Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Josep Garcia has won the Enduro2 and overall EnduroGP classes on both days of racing in Portugal, round five of the 2021 world championship. The dominant result takes him to the top of the Enduro2 standings and to within 16 points of the EnduroGP class lead with two days left to race.

After an extended summer break that saw Josep Garcia win the 2021 International Six Days of Enduro, the young Spaniard carried that form to the penultimate round of the FIM Enduro World Championship in Portugal. Finding the fast, sandy tests very much to his liking, Garcia set about laying down the gauntlet to his rivals during Friday night’s Supertest. Topping the E2 class and just missing out on the overall EnduroGP win by just 0.13 of a second, it was clear Josep was on form and looking to impress.

Josep Garcia: “The whole weekend has gone really well for me. My goal right from the beginning was to push as hard as I could and that’s what I did. I had a small crash on the first test on day one, but it didn’t slow me down too much. To take the win on Saturday by such a large margin felt really good. Day two was more of a fight – I had a crash in the first enduro test, but this time it lost me a few seconds although I was still fourth quickest. The fight with Brad (Freeman) went on all day – he was really fast today, and we were both pushing to the limit in every test. Finally, I was able to get the win, which is really good after such a tough day. I want to thank my team for their hard work this weekend as everything was perfect.”

Day one went almost perfectly for Garcia. By posting the fastest time in eight of the 10 special tests, the KTM 350 EXC-F rider ultimately took the EnduroGP win by an impressive 54 seconds – his advantage in E2 was even greater.

Sunday proved to be more of a challenge as EnduroGP Championship leader Brad Freeman pushed Garcia hard for the victory all day, with the two riders sharing the wins in eight of the nine tests. It was Josep who eventually triumphed, holding his nerve, and delivering two strong final tests to ultimately beat his rival by just under three seconds at the close of racing.

With Garcia also earning maximum points in the Enduro2 category, the 24-year-old now heads to the final round of the series in France, in just under a week’s time, with a sizeable 22-point advantage at the top of the standings.

Championship Standings (After Round 5)

Enduro2
1. Josep Garcia (ESP), KTM, 181 points
2. Wil Ruprecht (AUS), TM, 159 pts
3. Steve Holcombe (GBR), Beta, 136 pts
4. Hamish MacDonald (NZL), Sherco, 133 pts
5. Eero Remes (FIN), TM, 86 pts

EnduroGP
1. Brad Freeman (GBR), Beta, 180 Points
2. Josep Garcia (ESP), KTM, 164 pts
3. Andrea Verona (ITA), GASGAS, 130 pts
4. Wil Ruprecht (AUS), TM, 128 pts
5. Davide Guarneri (ITA), Fantic, 113 pts

The 2021 FIM Enduro World Championship concludes with round six – the GP of France – on October 15-17.

STORY: 1, 2, 3 – Verona, Garcia And Freeman Secure Their Titles (October 2021)
STORY: Josep Garcia Claims Overall Victory At 2021 International Six Days Enduro (September 2021)

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