Steve Holcombe has earned a career first double overall EnduroGP wining result, at the GP of Sweden – round five of the 2016 Enduro World Championship.
Carrying his good form from the GP of Finland into the Swedish event, Steve finished a sizeable one-minute ahead of his closest challenger in the overall EnduroGP results on day one and one-and-a-half minutes ahead in the Enduro 3 class.
With day one in Sweden wet and demanding for all riders, day two was only marginally less challenging despite drier conditions. Again setting the pace and leading the overall results, two crashes in the final enduro test made for a tense end to what was a long and difficult day. With just a handful of seconds separating the top three riders Steve held his nerve and did exactly what he needed to do to claim victory. Steve is now 15 points ahead in the Enduro 3 championship standings.
Now headed to Wales, Steve will compete in the prestigious Welsh Two Day Enduro on June 23-24 before returning to Enduro World Championship action and the GP of Spain in Gordexola, on July 2-3.
“I’m made up to have earned my first double overall EnduroGP win,” said Holcombe. “I felt really good coming into the race and was looking forward to the tests and feeling pretty confident. After the Finnish race I was sure that I could challenge for the win. The first day was just about keeping the ball rolling and not making any big mistakes, which wasn’t easy to do. I had some great enduro tests and managed to stay upright throughout the day and I think that was what made the difference. I was certainly shocked to win the day by one-minute.
“Day two was also really good. The conditions were drier but every bit as difficult as day one with the ruts, tree roots, rocks and stones. Everything was going great right up until the last enduro test. I pushed just a little bit too hard and paid for it. I crashed once, picked myself up and then crashed again. So two fairly big crashes in that one test. It all came down to the final motocross test and I went for it. As great as it was to win by a good amount on day one it was maybe better to know that things went down to the final special test on day two and I held it together and got the win. Both Finland and Sweden have been really tough, but really good, events.”
2016 Enduro World Championship – round 5 results
Enduro 3 – Day 1
1. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 1:11:12.12; 2. Antoine Basset (KTM) 1:12:44.99; 3. Johnny Aubert (Beta) 1:12:47.86; 4. Romain Dumontier (Yamaha) 1:14:33.59; 5. Jonathan Barragan (Gas Gas) 1:15:36.85
EnduroGP – Day 1
1. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 1:11:12.12; 2. Matthew Phillips (Sherco) 1:12:12.98; 3. Eero Remes (TM) 1:12:19.11; 4. Nathan Watson (KTM) 1:12:34.08; 5. Antoine Basset (KTM) 1:12:44.99
Enduro 3 – Day 2
1. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 1:04:28.02; 2. Johnny Aubert (Beta) 1:04:32.59; 3. Manuel Monni (TM) 1:05:43.23; 4. Antoine Basset (KTM) 1:06:11.04; 5. Jonathan Barragan (Gas Gas) 1:06:44.24
EnduroGP – Day 2
1. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 1:04:28.02; 2. Matthew Phillips (Sherco) 1:04:31.11; 3. Johnny Aubert (Beta) 1:04:32.59; 4. Nathan Watson (KTM) 1:04:54.35; 5. Eero Remes (TM) 1:05:10.97
