Verona snatches first EnduroGP win of season in Finland thriller
By Team TMX on 24th May 26
The EnduroGP World Championship fired back into life in brutal fashion at Vierumaki, Finland as Andrea Verona edged out teammate Josep Garcia in a last-test decider to claim his first EnduroGP win of 2026.
Raced across the sandy, ever-breaking terrain of the Salpausselkä UNESCO Global Geopark, day one quickly became a war of attrition and it all came down to less than a second.
Garcia came out swinging early, topping the opening tests and building a steady advantage through lap one. By the halfway mark, the Spaniard looked in control, stretching his lead to nearly nine seconds as the rough Finnish terrain began to bite.
But Verona wasn’t done. The Italian steadily chipped away through lap two, finding rhythm in the deepening sand and dragging himself back into contention. Heading into the final lap, Garcia still held the upper hand but the gap was shrinking fast.
A blistering time on the final Extreme Test slashed the deficit to almost nothing, setting up a winner-takes-all run on the last Cross Test.
Throwing down the fastest time when it mattered most, Verona overturned the deficit to snatch victory by just 0.85 seconds – his first EnduroGP win with KTM and a major statement in the title fight.
Garcia had to settle for second after leading for much of the day, while Zach Pichon completed the podium, albeit nearly 50 seconds adrift of the leading duo.
Steve Holcombe returned to winning ways in Enduro3, taking a solid class victory ahead of Albin Norrbin, with Brad Freeman rounding out the podium.
Verona’s outright win also handed him another Enduro2 success, while Garcia dominated Enduro1 by over two minutes in a class of his own performance.
In Junior, Romain Dagna delivered a controlled ride to take victory, building a decisive lead by the final lap and keeping mistakes to a minimum when the course was at its roughest.
Meanwhile, the Youth class saw a standout comeback from Valentin Mersin. After a slow start, the Fantic rider fought his way to the front and held firm under pressure to secure the win.
