On the weekend just passed, the 9th and 10th rounds of the Italian Enduro Championships were held in the town of Darfo Boario Terme, in the province of Brescia: concluding the 2023 season.
PR and Images courtesy of Betamotor
The Motoclub Sebino designed an unusual race track, featuring five technical and treacherous special stages, with a short transfer mainly on asphalt, to be repeated five times on Saturday and four times in the final round on Sunday, for a total of forty-five special stages.
As usual, the start at the paddock, located in the centre of the town, kicked off the race, which had the riders fighting it out on a track made of: the special Enduro Test 1, very technical and on a ground full of stones for a total length of 5 km; followed by the Extreme Test 1 of 1.5 km on asphalt and full of artificial steps; then moving on to the Cross Test 1 on a sandy and dusty ground for a total length of 3 km.
Ending with the 4th and 5th scheduled special stages: the Cross Test 2 inside the Darfo motocross track, for a total distance of 2 km on hard ground, and the Extreme Test 2, the last special stage, a natural extreme with a few artificial passages, a short distance from the Paddock, with a length of 1.5 km.
The final race weekend of the 2023 season kicked off late in the afternoon on Friday 8th September, attended by a numerous and cheering crowd of fans, for the Prologue held on the same track as the Extreme Test 1 special test and valid as a test for the following race day. Steve Holcombe showed his optimal condition already on Friday evening by setting the fastest time in the SuperTest.
On Saturday Steve Holcombe rode a perfect race, starting off immediately strong, the British rider recorded several good times and at the end of the day won the foreign class and the Overall Championship. The rider, on a Beta RR 350 4T, also ran an incredible race on Sunday with no mistakes. At the end of a day fought to the last special, Steve Holcombe became Italian Champion in the Assoluti class for the third time.
Steve Holcombe: “I am extremely happy to have won the title at the Assoluti d’Italia Enduro because I had been missing it for a few years. The weekend was long and tiring with 25 specials on Saturday and 20 on Sunday and it was not easy to stay focused from start to finish. Now maximum priority for the double world round in Portugal.”
The Assoluti d’Italia di Enduro 2023 comes to the end, while teams and riders get ready for the double round in Portugal, which will also mark the end of the EnduroGP World Championship.
