Putting in another stellar performance, Billy Bolt saw his win streak in the 2024 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship continue, with the Brit claiming the overall victory at round three in Riesa, Germany.
Bolt took two race wins from three starts to extend his championship lead to 16 points. Jonny Walker broke through for the win in race three to claim second place ahead of Manuel Lettenbichler.
However, despite ending his night with victory, it was not all plain sailing for the defending world champion in Germany. Landing awkwardly short on the finish line jump during practice, Bolt injured his left knee. Initially unsure if he could continue with the night’s racing, Bolt opted to try the evening’s SuperPole hot lap to see how he felt on track. Going on to claim second place, the tough-minded Brit opted to line up for the opening race with a determination to score more valuable championship points.
Remaining tentative in his riding, Billy worked hard to stay out of trouble during the opening couple of laps. Settling into the technical course and focusing on his line choices, he pushed on to incredibly win race one. Now with a clearer understanding of his situation, Bolt focused on the remaining two races.
Mindful of his knee injury, Bolt took a measured approach to race two, which saw the start order reversed. From the outside of row two, he steadily worked his way up to seventh position on lap one. With a group of riders battling for a top-three position, he spent the next couple of laps working his way into third place before reaching second with less than two minutes to go. Pushing hard on his FE 350 to bridge the eight-second gap to leader Jonny Walker, Billy gladly took control of the race lead with two laps to go. Remaining mistake-free, he raced on to secure his second victory of the night in Riesa.
With the gate dropping on the start of race three, Billy moved into second place on the opening lap. As had been the case for the majority of the night, he went head-to-head with race leader Jonny Walker for the victory and pulled away from the chasing pack. However, with three minutes to go a mistake from Billy on the tyres saw him drop back from Walker’s rear wheel. Battling hard to reduce the seven second gap, he came within striking distance of victory on the final lap only to come unstuck on the bridge section. Settling for second position, Billy still claimed the overall victory in Riesa, and with it further extended his championship lead.
“What can I say, it’s been a tough night,” Bolt said. “After injuring my knee in practice I wasn’t 100 per cent sure if I could race, so to finish on the top step of the podium is beyond my expectations tonight. It was a tough track out there, but I tried to be as patient in my riding as I could. Winning the opening race was great and it gave me motivation to keep pushing through each moto. Claiming two out of three race wins for the overall victory has been great for the championship. The plan now is to get checked out and get ready to go again in Romania for round four.”
Jonny Walker was happy with his night but ruing a few mistakes.
“I had a couple of unlucky second places tonight, I made a lot of mistakes and had a problem with my brake lever too,” Walker lamented. “I Just didn’t feel good, despite having a good pace in practice and Superpole. I really wanted to turn things around for the final race of the night, and I was able to do it. I’m really tired, but so pleased to have a race win. Billy was an absolute machine tonight, fair play to him.”
Manuel Lettenbichler pulled out his best performance of the indoor enduro season yet at his home race to maintain fourth position in the series standings.
“I’m making progress but whenever you crash at the start of a race it’s gonna suck, it’s also frustrating because I felt I could have done more tonight,” Lettenbichler said. “Overall, I’m pretty stoked to get on the podium, and I’ll try to step it up in the races for Romania. I’m getting back into the SuperEnduro vibe and aggressivity.”
The FIM SuperEnduro World Championship now heads to Cluj in Romania for round four on January 20.
Results – 2024 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship – Round 3, Germany
Prestige Overall
1 Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) 59 points
2 Jonny Walker (Beta) 57 points
3 Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM) 39 points
4 Mitch Brightmore (GASGAS) 37 points
5 Will Hoare (Beta) 35 points
Prestige Race 1
1 Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) 10 laps, 7:13.164
2 Jonny Walker (Beta) 10 laps, 7:20.391
3 Mitch Brightmore (GASGAS) 10 laps, 7:33.261
Prestige Race 2
1 Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) 10 laps, 7:15.777
2 Jonny Walker (Beta) 10 laps, 7:27.188
3 Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM) 10 laps, 7:30.345
Prestige Race 3
1 Jonny Walker (Beta) 10 laps, 7:09.279
2 Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) 10 laps, 7:20.705
3 Will Hoare (Beta) 10 laps, 7:35.862
Championship Standings (After Round 3)
1 Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) 182 points
2 Jonny Walker (Beta) 166 points
3 Will Hoare (Beta) 117 points
4 Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM) 110 points
5 Dominik Olszowy (GASGAS) 85 points
