Steve Holcombe wins big on day two of the GP of Portugal
Video dag 2. Continuing to impress in his first season of senior class competition, Steve HOLCOMBE (Beta) claimed his first overall EnduroGP win of 2016 on day two of the GP Polisport of Portugal. Showing that he had the speed to win on day one, Steve remained mistake free during the second day of competition to place just under seven seconds ahead of Finn Eero REMES (TM) with enduro rookie Nathan WATSON (KTM) an impressive third.
“I’m made up with this result. I got close to winning on day one so to finally get the job done and a first EnduroGP win to my name is great,” enthused HOLCOMBE. “I enjoyed the day. The tests were pretty tough in places but the organisers did a great job in working on the track over night. I just kept pushing on all tests and everything went well.” Showing that as well as topping the Enduro 1 class podium he’s also more than a match for the bigger bike riders in the EnduroGP class, 250f TM mounted Finn Eero REMES pushed HOLCOMBE hard though out the day. Also 250f mounted, Nathan WATSON enjoyed a good day. Despite his lack of enduro experience he again showed impressive speed to place just 15 seconds behind winner HOLCOMBE. Behind WATSON US rider Taylor ROBERT (KTM) excelled in conditions that were anything but familiar. Unable to repeat his day one winning result Matt PHILLIPS (Sherco) placed in sixth with Mathias BELLINO bringing his Husqvarna home in ninth following a day full of mistakes.
As a result of their strong overall performances Eero REMES and Nathan WATSON placed first and second in the Enduro 1 class with Jamie MCCANNEY (Yamaha) third. With just under nine seconds separating REMES and WATSON, MCCANNEY battled his way to a podium result more than one minute behind WATSON. Jamie’s brother Danny MCCANNEY (Husqvarna) enjoyed his best day of the championship so far finishing fourth while Pascal RAUCHENECKER (Husqvarna) and Gianluca MARTINI rounded out the top six.
Just four days into his first ever season of EnduroGP competition Taylor ROBERT enjoyed his first winning result, impressively topping the Enduro 2 class aboard his KTM. Riding well throughout the day he placed ahead of Matt PHILLIPS with Alex SALVINI (Beta) joining them on the podium. “All-in-all it’s been a really good day for me,” explained TAYLOR. “I lost some time to PHILLIPS early on but seemed to come good in the middle of the day. I had a good crash in the final extreme test as I was pushing hard to try and get onto the overall EnduroGP podium, but luckily I didn’t lose too much time and managed to get the win in Enduro 2.” Loic LARRIEU (Yamaha) finished closer to the Enduro 2 podium than on any previous day of the series so far, finishing just over five seconds behind third placed SALVINI. Separating Yamaha team mates LARRIEU in fourth and Cristobal GUERRERO in sixth was Mathias BELLINO. Enduring a difficult day the Frenchman placed 35 seconds behind winner ROBERT.
As the overall EnduroGP class winner Steve HOLCOMBE also topped the Enduro 3 class in dominant fashion. Close to one-minute ahead Italian Manuel MONNI (TM) Steve never placed lower than third in class during the day’s nine special tests. Third went to Antoine BASSET (KTM) with local favourite Luis CORREIA (Beta) fourth, Jaume BETRIU (KTM) fifth andThomas OLDRATI (Husqvarna) sixth.
In the Enduro Junior class Italian Giacomo REDONDI (Honda) claimed a sizeable win, placing more than one minute ahead of Diogo VENTURA (Gas Gas). Winning the day’s first special test Josep GARCIA (Husqvarna) was an early retirement as the Spaniard was forced to withdraw with a technical problem. Third went to Swede Albin ELOWSON (Husqvarna).
Erik APPELQVIST (Yamaha) was the day two winner in the 125cc Enduro Youth class, placing 25 seconds ahead of British rider Lee SEALEY (Yamaha). Rounding out an all-Yamaha podium Jean-Baptiste NICOLOT placed third.
The EnduroGP championship now heads to Greece on May 20-22.