Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Josep Garcia is ready to take on the 2021 FIM Enduro World Championship. The 2017 Enduro2 World Champion, who spent the 2018 and 2019 seasons contesting the World Enduro Super Series, will return to the Enduro2 (E2) category and compete onboard a KTM 350 EXC-F.
The consummate all-rounder, Josep Garcia grew up riding motorcycles. Starting with motocross, the Spaniard even spent a season road racing in the Red Bull Rookies Cup before settling on enduro. Following success in the Spanish Enduro Championship, Josep won the Enduro2 World Championship in 2017.
For 2018, Garcia remained with the Red Bull KTM team, competing in the then newly formed World Enduro Super Series. With much of the championship consisting of hard enduro events, Josep rose to the challenge, excelling at many events while also directly taking on established extreme specialists.
The three-time ISDE Enduro1 class winner focused on the task and unquestionably improved his technical riding, ultimately completing the inaugural World Enduro Super Series season in a highly commendable fourth place. Continuing to work hard, Josep’s dedication paid off, and at the close of the 2019 World Enduro Super Series he claimed an impressive overall runner-up result following the tough seven-round season.
Due to the global pandemic, the 2020 WESS Enduro World Championship season was cancelled, but competing on his KTM 350 EXC-F, Josep raced his national enduro championship where he claimed both the E2 and overall titles. Wildcard rides at the final two rounds of the 2020 FIM Enduro World Championship ended with ultra-competitive performances and two day wins.
Now, armed with a greater set of skills due in part to his extreme experiences, and with full factory backing, Garcia will return to the FIM Enduro World Championship in 2021 eager to claim a second world title, as well as competing in selected FIM Hard Enduro World Championship events.
The six-round 2021 FIM Enduro World Championship is currently scheduled to start with the GP of Portugal on the 18-20 June. The series then heads to Italy later that month before travelling to Estonia and Sweden in July. A two-month break is then followed by the final two rounds – Germany and France – both of which are held in October.
Josep Garcia: “I’m really looking forward to this next chapter of my career. Being a part of the World Enduro Super Series during the last three years has been great, I gained a lot of confidence and experience. It has helped me to grow as a rider and I'm really happy with what I achieved. To be back in the FIM Enduro World Championship with KTM, to fight for a title in that series again, is a challenge that I’m really happy to take. I’ll focus on the FIM Enduro World Championship, Spanish Enduro Championship and some FIM Hard Enduro World Championship events, if the two world championship schedules line-up well. The goal is to fight for the EnduroGP title and in the E2 class in every championship I take part in. My objective has always been winning, so I’ll fight hard and give it my all to achieve it. Racing the last rounds of the championship in 2020 and being able to win two days has lifted some pressure off my shoulders. We know we have the level to be there and we know in which areas we have to improve. I also know I have a great bike with the KTM 350 EXC-F - a bike which I have been racing over the past season and one that I really feel comfortable on. Now we have to continue working, prepare for the season, follow the strategy and do the very best we can.”
Robert Jonas – KTM Vice President Motorsports Offroad: "We're excited to see the WESS Enduro World Championship begin its next chapter with the introduction of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship, which still incorporates a variety of event styles and retains the ethos of WESS with some of the most iconic enduro events globally in its calendar. We have enjoyed the challenges our bikes, team and riders have faced while competing in WESS and we continue to be committed to this series as it moves forwards for 2021. However, a big and important point for us is the changes being made in the FIM Enduro World Championship. We feel this is the right time to come back to racing this series and we are looking forward to the direction it takes under new management. Josep is the obvious choice to compete in this championship and we are hungry for success together.”