Beta Factory Racing’s Brad Freeman has claimed victory on day two of the second round of the Paulo Duarte FIM EnduroGP World Championship. Keeping his unbeaten run of form alive, Freeman came out on top following a day-long battle with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Josep Garcia to secure his fourth day win of the season. Mirroring day one’s results at the ACERBIS GP of Spain, Steve Holcombe (Beta) joined Freeman and Garcia on the EnduroGP podium in third.
The GALFER Junior Enduro World Championship saw rookie Jeremy Sydow (Sherco) secure his second victory of the season with a win on Sunday, while Fantic’s Kevin Cristino made it two wins from two starts in Youth Enduro in Lalin.
- Brad Freeman wins again in EnduroGP class at ACERBIS GP of Spain
- Josep Garcia and Steve Holcombe mirror yesterday’s EnduroGP results with second and third
- Jeremy Sydow tops the Junior Enduro category
Freeman and Garcia go blow for blow in EnduroGP
Landing an early blow to his rivals, Beta’s Brad Freeman topped the opening POLISPORT Extreme Test by a sizeable five seconds from Josep Garcia (KTM) with Antoine Magain (Sherco), Andreas Verona (GASGAS) and Steve Holcombe (Beta) in close succession.
Fastest in the following ACERBIS Cross Test and JUST1 Enduro Test, Freeman made a clean sweep of the special tests on lap one, and then backed that performance up by remaining unbeaten a further four times.
However, those wins were extremely hard fought with Garcia shadowing him across the line every time. With only fractions of a second at times splitting them, the fight was unquestionably on and the result set to go either way.
But those fractions gradually added up and despite Garcia’s best efforts of winning the final ACERBIS Cross Test, he couldn’t deny Freeman his fourth constitutive victory of the season in EnduroGP.
Always in the hunt, but not quite able to bridge the gap to the leading duo, Holcombe had to settle for third. GASGAS Factory Racing’s Andrea Verona had a relatively disappointing outing by the EnduroGP champ’s high standards, finishing 31 seconds behind Holcombe in fourth.
The battle for fifth went down to the wire. RedMoto Honda Racing’s Nathan Watson narrowly beat Magain by one second to seal the deal.
Although second best to Freeman in the overall classification, Josep Garcia won the Enduro1 class for the second day running. Team Beta Oxmoto’s Theo Espinasse took second, while Fast Eddy Racing’s Jamie McCanney completed the top three.
Firing on all cylinders in 2023, Steve Holcombe took his second Enduro2 class win of the weekend in Lalin, the Beta rider showing that he’s back to his best. Andrea Verona was second, with Watson in third. Brad Freeman ran a clear winner of Enduro3, with Antoine Magain and Matteo Cavallo (TM Racing) rounding out the podium.
Jeremy Sydow Takes Junior Enduro Win
The GALFER Junior Enduro World Championship saw Jeremy Sydow (Sherco) bounce back to win on Sunday. The rookie took his debut victory on day two at round one and with another day two win, looks capable of challenging the established names. Day one winner Jed Etchells (Fantic) put in another solid ride to take second and keep his championship lead intact. Albin Norrbin (Fantic) took third.
Proving even stronger on day two, Fantic’s Kevin Cristino powered clear to the Youth Enduro win. The Italian upped his winning margin to 27 seconds over Thibault Giraudon (Sherco). Leo Joyon (Beta) finished third.
The Paulo Duarte FIM EnduroGP World Championship continues with round three in Heinola, Finland on May 26-28 before heading to Skovde in Sweden for round four the following weekend.
Brad Freeman (Beta): “To end the GP of Spain with another victory is fantastic. Today I finally felt like I was riding like I know how. Nerves played a part at round one in Italy, but today I was relaxed and just enjoying the battle with Josep. There was nothing really between us all day.”
Josep Garcia (KTM): “I pushed hard all day with Brad for the victory. We were in the same second on almost every test but it kept working out in his favour and the win just slipped away. But to take a double win in Enduro1 is so nice. This weekend was a big improvement over round one, and with a long season ahead I’ll take it race by race.”
Steve Holcombe (Beta): “I was pretty happy with my riding today and I was consistent all day. Another win in Enduro2 is great. Last year I ended the GP of Spain injured so this season so far had been a big step forward for me. I’m looking forward to the next round and will try to get a bit closer to the top.”
Jeremy Sydow (Sherco): “Maybe Sunday is my day! My first ever win came last time out on a Sunday, so to do it again is great. It was a perfect day. I didn’t make many mistakes and tried to be strong the whole day.”
Kevin Cristino (Fantic): “Getting a double victory here in Spain is awesome. I’m really happy with how the weekend went. My bike was running great, and I gave it my best.”
Results: ACERBIS GP of Spain, Day 2
EnduroGP
1. Brad Freeman (Beta) 1:06:19.44; 2. Josep Garcia (KTM) 1:06:31.35; 3. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 1:07:09.17; 4. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 1:07:40.65; 5. Nathan Watson (Honda) 1:08:28.01; 6. Antoine Magain (Sherco) 1:08:29.24; 7. Wil Ruprecht (Sherco) 1:09:00.55; 8. Theo Espinasse (Beta) 1:09:02.35; 9. Matteo Cavallo (TM Racing) 1:09:05.71; 10. Hamish MacDonald (Sherco) 1:09:10.70…
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