Keeping his home fans happy and extending his lead at the top of the Enduro1 World Championship standings, Andrea Verona has enjoyed two winning rides at the second round of the 2021 FIM EnduroGP World Championship. Narrowly missing the overall EnduroGP class podium on both days, Verona comfortably topped the Enduro1 class on both Saturday and Sunday ensuring a truly memorable GP of Italy for the EC 250F racer.
Fired up to deliver winning results at his home round of the EnduroGP series, defending Enduro1 champion Verona made his intentions clear on Friday night when he topped the E1 Super Test results. Rolling his winning momentum into the first full day of competition, on Saturday he dominated the opening lap to establish a promising class lead while also battling for a place inside the top three in the overall EnduroGP class.
Despite a handful of small mistakes, Andrea kept up his pace and in being the fastest Enduro1 class rider on eight of the day’s special tests he went on to top the class, finishing 50 seconds clear of his closest challenger.
Completing the perfect weekend, Verona’s day two result was a carbon copy of the first. Winning the Enduro1 class, making a few mistakes along the way, and again coming close to finishing on the EnduroGP podium, he added valuable world championship points to his 2021 campaign and sits at the top of the tables with four, two-day rounds to go.
With no Enduro Women class in Italy, Laia Sanz was able to take a weekend off from world championship racing, with Taddy Blazusiak stepping in to make a one-off EnduroGP outing alongside Verona. Building his preparations ahead of the upcoming Abestone Hard Enduro in Italy, Taddy was able to put himself and his shoulder to the test, successfully completing both days of competition and securing 8-7 results in the Enduro3 class.
Andrea Verona: “It’s been a great weekend for me. Just a few seconds from the EnduroGP podium on both days and at the top of the Enduro1 results on both days, so I’m really happy. The race was tough, already on day one, but especially on day two. I made a few small mistakes, but the tests were really cut up. In general, my riding was good, I’m pleased. It was also great to race in front of so many spectators. Day two was also good for me. I’m pleased with how I rode, just a little frustrated that I wasn’t quite able to get third in EnduroGP. But that was my mistake – I was in third before the final test and I made a mistake and crashed in a small section of rocks, and that was that. But to win again in E1 was great. Again I had a good battle with Davide Guarneri, also I put in some really good test times, so yeah, it’s been a great home GP for me. Just a few weeks off now and then we head to Scandinavia, so it’s full focus on that now.”
Taddy Blazusiak: “It’s been fun to compete in the Enduro World Championship again. Not the best results for me, but I wasn’t taking any risks. I wanted to just stay upright and finish without mistakes, which didn’t last too long as I crashed twice on the first enduro test on day one. The most important thing for me was to complete two tough days of racing and see how my shoulder was after the surgery I had at the end of last year. It was all good, but you know, I was starting to feel it on my forearms towards the end of the first day. I took things a little steadier on day two, rode smoother, and I was happy enough. It was very easy to make mistakes, and I wasn’t going to push too hard so close to the next round of the Hard Enduro World Championship. I’m happy, it was an awesome event and my shoulder was all good.”
Results – 2021 EnduroGP World Championship, Round 2, Day 1
Enduro1
1. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 59:50.60
2. Davide Guarneri (Fantic) 1:00:41.35
3. Antoine Magain (Sherco) 1:01:14.04
Enduro3
1. Brad Freeman (Beta) 57:57.37
2. Jaume Betriu (KTM) 1:01:07.16
3. Jamie McCanney (Husqvarna) 1:01:18.69
8. Taddy Blazusiak (GASGAS) 1:03:21.56
Results – 2021 EnduroGP World Championship, Round 2, Day 2
Enduro1
1. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 59:51.54
2. Davide Guarneri (Fantic) 1:00:13.45
3. Antoine Magain (Sherco) 1:00:32.74
Enduro3
1. Brad Freeman (Beta) 58:24.94
2. Jaume Betriu (KTM) 1:00:21.10
3. Danny McCanney (Sherco) 1.02:32.39
7. Taddy Blazusiak (GASGAS) 1.03:42.90
Championship Standings – 2021 EnduroGP World Championship, (after Round 2)
Enduro1
1. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 77 points
2. Davide Guarneri (Fantic) 71
3. Antoine Magain (Sherco) 51