Diving straight back into racing after last week’s GP of Finland, GASGAS Factory Racing’s Andrea Verona headed to Sweden for round four of the FIM EnduroGP World Championship. Coming away with a pair of third place results in Enduro2, while also fighting for an overall EnduroGP podium on day two, the EC 350F mounted Italian edged ever closer to the top end of the results sheet.
After a frustrating outing at last weekend’s GP of Finland, the GASGAS Factory Racing team worked hard during the few days they had between the Finnish and Swedish events to get Andrea Verona back where he belongs at the head of the field.
Further developments with his EC 350F saw the reigning EnduroGP champ feel more in tune with the Scandinavian terrain than he did one week ago. A steady start to his opening day, Andrea then set a string of top four times during the middle part of the day. A mistake on the penultimate test cost him though and he had to settle for third in Enduro2 and fifth in EnduroGP.
A few more tweaks to his EC 350F helped Andrea post top three overall times to start off day two. Battling hard with rival Nathan Watson in the closing stages of the day for the final step on the EnduroGP podium, Andrea just missed out by three seconds after over one hour and 30 minutes of racing.
With a hectic Scandinavian tour complete, Andrea’s sights are now set on Slovakia and round five at the end of June.
Andrea Verona: “It wasn’t a bad weekend, but still not where we want to be in the results. We made some good steps forward from last weekend’s race in Finland and it was a good help for sure. I’m struggling a bit in the rougher special tests, and I can’t quite keep pushing hard. Day two was good. I took another step forward and was fighting for the podium in EnduroGP again. It’s been a positive end to a difficult two races, but I feel like Slovakia can be better again.”
Results: Round 4, GP of Sweden
Day 1 – EnduroGP
1. Josep Garcia (KTM) 1:28:39.67
2. Brad Freeman (Beta) 1:28:48.53
3. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 1:29:07.75
5. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 1:29:51.86
Day 1 – Enduro2
1. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 1:29:07.75
2. Nathan Watson (Honda) 1:29:46.13
3. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 1:29:51.86
Day 2 – EnduroGP
1. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 1:29:59.33
2. Brad Freeman (Beta) 1:30:07.16
3. Nathan Watson (Honda) 1:30:21.70
4. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 1:30:25.44
Day 2 – Enduro2
1. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 1:29:59.33
2. Nathan Watson (Honda) 1:30:25.44
3. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 1:30:25.44
Championship Standings (After Round 4)
EnduroGP
1. Brad Freeman (Beta) 151pts
2. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 127pts
3. Josep Garcia (KTM) 112pts
4. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 108pts
Enduro2
1. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 154pts
2. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 136pts
3. Hamish MacDonald (Sherco) 112pts