Steve Holcombe claims E3 & EnduroGP titles
Brad Freeman wins E1
Eero Remes wins E2 as Salvini faces technical issue
EnduroGP of Germany – Day 1
Following the Grand Prix of France and his domination all season, this opening day of the EnduroGP final in Germany saw Steve Holcombe conquer both the E3 and EnduroGP titles. Meanwhile Brad Freeman won his first senior title, becoming the World E1 Champion.
Steve Holcombe
“I’m so relieved to win this second title! The year started so badly with my rib fracture, but after the GP of Trentino I refocused and I spent my summer preparing for the last three GPs… It worked perfectly and I am very proud to be crowned EGP World Champion for the second year in a row!”
EnduroGP
Steve Holcombe only needed a handful of points to win his second consecutive title in EnduroGP, but instead of just doing what was necessary, he rode brilliantly, and the Factory Beta rider took his fifth win of the year after a battle with Brad Freeman.
Freeman, anxious to finish the job in E1, kept his compatriot honest all day in the overall and lost out on the EGP win by just 5 seconds! Behind the two stars of this day, it was Eero Remes who took the 16 points for third place, 9 seconds ahead of Loïc Larrieu.
Alex Salvini closed out the top five in front of the McCanney brothers, Danny and Jamie.
E3
Holcombe also finished the job in E3 by sealing his ninth victory in a row, his 10th of the season. Behind him the suspense remained high for the honourary title of Vice-World Champion since Danny McCanney with his second place took four points on Christophe Nambotin who struggled and must be content with fourth position.
Anthony Geslin once again played his role of ‘spoilsport’ in the big category, as he once again slotted in between the Gas Gas Boys, the young Basque rider taking his fifth world podium of 2018!
E1
A third World Champion title was awarded this Saturday in the Rüdersdorf paddock. And it was another Brit holding the 24MX Leader’s Plate; Brad Freeman.
With a lead of 28 points, the Beta Boano rider could afford to finish fifth if his rival Jamie McCanney won the day… But the 2017 Junior World Champion didn’t want to take it easy and he stormed to the title as soon as possible. He quickly widened a gap on the rider from the Isle of Man and so climbed on the top step of the podium for the ninth time in a row – a domination that started on the second day of the GP of Portugal!
McCanney, for his part, moved closer to sealing the Vice-World Champion spot in E1, finishing second again while Davide Guarneri had another great result following his comback from injury. The Italian took a podium in front of Antoine Basset and Eemil Pohjola.
E2
In Enduro 2, the gap narrowed between Eero Remes and Alex Salvini after a strong victory from the Finn today. The Italian had to relent halfway through the day and he even saw Loïc Larrieu sneak in ahead of him!
Mathematically, the official Yamaha Outsider rider still retained a very small change of the title 19 points behind the Jolly Enduro Team rider. “Salvo” now has a 10 point lead ahead of Remes heading into the last day of this 2018 season!
Behind the usual trio was Thomas Oldrati in fourth, and Deny Philippaerts in fifth. Followed by the German trio of Brockell, Hubner and Von Zitzewitz.
Juniors
In the Juniors, the winning streak of six in a row for the 2018 World Champion, Matteo Cavallo ended at the hands of a newcomer in the EnduroGP paddock, Australian Wil Ruprecht who relegated Cavallo to second by more than 22 seconds!
Wil Ruprecht
“It’s been an amazing weekend for me and I want to thank the Johansson team for giving me the opportunity to race the Enduro World Championship. This is where I want to end up and hopefully secure a few World Championships in the future. Coming to Germany I didn’t know where I would end up, so decided to ride within my potential. I’ve been riding a Yamaha 450F back home so jumping on the team’s WR250F was a bit of a change. I really enjoyed racing their bike during the weekend here in Germany. I felt really strong on day one and was happy to get the victory. On day two I was leading for the first two laps, but a few unfortunate mistakes forced me to settle for seventh. Overall, it’s been an awesome experience to race with the best Junior riders in the world and I hope I can be back next year to race the full series.”
Invited by Team Johansson MPE to participate in this final, the Australian joined Jérémy Joly in the history books of the wildcards victorious at their debut event. This bodes well for Ruprecht in 2019 as it seems that Joakim Johansson would like to have him for the full season. With Ruprecht the winner and Cavallo second, it was Joe Wootton who rounded out the podium at the expense of Andrea Verona. Winner of yesterday’s Super Test in the Junior category, Tosha Schareina took his best result of the year (fifth).
J1
Overall winner, Ruprecht, also won the J1 category ahead of Verona and Kirian Mirabet while Matteo Cavallo remained in charge of the Junior 2 class ahead of Joe Wootton and Tosha Schareina.
Youth 125cc
In Youth 125cc, Ruy Barbosa proved strong again despite already having the title under his belt since France. Hamish Macdonald took second on the day and looks to be on for the Vice-Champion spot against Roni Kytonen who was third, Dan Mundell fourth, and Matthew Van Oevelen fifth.
Women’s Cup
Finally, in the Women’s Cup, Sanna Karkkainen moves close to the title after winning this first day of action. With the difficulties faced by the double Womens MX Champion, Livia Lancelot and the very disappointing injury of the great favourite and triple World Vice-Champion Jane Daniels, who broke her collarbone on the first lap, the Finn is now the potential winner of the Women’s Cup… Despite her difficulties, Lancelot finished second ahead of Mireia Badia and newcomer Nieve Holmes.
EnduroGP of Germany Day One
- Steve HOLCOMBE United Kingdom
- Brad FREEMAN United Kingdom
- Eero REMES Finland
- Loïc LARRIEU France
- Alex SALVINI Italy
- Daniel MCCANNEY United Kingdom
- Jamie MCCANNEY United Kingdom
- Davide GUARNERI Italy
- Anthony GESLIN France
- Christophe NAMBOTIN France
- Antoine BASSET France
- Eemil POHJOLA Finland
- Thomas OLDRATI Italy
- Deny PHILIPPAERTS Italy
- Christian BROCKEL Germany
EnduroGP of Germany – Day 2
E2
This last day of racing in 2018 offered EnduroGP fans and spectators a lot of “drama” and an intense fight in Enduro 2 where Eero Remes was in a shock result crowned 2018 World Champion to the detriment of Alex Salvini.
Salvini had been well on his way to claiming the World Crown… despite brilliant starts from Eero Remes and Loïc Larrieu, the Jolly Enduro Team rider was riding cleverly and was on course for his title. He even overtook his main rival on the second lap and therefore could’ve gone straight to his second career title.
But bad luck was involved during a liaison section, a branch intersected the cables of the fuel injection… after receiving help from many other riders including Holcombe and Freeman, Salvini managed to make some repairs but arrived at the time control 31 minutes late – he was disqualified and sadly saw his title dreams fly away!
Remes had only to ensure that no mechanical problems happened to him and the Finn even let Loïc Larrieu take his first victory of the season. Eero won the third title of his career and celebrated with his TM Racing Factory team.
Eero Remes
“I’m so surprised! I still cannot believe this has happened… I arrived here 14 points behind and I leave with the E2 crown. I still have a thought for Salvini who had lots of misfortunes since Edolo. But I’m not going to complain about winning my third title!”
With this victory, coupled with the DNF of Salvini, Larrieu took the runner up by just one point. Thomas Oldrati also took advantage of his compatriot ‘s troubles to get on the podium in front of Deny Philippaerts and the German Christian Brockel.
Loïc Larrieu
“It was a difficult GP but I am happy with the win on day two. Conditions were dusty throughout the weekend and there were lots of bumps and hidden stones in the special tests. After my win in the SuperTest I made a few mistakes in the opening lap on day one. I did my best to come back and won some tests along the way, but still it was difficult to close the gap to the day’s winner. Then on day two I felt stronger and pushed hard from the start. Physically it was harder but I was determined to give my best for the win and I was happy to finally make it happen. It was unfortunate that Alex [Salvini] was unable to score any points after his DNF, but that allowed me to gain one position in the championship standings where I finished second. I have been really close to the victory throughout the season and I was excited that I finally managed to get it on the very last day of racing in 2018. It is good to end this championship with a win. Now our eyes are focused on the ISDE. I will be representing Team France, we have a strong team and we will do our best to fight for the win in Chile.”
Alex Salvini
“I am completely devastated… Everything was fine until this one branch destroyed everything. Even though I’m not champion, I’m proud of the heart I gave and the fight I put up. Throughout the year and despite any bad luck I always gave my all and fought hard to always come back to the top. As they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!”
EnduroGP
Over in EnduroGP, Steve Holcombe, released from any pressure, concluded the season with another victory, more than 28 seconds ahead of Loïc Larrieu. Brad Freeman took the last step on the podium and confirmed his place as runner up in EnduroGP due to Alex Salvini’s situation… Danny McCanney and Eero Remes completed the Top 5 on this last day of racing in the main category.
Steve Holcombe
“We’ll say that I did not go to bed very early so the start of the day was quite difficult! But I managed to refocus myself to finish the season in style. I’d still like to spare a thought for Alex who broke down again. We all tried to help him but unfortunately it did not work. I know he will recover and come back even stronger.”
E3
Holcombe ended the season in style in Enduro 3 as well with his 11th victory in a row ahead of Danny McCanney and Christophe Nambotin.
With this 3rd place, the Frenchman still ensures the place of runner up in E3 by just 2 points on his teammate. Anthony Geslin could not get on a second podium but still took a good fourth place, which concludes a very strong season for him. Bjorn Feldt rounded out the Top 5.
E1
The same story was seen in Enduro 1 where Brad Freeman, winner of the E1 title yesterday, could race without pressure and ended the year with another victory. But this time, he was not followed by the official Yamaha Outsider rider and season long rival, Mccanney.
Instead it was Davide Guarneri who gave his all to take second place at the expense of Jamie Mccanney. Antoine Basset finished 4th ahead of teammate Eemil Pohjola and Manuel Monni.
Juniors
In the Under-23 age group, there was a fascinating crossover between Matteo Cavallo, Théo Espinasse, Joe Wootton, Davide Soreca and the surprise victor of Day 1, Wil Ruprecht.
For a long time, Cavallo (fourth), and the Australian (seventh), fought for the victory but the pair made mistakes on the last lap and left the way free for Theo Espinasse to take the win!
Joe Wootton brought home second place and Davide Soreca snatched the last spot on the box. Andrea Verona completed the Top 5.
J1
Espinasse also won the J1 category in front of this year’s J1 Cup Winner, Andrea Verona, and Wil Ruprecht. Meanwhile Wootton to his first win in J2 ahead of Soreca and Cavallo.
Youth 125cc
In Youth 125cc, Ruy Barbosa achieved another double with a tough victory over Hamish MacDonald. The New Zealander snatched the EY runner up 2018 spot however. His teammate at Sherco Factory, Dan Mundell, was also on the podium in front of Roni Kytönen and the young Brit Alex Walton.
Women’s Enduro
Finally, in the Women’s Cup, Sanna Karkkainen succeeded Maria Franke in the winners list of the cup. The Finn took a very solid double in front of French star Livia Lancelot and Spain’s Mireia Badia.
Sanna Karkkainen
“It’s magic! Following on from awesome girls like Puy, Sanz and Franke… it’s a great honour. I still have a hard time understanding that this has happened. I stayed focused all weekend and it paid off. I’m really very happy to win this cup!”
EnduroGP of Germany Day Two
- Steve HOLCOMBE United Kingdom
- Loïc LARRIEU France
- Brad FREEMAN United Kingdom
- Daniel MCCANNEY United Kingdom
- Eero REMES Finland
- Davide GUARNERI Italy
- Jamie MCCANNEY United Kingdom
- Christophe NAMBOTIN France
- Thomas OLDRATI Italy
- Anthony GESLIN France
- Antoine BASSET France
- Eemil POHJOLA Finland
- Deny PHILIPPAERTS Italy
- Christian BROCKEL Germany
- Edward HUEBNER Germany
