Beta Factory Racing’s Steve Holcombe has come out swinging at the opening round of the FIM Enduro World Championship in France, winning both days of competition in the EnduroGP class to give Beta’s their first ever four-stroke powered world championship enduro victory.
After an extended off-season due to COVID-19, the 2020 EnduroGP season finally got underway in Requista, France this weekend. Expected to be a short and sharp season, five-time champion Holcombe was eager to make a strong start and prove himself as a title contender once again. Mixing things up and moving away from his familiar 300cc two-stroke Beta, the French event marked Steve’s first professional world championship
outing aboard four-stroke machinery.
Hitting the ground running, Holcombe’s Beta RR Racing 4T 350 powered him to the fastest time in the Friday night super test. Throughout the opening day of racing on Saturday he continued to place at the sharp end of the results. Despite a mistake on the final extreme test, Steve claimed a memorable victory. Hampered on day two by leading the field out following overnight rain, Steve limited the damage on the opening
lap of three before charging his way back into contention on lap two. Fending off late attacks from his rivals, he held strong to top the EnduroGP classification and with it establish an early lead in the championship standings.
Steve Holcombe: “After what’s been the longest off-season, it’s been a dream weekend to be able to kick things off with a double victory in EnduroGP and take an early lead in the championship. Adding to that, being the first person to put a four-stroke Beta on the top step of a world championship enduro podium is special. I was the first rider to win for Beta on a two- stroke, so it’s great to be able to do the double as it were and deliver their first four-stroke win as well. The weekend itself went pretty good from the start. I wanted to push the pace and managed that by winning the super test on Friday. There were mistakes throughout Saturday, especially on the final extreme test, but I kept it together and got the win. After getting that first race day out of the way I felt Sunday was more controlled. Overnight rain made lap one tricky, but I came back strong and won again. Overall, we’ve certainly proved this weekend that we’re on the right track with the 350 – now it’s a matter of building on today in what’s set to be a short, sharp and intense championship.”
STORY: Steve Holcombe fights hard for muddy Italian EnduroGP win (September 2020)
STORY: Steve Holcombe Forced To Withdraw From 2019 ISDE (October 2019)
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