Steve Holcombe has made a winning start to his 2016 Enduro World Championship campaign, enjoying a standout weekend at the GP of Morocco in Agadir.
Making his Beta factory team debut, as well as competing in senior class competition for the first time ever, he now heads the Enduro 3 World Championship standings.
Second in class on day one behind team-mate Johnny Aubert, Steve moved to the top of the podium on day two while also twice placing an impressive fourth overall.
Day one saw Holcombe set the pace early on in the Enduro 3 class, winning the opening extreme test and placing second in class on the next three tests.
Leading team-mate Johnny Aubert at the mid-way point of the day, a small mistake on the second run through the motocross test resulted in the loss of some seven seconds.
Dropping behind Aubert, Steve pushed hard to the end of the day to claim a well-deserved runner-up result first time out in Enduro 3. In the overall EnduroGP class Steve placed an equally impressive fourth behind Mathias Bellino, Aubert and Matt Phillips.
Throughout day two Steve sat at the top of the Enduro 3 class results. Winning three of the day’s nine special tests he remained largely mistake free to enjoy a 25-second winning advantage ever Frenchman Antoine Basset, with day one winner Aubert third.
“I can’t quite believe that I managed to get the Enduro 3 class win on day two, but it’s fair to say the GP of Morocco has been pretty amazing,” said a delighted Holcombe.
Steve also again performed well in the overall EnduroGP results finishing fourth as he had on day one.
“The event’s been tough, but I’ve enjoyed it,” he added. “The best thing for me is knowing that my speed is where it needs to be. I didn’t expect to do as well I have, but I’m excited to see what I can do for the rest of the year now. I really feel like I can be a part of the battle for the Enduro 3 championship. Although things went well the motocross test was kind of my undoing, I just couldn’t get things happening there.
“I crashed on day one but managed to get through day two with no big mistakes. The enduro test was pretty rough and rutted, which made it tough going. But it went well for me. I can’t wait to get stuck into the next GP in Portugal now.”
Steve now heads to Portugal for round two of the 2016 Enduro World Championship on April 16-17.
Results: 2016 Enduro World Championship – Round 1
Enduro 3 – Day 1 1. Johnny Aubert (Beta) 53:27.85; 2. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 53:43.65; 3. Antoine Basset (KTM) 54:00.52…
Enduro 3 – Day 2 1. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 54:45.84; 2. Antoine Basset (KTM) 55:11.52; 3. Johnny Aubert (Beta) 55:12.46…
EnduroGP – Day 1 1. Mathias Bellino (Husqvarna) 53:06.81; 2. Johnny Aubert (Beta) 53:27.85; 3. Matt Phillips (Sherco) 53:34.27; 4. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 53:43.65; 5. Alex Salvini (Beta) 53:45.08…
EnduroGP – Day 2 1. Matthew Phillips (Sherco) 54:08.81; 2. Mathias Bellino (Husqvarna) 54:24.01; 3. Eero Remes (TM) 54:38.51; 4. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 54:45.84; 5. Alex Salvini (Beta) 54:48.39…
