Ankle injury hampers Steve Holcombe’s Estonia EnduroGP performance
By Press Release on 20th Jul 21
Enduro World Championship Steve Holcombe
Beta Factory Racings Steve Holcombe has again been forced to deal with injury, this time soldiering through the third stop of the FIM EnduroGP World Championship with an ankle injury.
Doing his best, Steve claimed a pair of fourth-place results in Enduro2. Racing at the opening two rounds of the series with a broken rib, Steve hurt his ankle early on day one in Estonia, an injury that literally put him on the back foot throughout the two-day event.
In whats proving to be an injury-hit 2021 season for Steve, the seven-time world champ was dealt yet more bad fortune when he injured his ankle on the opening enduro test of the weekend in Estonia.
Steve Holcombe
Entering the weekend recovered from a broken rib that plagued him during the first two rounds, Steve was feeling confident and looking for a strong result on his Beta RR Racing 4T 350. And having won when the series last visited Estonia in 2018, he knew the soft, sandy terrain would favour his style.
However, Lady Luck had other ideas as Steve awkwardly caught his foot at high speed on the technical enduro test. Despite immediate discomfort, he pushed on to salvage what points he could with seventh in EnduroGP and fourth in Enduro2.
Steve Holcombe
Strapping his foot for day two, and trying to protect it where he could, he battled through almost one hour and twenty minutes of timed special test racing. With an eighth in EnduroGP and fourth in Enduro2, he holds onto a top-five position in the EnduroGP standings and third in Enduro2.
"Its been a frustrating weekend, and season, so far," said Holcombe. "Having struggled through the first two rounds with a broken rib, I really wanted to put that behind me here in Estonia. But on the first enduro test on Saturday I hit my foot really badly on a stump and hurt my ankle.
"Im finding it hard to walk now, so muscling a bike round those sandy special tests for two days has been hard. Its also my first time not being on the podium in any class since 2015, so, yeah, its been a tough weekend at the office. With the GP of Sweden starting on Thursday the timing is less than ideal to be carrying an injury. But Ill give it my all and see how I get on."
The 2021 FIM EnduroGP World Championship continues this week with the GP of Sweden, in Skvde from Thursday July 22 to Saturday July 24.
Results: EnduroGP World Championship, Round 3, Day 1 EnduroGP
1. Josep Garcia (KTM) 1:16:17.01; 2. Brad Freeman (Beta) 1:16:25.51; 3. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 1:16:34.47 7. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 1:18:07.85
Enduro2
1. Josep Garcia (KTM) 1:16:17.01; 2. Wil Ruprecht (TM) 1:17:36.62; 3. Hamish MacDonald (Sherco) 1:17:57.43; 4. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 1:18:07.85
Results: EnduroGP World Championship, Round 3, Day 2 EnduroGP
1. Josep Garcia (KTM) 1:16:08.96; 2. Brad Freeman (Beta) 1:16:09.41; 3. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 1:17:04.04 8. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 1:18:18.10
Enduro2
1. Josep Garcia (KTM) 1:16:08.96; 2. Wil Ruprecht (TM) 1:17:49.74; 3. Hamish MacDonald (Sherco) 1:18:03.12; 4. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 1:18:18.10
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