EnduroGP results: Portuguese GP day 1 – Holcombe steals the win in the last test

Results feed from day one at the 2020 Portuguese EnduroGP in Marco de Canaveses which saw Steve Holcombe stealing the win in the last test from his teammate Brad Freeman – Josep Garcia takes test wins to finish third on his EGP return.

2020 Portuguese EnduroGP day 1 in a nutshell:

Despite the heavy rain announced for the weekend the first day in Marco de Canaveses started in sunshine allowing the riders to set a high pace right from the beginning.
Eventual scratch winner Steve Holcombe made a slow start to the day after misjudging the grip and deciding not to go so hard on the first enduro test allowing Brad Freeman to open a small gap.
The pattern across the day was a familiar one with Holcombe and Freeman trading test wins with Josep Garcia joining the party, particularly in the Enduro test.
With one test to go and a two second lead Freeman looked to have it in the bag but in the rocky and technical final Extreme test, Steve posted a time four seconds faster than Freeman to steal the win along with first place in E2.
Freeman got out the blocks in his usual flying fashion and was impressive in the changing conditions across the day when heavy rain did fall. “It was a difficult day for me, it started well and I was leading but in the end I feel like I threw it away, I'm really angry with myself.” Brad explained at the finish although another E3 win is some consolation.
On his return to EnduroGP, Josep Garcia was equally impressive and the only rider capable of matching the pace of the Beta duo. Garcia improved as the day went on and was four seconds faster than anyone in the third lap at the enduro test to finish third overall.
E1 class win and fourth overall went to Italian Andrea Verona. The TM rider had a good start to the day and was within touching distance of a podium but a mistake in the last cross test, where he went down after losing the front, gave Garcia the advantage.
Hamish Macdonald repeated his result from the previous GP and came away with another with in the Junior class, taking Junior 2 also in the process. After winning five out of the nine tests Hamish was 16 seconds faster than Will Ruprecht in second. Roni Kytonen was also in solid form on day one in Portugal taking third overall and first in Junior 1.
Sad story of the day was Theo Espinasse’s DNF. In fact it was a DNS for the Sherco rider whose bike wouldn’t fire up at the start line which means a no score and surrendering the Junior championship points lead to his teammate Macdonald and, most likely, chances of taking the title.
In Youth 125 class, points leader Jed Etchells was again imperious taking his fourth win of the season by a dominant 36 second margin over Sergio Navarro, who now has to win every round if he wants to get the title. Third place went to Claudio Spanu who was 51 seconds adrift of Etchells.
Fastest on the Open classes was home boy Goncalo Reis who also took the Open 2T class win with Mathias Van Hoof was second fastest in scratch and first in Open 4T.