competition in the Junior 1 Class and in 3rd and 5th position in the Junior Overall. Good results also for Antoine Alix, again Team OXMoto, who finished 4th in the Junior 2 Class both on Saturday and Sunday. In the Junior 2 Class, also good was the 6th position of Matej Skuta, KBS Team, confirmed on both days. In the Youth Class, the two Clauzier brothers of the Atomic Moto Team are worth mentioning: Clement, who came 4th on both race days, and Maxime, who finished 7th on Saturday and 6th on Sunday. Also in the same category, a good run for Alex Puey, Team Beta Trueba, who finished 5th and 6th on both race days.
Brad Freeman
“I’m not completely happy with the results I got at the Welsh GP. On one hand I’m very satisfied with the double win in the E3 Class and the lead, on the other hand I am disappointed with the 2nd position on Sunday in the EnduroGP Class, unfortunately I made a couple of mistakes in the final part of the race which were crucial.”
Nathan Watson
“I am happy with the results, two 3rd positions in the E2 class just a few seconds behind the runner-up. Unfortunately, I made a few too many mistakes throughout the weekend. We will be back at the French GP.”
Next appointment is on 13th – 15th September in Brioude, France, for the last round of the 2024 EnduroGP World Championship Season.
Words and Images by Beta
