Enduro
EnduroGP of Italy: Victory for Garcia
In sunny Bettola the Grand Prix saw Josep Garcia’s KTM shine; the Spaniard dominated on Italian soil proving that he is the man to beat. Behind him, in second place, was a brilliant and rediscovered Brad Freeman, who held off a fierce Andrea Verona.
Three complex and technical special tests put the pilots to the test; the insidious and very, very extreme Extreme Test opened the proceedings, then leaving room for the enduro test technique, tight control and the immense Cross test. All the tests were read to perfection by Josep Garcia, overall winner. Without apparent difficulty he held off Brad Freeman and Andrea Verona, who were running more or less at the same times. Not far behind is Steve Holcombe, who continues to struggle slightly. Hamish Mcdonald closes the Top 5.
In the Junior Class Max Ahlin prevailed, the Swede found the right rhythm to stay in front and without hesitation achieved his second success of the year. Second position for Thibault Giraudon, the Frenchman finds the right balance with his Sherco and surprises everyone with a classy silver. Axel Semb suffers slightly, as he doesn’t have the right pace to keep up with the first two.
In the Youth category the championship leader was deprived of an almost certain victory due to a mechanical problem. Alberto Elgari raises the white flag and will try again tomorrow. Manuel Verzeroli makes no mistakes and takes advantage of the absence of his direct rival to win the day ahead of Luca Colorio and Romain Dagna.
Francesca Nocera is absent from the Women’s team, an injury sustained on Friday put her on the bench. The winner is Mireia Badia, the Spanish dominated and with a different pace than the others she won. Rachel Gutish finishes second in her first Italian effort while Elodie Chaplot closes the podium in the women’s class. Tomorrow calls for water but maybe if we ignore it it won’t arrive.
