Just one week after clinching a double podium in Enduro2 at the FIM EnduroGP World Championship season opener, GASGAS Factory Racing's Andrea Verona has stormed through the second GP of Portugal. Unleashing the full potential of his EC 350F to dominate the E2 class on both race days, he now leads the Enduro2 standings.
In contrast to round one of the EnduroGP World Championship, the second leg of the 2024 series, held in Valpacos, Portugal, was raced in dry, scorching conditions. Action got underway with the Friday night Super Test, where Verona steered his EC 350F to third place on the tight and twisting track, setting himself up nicely for the long and grueling day one.
Attacking the 11 tests on Saturday, Andrea went fastest in the Enduro2 class on eight of them to claim a comfortable win, well over one minute ahead of the second-placed rider. Verona’s performance also secured him a well-earned third place in the overall EnduroGP category.
Fired-up for Sunday, and focusing on the areas of his riding that cost him time on the previous day, Andrea got his head down right from the off, showing his intentions to his two closest EnduroGP-class rivals. What followed was a day of intense racing between the tapes, with the top three often separated by fractions of a second on each test.
At the midway point through day two, Verona lay second overall, less than 10 seconds down on the leader. Putting in an incredible performance on the unforgiving Portuguese terrain, the Italian closed to within just less than six seconds of leader Holcombe going into the final test. Giving his all, Andrea delivered another test win, but it wasn’t quite enough – the GASGAS star was forced to settle for second overall, missing out on his first EnduroGP victory of 2024 by a mere 1.08 seconds!
At the close of racing in Portugal, with two rounds completed, Verona leads Enduro2 by 15 points and lies third in the EnduroGP class, trailing the joint leaders by just 10 points. The FIM EnduroGP World Championship now takes a one-month break before resuming with the GP of Romania on May 10-12.
Andrea Verona: "Overall, it's been a really good weekend. I won both days in E2 and finished on the EnduroGP podium twice as well. Throughout the entire weekend, things were tight between Josep (Garcia), Steve (Holcombe), and me, often with less than a second separating us in each test. After finishing third in EnduroGP on Saturday, I knew I had to give everything on Sunday, and I pushed as hard as I could right from the start. I have to say that missing out on the overall win by just one second is really frustrating, but that's racing. I gave 100 percent and I know my speed is good. The plan now is to train more before the next round. We have a few things to work on, so hopefully, we can come back even stronger in Romania next month and take the win. Thanks to the team and everyone who supports me. It's been an intense couple of weeks here in Portugal, and we're going full gas into the next one."
Results: Round 2, GP of Portugal
Day 1 – EnduroGP
1. Josep Garcia (KTM) 1:11:20.16
2. Steve Holcombe (Honda) 1:11:34.07
3. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 1:11:46.72
Day 1 – Enduro2
1. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 1:11:46.72
2. Samuele Bernardini (Honda) 1:13:00.51
3. Mikael Persson (Husqvarna) 1:13:27.34
Day 2 – EnduroGP
1. Steve Holcombe (Honda) 1:01:24.91
2. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 1:01:25.99
3. Josep Garcia (KTM) 1:01:45.15
Day 2 – Enduro2
1. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 1:01:25.99
2. Nathan Watson (Beta) 1:02:11.91
3. Samuele Bernardini (Honda) 1:02:43.54
Championship Standings (After Round 2)
EnduroGP
1. Josep Garcia (KTM) 72 pts
2. Steve Holcombe (Honda) 72pts
3. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 62 pts
Enduro2
1. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 77 pts
2. Samuele Bernardini (Honda) 62 pts
3. Nathan Watson (Beta) 44 pts