Opening round: FIM EnduroGP World Championship 2023 season

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Freeman, Garcia and Holcombe dominate with Metzeler at the Enduro Spanish GP

The second round of the FIM EnduroGP World Championship saw Metzeler riders excel in all classes: Freeman in E3 and Enduro GP, Garcia in E1, Holcombe in E2. Etchells in the Junior won Day One while Cristino in the Youth class scored yet another one-two
Lalin (Spain), May 8, 2023 – More than a month after the opening round of the season held in Italy, the second round of the FIM EnduroGP World Championship 2023 held in Lain, Spain, put the riders to the test as they had to tackle three extremely technical and difficult special TESTS repeated three times a day for a total of eighteen Specials during the race weekend.

The race course of the Spanish GP, skilfully designed by the Motoclub Movete na Moto, included a 1 km Extreme Test in the centre of Lalin, characterised by a mixed terrain of earth and sand and made particularly difficult by the presence of numerous slippery rocks, followed by a Cross Test and an Enduro Test located about 15 minutes from the paddock and a short distance from each other, the first very fast and with mixed terrain of grass, dirt and sand and the second located inside a forest with soft and sandy terrain made impervious by the presence of numerous roots along the way.

Brad Freeman (Team Beta Factory Enduro) in the Enduro GP class scored another double victory and the Metzeler rider is now the leader of the provisional standings with full points. Thanks to two third places Steve Holcombe (Team Beta Factory Enduro) is currently tied for second place with another Metzeler rider, Andrea Verona (Gas Gas Gas Factory Racing). Spanish rider Josep Garcia (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) took two second places.

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Brad Freeman (Team Beta Factory Enduro)

Josep Garcia (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) is increasingly the leader of the E1 class thanks to a splendid one-two on Spanish soil. Italian rider Thomas Oldrati (Honda Racing RedMoto World Enduro Team), on the other hand, failed to shine, picking up two fifth places.

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Josep Garcia (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing)

The duel in the E2 class is between two Metzeler riders, Andrea Verona (Gas Gas Gas Factory Racing) and Steve Holcombe (Beta Factory Enduro Team). The Beta Factory rider won both days while Andrea Verona collected two second places. The provisional standings before the GP in Finland and Sweden see them both tied.

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Steve Holcombe (Beta Factory Enduro Team)

The undisputed star of the E3 class is Brad Freeman (Team Beta Factory Enduro), at Lalin the Beta Factory rider dominated both days of competition. The Beta rider’s antagonist is Mikael Persson (Husqvarna Factory Racing) who, however, only picked up a second and a fifth place in class at the Spanish GP.

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Brad Freeman (Team Beta Factory Enduro)

In the Junior class, Jed Etchells (JET Fantic Racing) remained the provisional leader thanks to a first and a second place in both days of competition. Albin Norrbin (Fantic Racing) was on the podium on both days of racing, taking second and third place in his class.

In the Youth class, METZELER MCE 6 DAYS EXTREME-equipped rider Kevin Cristino (Fantic Racing) is dominating the Youth class. The official Fantic rider signed his second double win of the season.

After the Spanish round of the FIM EnduroGP World Championship, teams and riders will move to Heinola in Finland in a fortnight time to contest the third round of the 2023 season on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th May.

Results (Metzeler’s riders in bold):

Classification EnduroGP
FREEMAN Brad p.80
VERONA Andrea p.60
HOLCOMBE Steve p.60
GARCIA Josep p.57

Classification E1
GARCIA Josep p.77
PICHON Zachary p.52
PAVONI Matteo p.50

Classification E2
HOLCOMBE Steve p.74
VERONA Andrea p.74
MCDONALD Hammish p.56

Classification E3
FREEMAN Brad p.80
PERSSON Mikael p.62
CAVALLO Matteo p.58

Classification Junior
ETCHELLS Jed p.74
SYDOW Jeremy p.70
AHLIN Max p.53

Classification Youth
CRISTINO Kevin p.80
GIRAUDON Thibault p.68
JOYON Leo p.60

Classification Women
DANIEL Jane p.40
GARDINER Jessica p.32
BADIA Mireia p.30

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