2025 Italian Enduro: Holcombe tops tough test ahead of EnduroGP season

2025 Italian Enduro Championship results from rounds three and four in Camaiore where Steve Holcombe topped a rich list of EnduroGP World Championship riders in challenging conditions for double victory.

If the first rounds of the Italian Assoluti Enduro Championship mean anything each year then it is surely the pre-season proving ground and form guide to the world enduro championship.

With so many riders and teams based in Italy it is a matter of domestic pride for Honda RedMoto, GASGAS Factory Racing, TM Boano, Beta Racing, Sherco Factory and the wealth of independent teams. But from a rider’s point of view, it is a very real chance to get their eye in and weigh-up the opposition on their 2025 machinery.

Rounds one and two, two weeks ago, showed this season is shaping up to be a hot one with an early warning shot from Zach Pichon that he was on the ball with his new TM machine. The French rider was impressive with the win first time out in front of Steve Holcombe and Andrea Verona.

Rounds three and four this past weekend, in Camaiore in the northwest of Italy, showed Steve Holcombe is also on point with the Honda CRF300RX with a double day victory across the weekend take the championship leader’s red plate.

If any of the riders wanted a tough challenge ahead of the EnduroGP season start in Portugal they surely got it in Camaiore with heavy rain dosing the tests to make them almost unrideable towards the end of day one (resulting in the organisers changing them for day two).

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Even without the rain, the Camaiore tests posed a formidable challenge with a figure-eight route and four, wide ranging challenges from the sandy beach cross test (also home to the prologue on Friday which Nathan Watson triumphed for Beta, a rocky and technical extreme test and a grassy enduro conditions all within one lap.

Steve Holcombe was impressive in the tricky conditions and took hold of the overall lead from test two on Saturday morning and never let go. Holcombe took victory ahead of GASGAS Factory Racing’s Andrea Verona by 19 seconds on day one, fighting hard with Zach Pichon on the factory TM who narrowly finished third.

Day two the winning margin was extended to 27 seconds ahead of Pichon second with Sammy Bernadini promoted to third to put two Honda’s on the Assoluti podium. An issue in one test hampered Verona while Hamish Macdonald, Nathan Watson and Morgan Lesiardo contested the top five overall positions on each day.