EnduroGP Round 6 GP Wales Race Preview
Story: Noel Flatters - Editor | The Enduro Bureau
August 2, 2024
Josep Garcia (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing)
Image courtesy EnduroGP
The sixth round of the Paulo Duarte FIM EnduroGP World Championship is taking place this weekend at Cwmythig Hill in Rhayader, Wales. Let’s dive in and take a look at the big stories coming into the penultimate round of the Championship!
This will be the first time in 15 years that EnduroGP has a Welsh round, and with the high level of interest and support for Enduro racing in the United Kingdom, this weekend should be off the hook in terms of support. It’s going to be a fun one to follow.
Coming into this round we’re looking at a very tight competition in the major classes. Let’s start with EnduroGP where Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Josep Garcia has 177 points to Andrea Verona’s (GasGas Factory Racing) 169 and Steve Holcombe’s (Honda Racing RedMoto Enduro Team) 154. The drop-off to Beta Factory Racing’s Brad Freeman in 4th overall is pretty steep, with Freeman at 113 points. There realistically not enough points available in the last two rounds for him to jump into the top 3 overall, so his battle is to maintain his position over Nathan Watson who sits just three points back in P5 with 110.
In the Enduro 1 class we see GP leader Garcia leading Holcombe by six points (188 to 182), with a big drop down to Zachary Pichon in P3 with 138 points. Pichon looks relatively safe in that spot with 21 point lead over Theo Espinasse (117).
Andrea Verona will be looking to cement his Enduro 2 overall Championship win at GP Wales this weekend.
Image courtesy EnduroGP
Enduro 2 sees Verona looking very secure at the top of the leader board with 197 points and a 45 point lead over Watson. Verona has won nine of ten days in E2 over the first five rounds of the Championship and should be a lock to win the class. Watson holds a 10 point lead over Samuele Bernardini, and will need to stay consistent to confirm his position in the Championship.
Mireia Badia holds a commanding lead in Enduro Women.
Image courtesy EnduroGP
Rieju Factory Racing’s Mireia Badia holds a commanding lead in the Women’s competition, with 112 points to her teammate Rosie Rowett’s 85. American EnduroGP newcomer Rachel Gutish (Team KBS Sherco) sits in P3 overall with 77 points, just ahead of Elodie Chaplot’s 73 points. Gutish has been the only woman to beat Badia this year in the Championship back on Day 1 of Round 1 in Portugal. A very rough Day 1 of Round 2 hurt Gutish in the overall, but if she can beat Rowett this weekend she may be able to climb back into second overall for the Championship.
American ISDE World Trophy Team member Rachel Gutish (Team KBS Sherco) will be looking to get back to her EnduroGP winning ways to regain P2 in the Championship overall.
Image courtesy EnduroGP
The Junior category has been interesting this year. Fantic Racing’s Axel Semb got off to a flying start over the first four rounds, picking up three day wins and never finishing less than third. Round 5’s GP Slovakia was another story, though, with the young Swede only gathering 15 points over the two days. This allowed Max Ahlin to storm into the overall lead with 164 points to Semb’s 137. Momentum has been on Ahlin’s side since Round 3 in Romania, with the KTM rider never finishing lower than P2.
