What a week, what a result! In one of the most closely fought International Six Day Enduros of recent years, our ultra-fast Enduro1 rider not only topped his class in style and finished second overall, but he also went on to lead the dominant Italian team to a historic win in the highly prized World Trophy competition.
Andrea Verona: “I’m really happy with my week here at the Six Days, to take the win in E1, and the World Trophy title for my country feels amazing! I had a big fight all week with Josep (Garcia) for the overall, and although I only beat him overall on one day, we both pushed each other really hard, and I think that definitely increased our pace over the whole event and improved our skills. My bike has been perfect, so much fun to race. It’s been an incredible event for the Italian teams, claiming both the World Trophy and the Junior Trophy shows the level that we’re at right now as a country, in enduro. It was so good to race at home in front of all the fans, they have been so supportive all through the event and to reward them with a result like this feels great.”
Starting as he meant to go on, Verona fired his EC 250F through the fast, dusty tests on the first day at the 2021 ISDE to top the Enduro1 class by close to 10 seconds, despite a heavy crash on the final test of the day. The result, combined with his three teammates, put Italy into the lead of the World Trophy standings – a position they wouldn’t lose for the remainder of the event.
Fastest in E1 on days two and three, Verona made history for himself on day four, winning the overall for the first time in his ISDE career. Dropping back to claim second overall on Friday, Andrea still extended his Enduro1 class lead by a further 25 seconds to face the final day’s motocross with a comfortable near two-minute advantage.
The final motocross went well for Verona, claiming a strong fourth position – enough for the 22-year-old to secure the Enduro1 class victory by over one and a half minutes.
Adding a coveted World Trophy win to his Junior World Trophy victory from 2018, Verona now aims to take his form and confidence back to the EnduroGP World Championship where he hopes to wrap up the Enduro1 title when the series resumes with the final two rounds in October.
Riding for Team United States, GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jonathan Girroir and GASGAS-supported Ryan Sipes placed fifth in E1 and fourth in E3, respectively – helping to take their country to third in the World Trophy Competition.
In the Women’s class, GASGAS-mounted Mireia Badia finished in an excellent third place, assisting Team Spain to third place in the Women’s World Trophy, less than one minute from second.
Results: 2021 FIM International Six Days Enduro
Overall individual classification
1. Josep Garcia (KTM) 4:14:16.07
2. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 4:16:12.52
3. Mikael Persson (KTM) 4:17:46.67
Enduro 1
1. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 4:16:12.52
2. Mikael Persson (KTM) 4:17:46.67
3. Lorenzo Macoritto (TM) 4:20:50.46
5. Jonathan Girroir (GASGAS) 4:23:24.54
Enduro 2
1. Josep Garcia (KTM) 4:14:16.07
2. Taylor Robert (KTM) 4:19:17.23
3. Dante Oliveira (KTM) 4:21:13.27
8. Tyler Medaglia (GASGAS) 4:24:33.59
Enduro 3
1. Matteo Cavallo (TM) 4:19:10.57
2. Matteo Pavoni (TM) 4:20:18.95
3. Jaume Betriu (KTM) 4:20:45.91
4. Ryan Sipes (GASGAS) 4:24:01.03
Enduro Women
1. Brandy Richards (KTM) 4:36:27.62
2. Jane Daniels (Fantic) 4:46:05.94
3. Mireia Badia (GASGAS) 4:46:24.87
World Trophy Team
1. Italy (Verona, Guarneri, Oldrati, Cavallo)
2. Spain (Garcia, Betriu, Sans, Guerrero)
3. USA (Girroir, Robert, Michael, Sipes)
Junior World Trophy
1. Italy (Macoritto, Morettini, Pavoni)
2. France (Fargier, Le Quere, Criq)
3. Sweden (Ljungstrom, Norrbin, Ahlin)
Women’s World Trophy
1. USA (Richards, Gutish, Gallegos)
2. Great Britain (Holmes, Daniels, Rowett)
3. Spain (Gomez, Calco, Badia)