Sherco Factory Racing’s Steve Holcombe has endured a challenging second round of the 2026 FIM EnduroGP World Championship in Oliana, Spain, showing front-running pace throughout the weekend but ultimately being denied a podium result after a mix of misfortune and mistakes.
· Solid fifth in Friday’s Super Test to open the weekend
· Impressive day one pace while fighting for the win
· Second in Enduro3 and fifth overall on day two
Holcombe made a solid start to the EnduroGP of Spain with a fifth-place finish in Friday evening’s Super Test, delivering a competitive lap to set himself up well ahead of the first full day of competition.
Overnight rain made for extremely difficult conditions on the opening cross test on Saturday, and as one of the first riders out, Steve struggled to find grip on the slick and unpredictable terrain. Despite the early setback, he quickly turned things around by setting the second-fastest time on the first enduro test and steadily worked his way back into contention.
Continuing to build momentum as the day progressed, Steve entered the final test lying second overall and leading Enduro3. However, a technical issue cost him significant time and ultimately ended his day, cutting short what had been a strong ride.
READ MORE: ENDUROGP NEWS
Sunday brought another test of resilience. A crash on the opening enduro test immediately put Holcombe on the back foot, leaving him with time to recover throughout the day. Determined to fight back, he steadily improved across the remaining laps and began to post increasingly competitive times, particularly in the closing stages. Despite a strong final push, the time lost early on proved too much to recover, and he finished fifth overall, but still secured second place in Enduro3 to salvage important championship points.
Following round two, Holcombe sits fifth in the EnduroGP standings, just one point shy of fourth and six points from third, keeping him well within reach of the front runners with five rounds remaining. In Enduro3, despite Saturday’s disappointment, his result on Sunday places him third in the standings, with just 12 points covering the top three in what is shaping up to be a tightly contested class.
The 2026 FIM EnduroGP World Championship continues in three weeks’ time with the GP of Finland in Vierumäki on May 22-24.
Steve Holcombe: “My weekend in Oliana has been a bit of a rollercoaster. Day one was going really well, and I felt like I was right where I needed to be. Unfortunately, in the last extreme test I had a technical issue which resulted in me getting disqualified. Day two, I struggled a little bit from the get-go. I had a crash on the first enduro test and after that I couldn’t settle back into a good rhythm. I was probably overthinking things a bit, which didn’t help, but I kept pushing and managed to improve as the day went on, especially on the final lap. I’m glad to get this race behind me and now my focus is fully on the rest of the championship.”
Words and Images by Future7 Media
