OFF ROAD
If the name Steve Holcombe rings a bell give yourself a pat on the back. If not we are pleased to say he’s just become 2018 FIM Enduro GP World Champ…
Steve Holcombe isn’t a household name, but he should be…
IF YOU DON’T recognise Steve Holcombe, don’t worry, you won’t be alone. However, he is the other four-times world motorcycle champion Britain should be boasting about in 2018. Alongside World Superbike Champion, Jonathan Rea, Holcombe is Britain’s most successful motorcycle racer of recent times. Yet there are no flash cars and high-profile sponsorship deals with Holcombe; he is just a Devon lad who is every bit as dedicated to his cause as any other world champion. In Enduro GPS every class is eligible for the overall world title – like Moto3, Moto2 and Motogp all coming together for one overall result. Holcombe won the title again in 2018, for the third successive year, plus his class (Enduro 3) to make it four. He also won the Mika Ahola ‘Brave One’ trophy for best accumulative times across the season (consistent best performance adding overall race times) and the Super Test (combined qualifying) award. ‘It has been the perfect season when you put it like that,’ Steve admits. I also won the Italian Championship which was a nice extra thing.’ As part of Steve’s three years at the top he has taken enduro to another level, professionally speaking. Never before had Enduro GPS seen personal trainers massaging in the paddock, a rider pedalling away on his static cycle between riding sessions or munching dried fruit and nuts for energy. Comments and sideways glances soon evaporated when Steve started winning. ‘I’m doing everything I can to make it happen,’ says Steve. ‘If you’re going to dedicate your life to something you might as well do everything to make it work. That means being in the best shape, having the right team and bike, walking tests over and over and being in the right place mentally.’ Walking tests? A typical race ‘weekend’ for Holcombe starts on a Wednesday walking the course: ‘We get on the tests from 9am on the Wednesday of a race week and I can usually do seven hours walking that day.’ Comparisons between Holcombe and the equally talented fellow 2018 motorcycle world champions are easy to make in terms of talent. Like Marc Marquez, Tai Woffinden, Toni Bou or Jonathan Rea, Holcombe is supremely talented on a motorcycle. Like the rest of them he too has the ability to be devastatingly fast and then find another crucial gear when needed to utterly dominate. To put Holcombe alongside those names is completely reasonable.