Holcombe & Freeman seal world titles in Germany - Full report
By Future 7Media on 26th Oct 17
Enduro World Championship Steve Holcombe Brad Freeman
THE FIM EnduroGP World Championship drew to a close in Zschopau, Germany last weekend, where Steve Holcombe put the finishing touches to his incredible season to win the EnduroGP World Championship. Brad Freeman did what at the start of the season seemed unthinkable and topped the Enduro Junior World Championship.
The German finale saw a return to traditional enduro following the earlier sprint / cross-country event at Hawkstone Park. Needing just a handful of points to wrap-up the EnduroGP title, Steve Holcombe delivered his best result of the championship as he earned his first double class win.
Claiming the GP title at the end of the first days competition, he then went on to win again on day two to bring his tally of victories to six for the year. It feels so good to be able to call myself a double enduro world champion, explained a clearly thrilled Holcombe.
Winning my first title last year was incredible something I will never forget but claiming the EnduroGP title this year means so, so much. Id hoped to wrap up the title in the UK, at my home round of the series, but to win here in Germany with so many true enduro fans is incredible.
I felt confident coming into this event, but also a little apprehensive. Knowing that I needed just a handful of points was a strange feeling. I dont feel like I rode at my best at all, but I was relaxed and didnt make any mistakes. The special tests and the trails here in Zschopau were really cool real enduro.
Adding to British success was Brad Freeman who after missing the opening round of the season, and believing that his title chances were well and truly over, earned a double victory his fourth of the championship in the Enduro Junior class and with it claimed his first world title.
From 44 points behind at the start of the season Brad arrived in Germany, relaxed, confident and needing to beat his closest championship rival Davide Soreca from Italy. In finishing two places ahead of the Italian on day one and one place ahead on day two, Brad netted a well-deserved championship. But the final day of the series was an anything but straightforward one for Brad.
What a day. What a season. I cant believe it, said Brad. I was having a great day on Sunday, doing exactly what I needed to do, and was about 30 seconds ahead. I was ready to calm things down and just make sure I got to the finish when three corners into the final enduro test a stick went through my rear brake and jammed it on. It kept sticking on, I completely cooked it and lost about 15 seconds.
Then I lost my rear brake all together. I rode the final extreme test with no rear brake, which was interesting. It pretty much all came down to the final cross test and I went for it. I gave it everything. Im so, so happy. From missing the opening round of the series in Finland I cant believe Im world champion.
While there was plenty of celebrations from the Brits in Germany, there was also some disappointment. Jamie McCanney, completing his first full season without injury in just about longer than he can remember, fell just short of clinching the Enduro 2 title but ended his season on a high with a strong 2/1 result.
Its been one hell of a year for me. We had a great battle with Josep Garcia and it was a very tight fight for the title. I felt this was one of the strongest, if not the strongest, season of my career. This was my first full year without an injury so to finish it off with a win is great.
Getting second in the world in my first year with the Outsiders Yamaha team is not bad at all. Weve all worked hard this season and we stayed in the battle for the title until the very last moment.
Winning the Enduro 2 title (250cc bikes) Josep Garcia lifted his first senior title. I cant describe how this feels right now. It has been my first year in the senior class of the world championship and the racing has been so close all year. To get to the end of the season and win the title is unbelievable.
While Jamie McCanney was understandably disappointed at having not secured the E2 title, brother Danny was pleased to end the series on a high note. Taking a big step forward in terms of competitiveness at the British GP, Danny improved further in Germany to claim his first win of the year.
This has been my best GP for the season and Im really happy about it, admitted Danny. Ive left it a bit late maybe, but I made some changes coming into the weekend. I always knew my speed was there, but I always felt like something was missing during the season. Now I found it and this is where I need to be.
I liked the tests here in Germany and I was well-prepared for the GP. I got faster and faster as the weekend went on and that was really positive. Im really happy I got the win on Saturday.
On Sunday I had two crashes early in the morning so I knew it would be a struggle to catch back up with the leading riders. I had another crash in the extreme test but kept pushing hard to end the day with second in Enduro 2.
While the season ended well for Danny, it wasnt the case for Nathan Watson. In many ways summing up a turbulent 2017 season, Nathan struggled during the opening day before crashing and injuring his shoulder on day two. Despite his DNF Nathan still ended the year third in the EnduroGP championship behind Holcombe and Frances Loic Larrieu.
This weekend has been tough for me. I didnt quite have the pace on Saturday and after hurting my shoulder today it was best to retire. Its been an up-and-down season. I started the year battling injury so to finish third overall is great. I know my speed is good, I guess I just didnt have luck on my side this season.
Returning to the series having missed a few rounds following wrist surgery, Josh Gotts rounded out his season 17th in the Enduro 2 class, scoring points on both days in Germany just as he did at Hawkstone Park.
I had a few spills through the weekend but its great to end the year with a really good event. This is what all GPs should be like. The tests were great, especially the enduro test, and the hill climbs in the trails were awesome. I missed two races with my wrist, but overall its been a great experience.
One of the big surprises in Germany was that Laia Sanz didnt win the Womens title. Beaten by home favourite Maria Franke on day one by 0.17 of a second, on day two a technical issue took Laia out of the event and out of the title race as Maria claimed her first world title.
Jane Daniels finished her world championship season off with a double podium as well as capitalising on Laias misfortune to claim second in the championship. Third on day one, Jane placed second on day two with only herself and Maria completing the day in the Womens class due to the tough conditions.
Also competing in Germany, Joe Wootton claimed a strong fifth in the Enduro Junior class on day one but finished 14th on day two.
Its been a great event with a really cool mixture of terrain, but I struggled a bit on the second day. The first day went well, I was pleased to finish fifth. But when things got wet on the second day I made some errors on the extreme test, which cost me a lot of time.
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Steve Holcombe 2017 EnduroGP champion
Steve Holcombe has won the 2017 FIM EnduroGP World Championship title to become a double world enduro champion.
