Over the weekend the Enduro World Championship made its stop at Valpaços in Portugal for the second round of the 2024 season, drawing a packed crowd.
Words and Images by BetaMotor
The Portuguese GP saw the riders competing on a course of around 48 km masterfully designed by the Motoclub Usprigozus Clube TT de Vilarandelo, and consisting of three special tests to be repeated four times a day, for a total of twenty-two tests over the entire race weekend (three PS the first three laps and two PS the fourth lap).
The stage opened with a very technical 1.7 km of Natural Extreme Test with challenging and rocky passages, followed by a technical and not very fast Enduro Test of 5.6 km on predominantly hard terrain, and at the end of the lap a Cross Test inside the Valpaços motocross track, for a total of 4.6 km.
Brad Freeman, still not in top form due to the virus contracted in the previous stage, pulled out all the stops to gain as many points as possible. On the opening day he won in his E3 Class and finished 4th in the EnduroGP Overall. On the following day, despite the high temperatures, the fatigue of two consecutive race weekends and the severe pain from the injury to his still unhealed hand, the rider again took the 1st position in the E3 class.
Nathan Watson’s weekend, on the other hand, did not get off to the best of starts. After a crash during the SuperTest on Friday evening, he recorded a zero on Saturday due to a forced retirement after a crash on the third pass of the Enduro Test and the resulting broken handlebars. On the following day, Nathan rode an incredible race, recording excellent times in all special stages and finishing 2nd in the E2 Class. It was a pity that he made two mistakes, which prevented him from getting on the podium also in the overall Enduro GP Class, which he finished in 4th position, same placement in the Championship Standings.
Worth mentioning are the good performances of the young riders in the Youth Class: the brothers Maxime Clauzier and Clement Clauzier of Team Atomic Moto who finished 6th and 8th respectively on Saturday, 5th and 7th on Sunday; Alex Puey of Team Trueba who finished 5th on Saturday and 6th on Sunday. Also of note was the young Luca Piersigilli, Team Entrophy, who finished 9th in the race on Sunday.
As for the Junior category, worth of note are the Team OX Moto riders: Leo Joyon 3rd both on Saturday and Sunday in the Junior 1 Class and Antoine Alix 3rd on Saturday and 4th on Sunday in the Junior 2 Class.
Brad Freeman:
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to race at 100% because my injured hand still hasn’t fully healed and during the first race weekend, at Fafe, the stomach virus debilitated me a lot. Despite everything I managed to win both race days and gain a few points in the standings.”
Nathan Watson:
“It’s a shame for the zero but it’s the races and sometimes a trivial mistake or fall can be fatal. However, I am very happy with the second position obtained on the second day. The championship is still long and I will try to recover.”
The Enduro World Championship will now stop for about a month, with the 3rd round scheduled for 10-12 May in Bacau, Romania.
