Now that was a race for the history books! GASGAS has secured their first ever UCI World Cup podium with GASGAS SRAM Racing’s Alex Marin bringing it home for a runner-up result at round three of the E-Enduro in Val Di Fassa, Italy. The result moves Alex up to third overall in the championship standings. And with teammate Johannes Fischbach sliding into an eighth place finish, it marks a great first half of the season for GASGAS.
After break though results in Austria last weekend for our GASGAS SRAM Racing and GASGAS MOTOREX Racing crews in the UCI E-Enduro World Cup, team vibes were high heading to round three in Italy. The taste of success felt sweet, and everyone was hungry for more.
Knocking on the door of a top five result with sixth in Leogang, our fun-loving Spaniard Alex Marin was eager to build on that performance in Val Di Fassa. Famed for its super-high mountain range, with fast-flowing natural stages, Marin didn’t waste any time getting stuck in.
Fourth quickest on the opening stage and things were looking good. A tough uphill power stage didn’t go in his favor, but with the second fastest time on stage four he charged his way into the latter half of the day. The infamous Tutti Frutti stage six with 830 meters of descending would prove decisive. Third quickest, Alex had a debut podium locked in his sights. Executing the final back-to-back stages of seven and eighth to near perfection, the GASGAS SRAM Racing rider ended his day with an incredible runner-up result.
For Johannes Fischbach, today was about building on his result of 13th at Leogang. Aiming for the top-10, he got his day rolling with fifth on stage one. With a top-10 result on the power stage, it was clear the former downhiller is now well-rounded in enduro. Keeping his pace high in the second half of the day, Fischi came home in eighth.
While showing some solid pace, round three was one of mixed fortunes for GASGAS MOTOREX Racing’s Simon Carlsson. Still feeling the effects of crashing at rounds one and two, our Swede wasn’t able to show his true potential with 24th. But we know that during the summer break he’s got time to regroup and bounce back strong at round four in September.
After the highs of a career-best fifth last weekend, our fast Frenchman Alex Fayolle was met with the lows of a non-finish today in Italy. However, he didn’t lay down without a fight. Hot out of the blocks, Alex was fighting alongside Alex Marin for a podium result during the first half of the day. A crash on Tutti Frutti put paid to what could have been another amazing result.
With round three in the books, our GASGAS E-EDR crew will now enjoy some well-earned rest and recovery. Overall, it’s been a wild and exciting start to our debut UCI E-Enduro World Cup season with stage wins, career-best results, and now a podium result! We can’t wait to see what round four has in store next September.
Alex Marin (GASGAS SRAM Racing): “I’m super happy with second, it’s unreal! The day started out well, but I hoped to be a little higher up. During the day I got more in the flow and started to get some consistent top five times. Being solid like that brought me back in the fight for second. It’s pretty cool to land on the podium already. I wasn’t targeting that as it’s my first time in enduro. It’s a great way to enter the summer break. I can’t thank the team enough for their support. It’s a lot of fun.”
Johannes Fischbach (GASGAS SRAM Racing): “I’m happy with that ride today. My goal was top 10, so to finish eighth is good. I got off to a strong start, with some top five times on the first two stages. I lost a little bit of time during the day but managed to pull it back towards the end. I’m pleased though. Today was a strong step in the right direction for sure!”
Simon Carlsson (GASGAS MOTOREX Racing): “I kept it up right with no crashes, which was the main goal today after a tough two races previously. But I was losing time in places that I need to figure out. I’m looking forward to this summer break to reset and regroup.”
Alex Fayolle (GASGAS MOTOREX Racing): “The day started out well, even better than in Leogang. After the first loop I was in fourth overall and was pushing for the podium. But then I crashed on Tutti Frutti. I banged up my hand pretty good and couldn’t hold on properly, so I had to call it a day. I’m gutted because I was loving the battle. But it’s been an awesome start to the season and I’ll work hard to come back strong at round four.”
Results: UCI E-Enduro World Cup, Round 3
1. Kevin Marry (Lapierre) 40:31.130
2. Alex Marin (GASGAS SRAM Racing) 40:46.440
3. Hugo Pigeon (SCOTT) 40:53.210
4. Josh Carlson (GIANT) 40:54.870
5. Tiago Ladeira (Miranda) 40:59.750
8. Johannes Fischbach (GASGAS SRAM Racing) 41:10.380
24. Simon Carlsson (GASGAS MOTOREX Racing) 42:30.520
Championship Standings (After Round 3)
1. Fabien Barel (Canyon) 546pts
2. Kevin Marry (Lapierre) 533pts
3. Alex Marin (GASGAS SRAM Racing) 464pts
14. Alex Fayolle (GASGAS MOTOREX Racing) 274pts
23. Johannes Fischbach (GASGAS SRAM Racing) 215pts
24. Simon Carlsson (GASGAS MOTOREX Racing) 211pts