Holcombe shows fighting spirit at Italian Enduro Championship
Beta Factory Racing’s Steve Holcombe overcame a difficult start to the Italian Enduro Championship in Carsoli to fight back for second overall on Sunday. With a frustrating fifth-place overall result on Saturday, Holcombe rapidly improved to claim the runner-up result at the end of the second day of competition.
• After a fighting-fifth on Saturday, Steve regrouped for second overall on Sunday
• Conditions were extremely hot, dry and unforgivingly slippery in Carsoli
• Steve now lies second overall in points after four rounds, one-point behind the series leader
A tentative start to the opening day of competition saw Steve struggle to gel with the extremely dry and slippery Italian terrain. Unable to find a consistent rhythm he frustratingly ended his day in fifth overall.
Going back to the drawing board overnight, he began Sunday’s racing with an open and positive outlook, wanting to simply enjoy his time on his Beta RR Racing 350 4T. The relaxed approach paid off and a competitive opening lap put him in contention for victory.
Entering the third and final lap nine seconds shy of the race leader, Steve put all he had into the remaining special tests. Taking the fight for victory down to the wire, he narrowly missed out on the overall win by less than two seconds, finishing as a deserved runner-up.
Steve now begins his final preparations for the opening round of the FIM Enduro World Championship on September 18-20.
Steve Holcombe: “It felt like a weekend of two halves that improved for the better on Sunday. I honestly didn’t feel that great out on track on Saturday. I haven’t raced in such dry and slippery terrain like that for a very long time and couldn’t gel with the conditions. I made too many little mistakes that prevented me from getting up to speed and ended my day in fifth. After figuring things out on Saturday evening I began Sunday more relaxed and with an open mind. I rode with the aim of enjoying myself and sure enough the test times started to come back to me. A competitive opening lap set the ball rolling for the rest of the day. Entering the final lap nine seconds behind, I managed to take things down to the wire for the win on the final cross test but just missed out, by less than two seconds. While it would have been great to win, I’m happy in myself for how I turned things around like that and another two days of racing on the four-stroke have been great ahead of the start of the world championships.”
First podium of the season for Rudy Moroni
R. Moroni fought his 300 2T opponents in the dust and heat but got the better of many. In fact, Moroni improved compared to the last race, finishing second on Saturday and third on Sunday in the hard-fought 2t standings.
Rudy: “The feeling is that of driving well and going fast, but time struggles a bit to get out. You have to believe in it and work on it. Now we have over a month before getting off the starting platform!”
Now a summer break will catapult the Absolutes of Italy-IMF Cup / Italian Cup to the next appointment 3 and 4 October with the penultimate stage that will take place in Darfo Boario Terme.