EnduroGP of Portugal: The return of Josep Garcia

Spain’s Josep Garcia (Red Bull KTM) returned to the FIM Enduro World Championship following a three-year absence and after taking the opening day to reacquaint himself, raced to victory on day two of the EnduroGP of Portugal.
With challenging weather and changing conditions making the going tough across both days, Garcia finished second in E2 on Saturday and third in the EnduroGP category before sweeping both classes today.
Steve Holcombe (Beta) was Saturday’s double winner and he followed Garcia home in E2 on Sunday and placed third behind fellow Brit Brad Freeman in EnduroGP.
“It has been a really difficult GP but also great to be back racing and of course to come away with good results,” said Garcia. “Day one was going really well – it was very close between myself, Brad and Steve – but I took myself out of the battle with a big mistake on the final extreme test.
“Today my plan was to push hard like I did on day one but to not make any mistakes. I fell on the first enduro test so things didn’t go exactly to plan but I kept pushing. This was a difficult race but my experience in extreme races really helped me. I’m looking forward to the next GP now, next weekend.”
Day 1 
Enduro 2
1 Steve Holcombe (GBR), Beta, 57:02.01
2 Josep Garcia (ESP), KTM, 57:18.76 +16.75
3 Daniel McCanney (GBR), Honda, 58:24.91 +1:22.90
4 Loic Larrieu (FRA), TM, 58:41.21 +1:39.20
5 Matteo Cavallo (ITA), Sherco, 58:46.87 +1:44:86
EnduroGP 
1 Steve Holcombe (GBR), Beta, 57:02.01
2 Brad Freeman (GBR), Beta, 57:03.77 +1.76
3 Josep Garcia (ESP), KTM, 57:18.76 +16.75
4 Andrea Verona (ITA), TM, 58:00.18 +58.17
5 Antoine Magain (BEL), Sherco, 58:17.29 +1:15.28
Day 2
Enduro 2 
1 Josep Garcia (ESP), KTM, 58:11.95
2 Steve Holcombe (GBR), Beta, 58:43.08 +31.13
3 Daniel McCanney (GBR), Honda, 1:00:11.80 +1:59.85
4 Joe Wootton (GBR), Husqvarna, 1:01:43.39 +3:31.44
5 Loic Larrieu (FRA), TM, 1:02:05.77 +3:53.82
EnduroGP 
1 Josep Garcia (ESP), KTM, 58:11.95
2 Brad Freeman (GBR), Beta, 58:27.21 +15.26
3 Steve Holcombe (GBR), Beta, 58:43.08 +31.13
4 Thomas Oldrati (ITA), Honda, 59:22.34 +1:10.39
5 Andrea Verona (ITA), TM, 59:24.43 +1:12.48