With round two coming hot on the heels of last weekend’s season opener, Josep Garcia was eager to continue his winning ways in Portugal. Kicking things off with victory in the Friday night Akrapovic Super Test for the second week in a row, Josep was fired up for the next two days of racing to come.
A strong start to Saturday saw the KTM 250 EXC-F mounted rider build an early lead after setting the fastest time on both the cross test and enduro test. Despite a hectic pace at the front of the field, Garcia held firm at the top of the classification. Going on to win a further three special tests, while never dropping outside of the top four, saw him claim a well-deserved victory in EnduroGP and Enduro1.
On day two, Garcia set about repeating those winning results. But a crash on the enduro test put the Spaniard on the back foot. Regrouping and pushing hard, he raced his way from sixth up to third overall. Edging ever closer to securing a double victory in Valpacos, Garcia was in the hunt as he entered the 10th and final special test of the day. Going all-in like only the Spaniard can, the tactic unfortunately didn’t pay off for him this time. A small crash saw his chance of victory slip away, forcing him to settle for third overall in EnduroGP and second in Enduro1.
With his strong results across the weekend, Josep is now tied on points for the lead in both the EnduroGP and Enduro2 categories as Red Bull KTM Factory Racing look towards round three in Romania next month, May 10-12.
Josep Garcia: “It’s been a good, solid weekend for me. Winning EnduroGP and Enduro1 on Saturday was perfect really, along with also topping the Super Test on Friday night. I didn’t make too many mistakes on day one and that made the difference. I had some mistakes on Sunday, which cost me a chance of winning, but I still finished on the podium in both classes. Like round one, the pace was incredible this weekend. Everyone is pushing so hard and there’s no room for error. I feel good on the bike and I’m happy with how I’m riding. I just need to keep this level at the next round.”