Returning to EnduroGP competition after a two-month break,
Josep Garcia was on form and hungry to finish his 2022 season with a strong result in the world championship. During that break, Garcia secured a second consecutive overall individual victory at the prestigious International Six Days Enduro, as well as recently extending his lead in the Spanish Enduro Championship.
Getting his weekend in Germany off to the perfect start, Josep dazzled spectators in the Friday night Super Test to take the win by over four seconds on the short, technical track. The KTM 350 EXC-F racer carried that speed and momentum into Saturday, where he topped the overall timesheets on seven of the 11 special tests. Josep secured a commanding overall EnduroGP victory with a 44-second advantage over second-placed Brad Freeman.
Sunday in Zschopau didn’t start quite as Garcia hoped it would. A small mistake on the opening test saw the two-time world champion lose almost 15 seconds to his rivals, forcing him to play catch up for the remainder of the day. It didn’t take long for Josep to regain that time however, as he went on to again win seven of the day’s tests and take his second EnduroGP-class victory of the weekend by over 15 seconds.
The impressive results at round seven were unfortunately not enough for Garcia to clinch the Enduro2 world title for the second year in succession, with the Red Bull KTM rider finishing as runner-up in both EnduroGP and Enduro2 classes. Despite completely missing round four of the series in Portugal due to the injury he sustained on day two in Italy, Josep fought back to complete his year just 24 points from the win in EnduroGP and nine points down in E2 – an incredible result due in part to his exceptional run of form that secured him four overall day wins over the final two rounds.
Josep Garcia: “The goal coming into Germany was to push as hard as I could and go for the win on both days – it’s all I could possibly do if I had any hope of winning the championship. I’m happy with how I rode here in Zschopau, especially in such tough conditions, so I’m happy about that. Day one went really well. I felt super comfortable on the bike and was able to push quite hard, even though a lot of the tests were really slippery. I was hoping for the same on Sunday, but I made a mistake on a hill on the opening test and lost well over 10 seconds. After that I knew I had to ride without any mistakes for the rest of the day because the others were pushing so hard, and it was a lot closer on time. I’m really happy with how the later part of the season has gone for me. Obviously, it would have been good to win the world championship, and I’m certain I had the speed to do so, it was just that injury in Italy that set me back, which meant I had to miss round four from Portugal as well. To win the last four days in the world championship and the Six Days is really encouraging, so I’ll be back next year to fight for the titles once again.” Results – 2022 FIM Enduro World Championship – Round 7, Germany Day 1 Enduro 2 1. Josep Garcia (ESP), KTM, 1:05:59.24 2. Steve Holcombe (GBR), Beta, 1:06:56.65 +57.41
3. Wil Ruprecht (AUS), TM, 1:07:14.91 +1:15.67
4. Nathan Watson (GBR), Honda, 1:07:25.60 +1:26.36
5. Alex Salvini (ITA), Husqvarna, 1:11:49.28 +5:50.04
EnduroGP 1. Josep Garcia (ESP), KTM, 1:05:59.24 2. Brad Freeman (GBR), Beta, 1:06:43.15 +43.91
3. Steve Holcombe (GBR), Beta, 1:06:56.65 +57.41
4. Wil Ruprecht (AUS), TM, 1:07:14.91 +1:15.67
5. Andrea Verona (ITA), GASGAS, 1:07:18.40 +1:19.16
Day 2 Enduro 2 1. Josep Garcia (ESP), KTM, 1:03:46.07 2. Nathan Watson (GBR), Honda, 1:04:29.94 +43.87
3. Steve Holcombe (GBR), Beta, 1:04:45.71 +59.64
4. Wil Ruprecht (AUS), TM, 1:06:56.89 +3:10.82
EnduroGP 1. Josep Garcia (ESP), KTM, 1:03:46.07 2. Brad Freeman (GBR), Beta, 1:04:01.88 +15.81
3. Andrea Verona (ITA), GASGAS, 1:04:29.55 +43.48
4. Nathan Watson (GBR), Honda, 1:04:29.94 +43.87
5. Mikael Persson (SWE), Husqvarna, 1:04:41.73 +55.66
Championship Standings (After Round 7) Enduro 2 1. Wil Ruprecht (AUS), TM, 219 points
2. Josep Garcia (ESP), KTM, 210 pts 3. Nathan Watson (GBR), Honda, 209 pts
4. Steve Holcombe (GBR), Beta, 165 pts
5. Hugo Blanjoue (FRA), KTM, 127 pts EnduroGP 1. Andrea Verona (ITA), GASGAS, 219 points
2. Josep Garcia (ESP), KTM, 195 pts 3. Wil Ruprecht (AUS), TM, 180 pts
4. Nathan Watson (GBR), Honda, 170 pts
5. Steve Holcombe (GBR), Beta, 127 pts
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