Five enduro world titles won with Metzeler tyres
Josep Garcia is World Champion in the EnduroGP and Enduro1 classes, while Andrea Verona, Brad Freeman and Manuel Verzeroli are the winners of Enduro2, Enduro3 and Youth titles respectively
Over the weekend, the 2024 season of the FIM EnduroGP World Championship officially closed on French soil, with riders equipped with Metzeler MCE 6 Days Extreme tyres winning five world titles.
The end-of-season haul sees Josep Garcia World Champion in the EnduroGP and Enduro1 classes and Andrea Verona, Brad Freeman and Manuel Verzeroli winners of Enduro2, Enduro3 and Youth titles respectively.
The town of Brioude was the scene of the final event of the season with a race masterfully organised for the occasion by the Brioude Motoclub in collaboration with Track Inspector Maurizio Micheluz.
The highly anticipated French GP race weekend began on Friday 13 September with the packed Super Test that officially kicked-off the final race weekend of the 2024 EnduroGP season.
The race course of the seventh round on French soil, where our riders battled it out, began with a 5.4 km long Cross Test set on a classic meadow of the French enduro tradition, alternating with a part of undergrowth. A 6.8 km Enduro Test followed, which was characterised by soft and muddy terrain made particularly difficult by the presence of some roots and, at the end, a special 1.8 km Extreme test, which was mostly natural but with some artificial sections.
Josep Garcia (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was crowned World Champion on Saturday after winning the EnduroGP class. The second final position went to British rider Steve Holcombe (Honda RedMoto Racing Enduro Team) who finished second twice. An excellent second day for Brad Freeman (Team Beta Factory Enduro) saw him win the last day of competition. The final standings of the EnduroGP class sees in the first four positions all riders equipped with Metzeler MCE 6 Days Extreme tyres.
Josep Garcia (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) completed an extraordinary weekend by also winning the world title in the E1 class. The Spanish rider won Day One and climbed to the second step of the podium on the final day. The title of vice world champion goes to Steve Holcombe (Honda RedMoto Racing Enduro Team) who fought until the last special stage in an attempt to accomplish the feat.
With the title in his pocket from the previous GP in Wales, Andrea Verona (Gas Gas Factory Racing) won both race days in Brioude. It was an excellent performance on the first day of competition for Samuele Bernardini (Honda RedMoto Racing Enduro Team), too,with him taking a well-deserved second place on French soil. Nathan Watson (Team Beta Factory Enduro) crashed in the last special stage scheduled for Saturday. The final championship standings here also see riders with Metzeler tyres in the first three positions.
On Saturday, Brad Freeman (Team Beta Factory Enduro) was crowned World Champion in the E3 class. The British rider ended the world championship season with another splendid one-two.
In the Youth Enduro class, Pietro Scardina (Fantic Racing Junior Team) scored a splendid double and at the end of the French GP he was runner-up in the world championship. The reigning champion of the Youth class, Manuel Verzeroli, with the title already in his pocket over the French weekend, lined up in the Junior class with good results.
Completing the successes obtained with Metzeler tyres was the one obtained in the FIM Junior 1 Enduro World Cup by Kevin Cristino (Fantic Racing) who won the title by just one point at the expense of another Metzeler-equipped rider, Manolo Morettini (Honda RedMoto Racing Enduro Team) after a long and exciting race weekend.
Championship standings (METZELER riders in bold):
EnduroGP
GARCIA Josep p.247
HOLCOMBE Steve p.223
VERONA Andrea p. 223
FREEMAN Brad p.180
Enduro1
GARCIA Josep p.262
HOLCOMBE Steve p.256
PICHON Zachary p.198
Enduro2
VERONA Andrea p.277
BERNARDINI Samuele p. 198
WATSON Nathan p.182
Enduro3
FREEMAN Brad p.255
MCDONALD Hammish p. 210
CAVALLO Matteo p.199
Youth Enduro
VERZEROLI Manuel p.210
SCARDINA Pietro p.200
DAGNA Romain p.185
