Saturday dawned wet and misty, and with the tests proving tough for all competitors, the conditions truly separated the elite from the rest of the pack. Andrea topped the Enduro2 timesheets on the first six tests to open up a healthy lead on his class rivals. Holding his advantage through to the finish, Verona secured the E2 victory and his first win of the season.
On Sunday, Andrea came out fighting once again, posting the second-quickest time in E2 on the first test before going fastest in tests two and three. The 24-year-old maintained an excellent pace over the following two laps, but despite pushing hard and making the minimum of mistakes, he couldn’t quite deliver the times he knew he was capable of. Bringing his GASGAS EC 350F home safely as runner-up in the Enduro2 category, Verona secured his second E2 podium of the weekend and heads to round two of the series, also held in Portugal, as joint leader of the class. In the overall EnduroGP classification, a 2-4 scorecard for his weekend’s work in Fafe, puts him a strong third in the championship standings.
Andrea Verona: “I’m pretty happy with how my weekend went. On Saturday, I was well in the fight for the EnduroGP win and was happy with how I rode and my E2-class win. On Sunday, things didn’t quite go to plan – I felt my speed was good but each test I was losing just a couple of seconds to the other guys. I didn’t make any big mistakes, I just struggled to find my rhythm. Fourth in EnduroGP and second in E2 isn’t bad, but I was really hoping for better. Overall, my weekend has gone well – I’m really happy with the bike, and the team have done a great job as always. Now, I have to get focused again and then full gas for next weekend and hopefully I can improve things a little more here in Portugal.”
