LAIA SANZ DOMINATES THE WOMEN’S CLASS WHILE ANDREA VERONA PUTS IN A CHAMPION’S PERFORMANCE TO MAINTAIN HIS ENDURO1 SERIES LEAD.
The crash
It was a weekend of fast and frantic action at round four of the 2021 FIM EnduroGP World Championship, with Laia Sanz topping the Women’s class on both days of racing.
In dominant form throughout the entire weekend, the Spanish ace enjoyed a maximum points haul, heading home to Spain with the Women’s class lead.
For our Enduro1 star, Andrea Verona crashes prevented him from finishing any higher than third on an opening day before he put in a champion’s performance to secure the day two E1 win and claim second overall in EnduroGP.
- Laia Sanz dominates the Women’s class at GP of Sweden
- Verona delivers the goods at EnduroGP round four
- EnduroGP series now takes a summer break until the autumn
Title chase
Arriving at the EnduroGP of Sweden tied on points at the top of the Women’s championship standings, Laia Sanz had only one thing on her mind – leave Skovde with a firm hold of the Women’s title chase.
After topping the timesheets on Thursday night’s Super Test (the race ran from Thursday to Saturday!). Laia was in complete control throughout the opening day of racing, claiming a convincing victory.
For day two, the Spanish ace frustratingly lacked the energy needed to push forward, opting for a consistent pace to secure another strong result.
Nevertheless, Laia won three of the six tests to claim a second-day win in Sweden and now sits on top of the series standings with a comfortable eight-point lead.
Andrea Verona
Fresh from his Enduro1 clean sweep last weekend in Estonia, Andrea Verona arrived in Sweden focused on delivering more winning rides.
Perhaps a little too eager to continue from where he left off, the Italian frustratingly hit the deck multiple times early on during day one.
Relying upon his impressive pace to bring him back up to the sharp end of the results by the end of the day, Andrea would ultimately claim third in E1.
Hitting the reset button ahead of the second day of racing, Verona was back to his best.
Davide Guarneri
On pace with his rivals from the start, more importantly, he kept the things rubber side down with the 22-year-old engaged in a day-long battle with countryman Davide Guarneri for overall victory.
With the outcome of day two coming down to the results of the final test of the weekend. Verona dug deep to take the win and top the Enduro1 class by just over nine seconds.
In doing so, he also claimed a runner-up EnduroGP result.
The EnduroGP series will take a summer break before resuming for round five on October 9-10 in Germany, where Andrea will return to Enduro1 action. For Laia, the third and final round of the 2021 FIM Women’s Enduro World Championship occurs in France on October 16-17.
Quote
Laia Sanz: “It’s been another good weekend for me, and overall I’m thrilled with my results.
I would have liked some of the tests to be a little slower and more technical, especially the extreme tests, but it was the same for everyone.
Like the first round, my fitness isn’t quite where it needed to be to push on the second day, so I had to maintain a solid but steady pace.
In terms of my championship, it’s been a great weekend, and now I have a nice gap at the top of the standings with one round to go in France.”
Andrea Verona: “I’m super happy with how my weekend ended. On day one, I had too many crashes, but despite that, I still wasn’t too far from the win.
To turn it around on the second day and take the win, this was really huge for me to bounce back like that. Going down to the last test, I had nothing to lose, and I gave it full gas.
I gave it everything and to take the day win after a close battle all day feels fantastic. My speed put me on the podium in EnduroGP as well, so for me this second day was extraordinary and challenging opening day.”
Results – 2021 EnduroGP World Championship, Round 4, Day 1
Enduro1
1. Davide Guarneri (Fantic) 1:09:42.55
2. Samuele Bernadini (Honda) 1:09:56.03
3. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 1:09:58.78
EnduroGP
1. Wil Ruprecht (TM) 1:08:41.04
2. Josep Garcia (KTM) 1:09:01.29
3. Brad Freeman (Beta) 1:09:18.08
6. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 1:09:58.78
Enduro Women
1. Laia Sanz (GASGAS) 53:32.07
2. Jane Daniels (Fantic) 54:22.05
3. Mireia Badia (GASGAS) 54:35.17
Results – 2021 EnduroGP World Championship, Round 4, Day 2
Enduro1
1. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 1:07:45.51
2. Davide Guarneri (Fantic) 1:07:54.82
3. Samuele Bernardini (Honda) 1:09:58.75
EnduroGP
1. Brad Freeman (Beta) 1:07:41.18
2. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 1:07:45.51
3. Davide Guarneri (Fantic) 1:07:54.82
Enduro Women
1. Laia Sanz (GASGAS) 52:56.08
2. Mireia Badia (GASGAS) 53:25.77
3. Jane Daniels (Fantic) 53:38.97
Championship Standings – 2021 EnduroGP World Championship, (after Round 4)
Enduro1
1. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 152 points
2. Davide Guarneri (Fantic) 142
3. Samuele Bernardini (Honda) 109
EnduroGP
1. Brad Freeman (Beta) 146 points
2. Josep Garcia (KTM) 124
3. Wil Ruprecht (TM) 120
4. Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 102
Enduro Women
1. Laia Sanz (GASGAS) 75 points
2. Mireia Badia (GASGAS) 67
3. Jane Daniels (Fantic) 66
via GASGAS