Tuesday October 1, 2019 at 11:43am
The final Enduro GP World Championship rounds were held this weekend in Ambert, France, and the riders were in for an extremely testing two days! With long special tests and un-rideable transfers to link them up, it was a true, old school and very impressive Grand Prix.
Brad Freeman, who was crowned as E1 World Champ at the penultimate round two weeks ago, started the event with a 10 point lead in the standings over last year’s champ, Steve Holcombe.
Freeman was on fire on day 1 and fought all day long with Holcombe and Danny McCanney, but he managed to do enough to take another victory and put himself in the best possible position going into the final day!
On day 2 Freeman didn’t need to set the world on fire but he also needed to make sure he didn’t make any costly mistakes that could cost him the title he so desperately wanted! In the first enduro test of day 2, Freeman hit the deck and lost 20 seconds, leaving him some work to do but he managed to control the day well, finishing 4th and claiming his first overall Enduro GP World Championship!
Holcombe was 2nd on day 1 after a tough fight all day long with Mr Freeman and Danny McCanney, but on day 2 the British pair were beaten by the E2 title contenders, Salvini and Larrieu who were pushing at 100% for their respective title. Holcombe rounded off what has been a very difficult season for him with another World Title to his name in Enduro 3, and 2nd overall. He intends to put the fight to Freeman next year and take back his crown!
McCanney was on fire on day 1 and his results over the weekend meant he made it a British 1-2-3 in the overall Championship standings! He also took home the runner up spot in the E3 championship!
Joe Wootton showed his speed again this weekend and consolidated the great choice Daryl Bolter has made to put Joe in the ISDE team. He was back on the E2 podium on day 2 with a third!
Josh Gotts had two good days to finish his season off after missing all but 2 races this year through injury! He will be back stronger and faster next year no doubt!
In the Junior class, Dan Mundell had a great weekend with two top 3 overall results (3-3) and 3rd day 1 and 2nd day 2 in the Junior 1 class! It was great to see him finish the year as he knows he can after a difficult start to the season on the 125.
Jed Etchells made a return to Enduro GP this weekend as a wildcard and he had a good weekend! On day 1 he was 9th overall and 4th in J2. Day 2 he got off to a good start and maintained it throughout the day! He came home in 5th and stole 2nd in class on the last lap!
Alex Walton had a difficult weekend after struggling to find a good feeling at this event. It was a shame for him after a great performance in Czech, but that is the nature of motorsport and no doubt he will be back pushing for great results next time out!
Jane Daniels was in incredible form in the Ladies class and quite simply destroyed the field on both days! On day 1 she won by 3 minutes and on day 2 she took the victory by over a minute! Congratulations on your Women’s World Cup Jane!
Rosie Rowett was on top form with two 10th place finishes which gave her 9th overall in the women’s cup!
Nieve Holmes had a great first day finishing 7th but sadly she crashed out of day 2 and hurt her lower leg/foot. Hopefully she will be fit for the ISDE!
In the youth class, Harry Edmondson had a mixed weekend and finished 9th day 1 and 14th day 2 after struggling for speed a little on day 2! Nevertheless, he gained a lot of experience and will no doubt be one to look out for in this class next year!
Henry Yardley finished 12th on day 1 after having a huge crash on a log jump in enduro test 1 but he soldiered on and finished strongly! Unfortunately, he didn’t get a result on day 2.
It was great to see such a volume of Brits in the Open Cup classes! A special mention must go to Jack Cadwallader who took the third step on the podium in the 2 stroke class on day 1! The riders we had in the open class were Alfie Webb, Charlie Chater, Jack Ditchfield, George Yardley and Cole Cookland! Unfortunately, Fraser Flockhart couldn’t race after being diagnosed with glandular fever two days before the start.