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Holcombe Maintains Italian Enduro Championship Lead

Beta Factory Racing’s Steve Holcombe has maintained his overall lead in the Italian Enduro Championship with a runner-up result at round four in Pontremoli.

Greeted with a wet and muddy fourth stop of the Italian series, Holcombe was keen to take advantage of his favoured conditions and deliver a winning result. Second fastest during Saturday night’s prologue saw the defending Italian champion get off to a solid start.

Quickest on Sunday’s opening enduro and extreme test allowed the Beta rider to take control of the race lead. But as competitors ended lap two, the physically demanding muddy conditions began to take their toll on Holcombe, who was still suffering with the side effects of a small illness from the previous week. Despite giving his best and setting the fastest time in the penultimate cross test, he was unable to maintain his initial fast pace and had to settle for the runner-up result behind eventual winner Danny McCanney. After four rounds of nine, Holcombe leads the 2019 Italian Enduro Championship by 15 points.

Steve returns to competition for round two of the FIM Enduro World Championship in Portugal on May 3-5. Steve Holcombe: “It’s been good to finish second today and build on my championship lead in the series, but I would have liked more if I’m honest. I know you can’t really win them all, but with the muddy conditions that we had, I wanted to show my best. Unfortunately, I’m just recovering from a small illness and didn’t have the energy to go head-to-head with Danny for the win. I was ok on the opening lap or so, but then I wasn’t able to hold that
pace. Importantly, second place helps control my points lead, so that was good, even though I’m a little frustrated in myself for not being able to take advantage of the mud. With a bit of rest and a couple of weeks to prepare for round two of the Enduro World Championship, the goal is to arrive in Portugal ready to build on that winning start from round one.”

Results: Italian Enduro Championship, Round 4
1. Danny McCanney (TM) 1:08:10.06; 2. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 1:08:34.68; 3. Brad Freeman (Beta) 1:08:54.89; 4. Thomas Oldrati (Honda) 1:09:00.18; 5. Christophe Charlier (Honda) 1:09:27.04…

Championship Standings (After round 4)
1. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 74 pts; 2. Danny McCanney (TM) 59 pts; 3. Alex Salvini (Honda) 45 pts; 4. Christophe Charlier (Honda) 43 pts; 5. Thomas Oldrati (Honda) 42 pts…

Photo Credit: Giovanni Chillemi