Brad Freeman romped his Beta to another world title this weekend in the Czech Republic at the penultimate round of the Enduro GP World Championship! He now has three world titles to his name in as many years, and there is still one more up for grabs this year! It will be a Brit who takes the top honours as the best of the best this year. Freeman heads to the final round with a 10-point lead over Holcombe, with McCanney a few points adrift in third!
Brad won both days in Czech, outright and in class, and fended off the challenge from reigning champ Steve Holcombe.
Holcombe was content with his pair of 2nd place finishes outright and 2 Victories in E3 after what has been a seriously tough year both physically and mentally for the champ. This was his first event back from Epstein Barr Virus, and despite lacking fitness and intensity, he still took the challenge to Freeman and kept him on his toes. Steve also didn’t help himself after picking up an ankle injury in Friday night’s Super Test after mistiming a jump. He now heads to France as the definite favourite in E3 with a good points lead, meaning there will be three British World Champs crowned in a fortnights time, all that’s left is to decide who takes them!
Daniel McCanney had another fantastic weekend aboard his TM where he made it a GB 1-2-3 in the overall after carding two third place finishes and two 2nd places in E3! He is the only other rider who can steal a title from Freeman or Holcombe!
Joe Wootton was in fantastic form in the Czech Republic and was the surprise of the weekend! He finished 4th outright on day 1 and took top honours in E2! So yes, you read that right... it was a British 1-2-3-4 in the overall... and coincidentally... the GB Trophy ISDE Team! He was pushing hard for the win on day 2, just 2 seconds behind, but a crash in the final cross test cost him a lot of time and meant he slipped from 5th overall and 2nd in class to 11th overall and 6th in class, which was not a true reflection of his excellent riding!
Josh Gotts made his return to racing abroad this weekend and scored two good top 10 results in the E3 class!
In the junior class, Jack Edmondson was chasing the J2 title leader Enric Francisco but unfortunately pushed a little too hard and crashed out of the enduro test on lap 1, resulting in a broken wrist. Get well soon Jack.
Dan Mundell has stepped up into the Junior Class now and made his debut this weekend. A slow first lap on day 1 hurt his result but he finished the day much stronger and finished 8th overall and 5th in Junior 1. On day 2 he started quite slowly again but started to pick up the pace on lap 2, eventually fighting his way back up to 5th overall and 3rd in J1! Another Union Jack raised above the podium!
Alex Walton had by far his best weekend of the year so far with an exceptional ride, especially on day 2! He was riding very well all weekend and was rewarded with two top 10’s overall and 4th in J1 on day 2! His ride this weekend proved what a valuable asset he will be in the Junior ISDE team, alongside Mundell and Etchells.
Tom Ellwood was the star of the open class this weekend. He won both days in class and overall which meant he is now Open 4 Stroke World Cup Champ! Congratulations Tom!
David Knight was runner up to Tom both days and won his class both days, although he already has the senior title wrapped up!
Fraser Flockhart struggled a little on day 1 but he started day 2 with great pace, winning the enduro test on lap 1, but a few mistakes dropped him back, however he stormed on and flew to two 2nd place finishes! He is also 2nd in the championship!