Cycle News Staff | January 23, 2024
Bum knee and all, Englishman Billy Bolt kept his perfect season intact after winning round four of the FIM SuperEnduro Championship in Romania on January 20.
Photos by Future7Media
The factory-backed rider aboard the FE 350 Husqvarna battled through the pain from the knee that he injured at the previous round. He came into the race in Romania hoping to earn as many points as he could, but again, as he did at the previous race, Bolt came away with the overall victory on the tight and technical racecourse, bolstering his lead in the championship.
In the first of three feature races, Bolt, who wanted to quickly make up for a poor-for-him Superpole, jolted his already tender knee on the fourth lap but toughed it out to finish second to his nearest rival in the championship, Beta’s Jonny Walker, by 14 seconds. KTM rider Manuel Lettenbichler was third. Rieju’s new signee, Will Hoare, of Great Britain was fourth and Rieju teammate Dominik Olszowy was fifth.
In race two, Bolt took the win in dramatic fashion by passing leader Walker on the last lap. Just three seconds separated the two fierce rivals.
Rieju’s Dominik Olszowy was third in the race, taking the checkers approximately 20 seconds in the back of two riders ahead of him. GasGas rider Mitchell Brightmore of Great Britain was fourth, and Lettenbichler was fifth.
Bolt dominated the third and final race, moving from fourth to first early in the race and crossing the finish line 20 seconds ahead of Walker. Lettenbichler was another seven seconds back in third. Sweden’s Eddie Karlsson (Husqvarna), who topped the SuperPole competition early in the evening, was fifth.
Bolt, Walker, and Lettenbichler went 1-2-3 overall, followed by Olszowy and Karlsson.
“It was a night where momentum sort of came to me as the racing progressed,” Bolt said. “After a tricky start with SuperPole and race one, winning race two built the confidence back up. I felt better about my riding and really went for it in the final race to take the overall. I was disappointed with how SuperPole went. I made a mistake, but I have to accept these things happen sometimes. Overall, I’m massively pleased with the outcome here tonight. Despite my injury, we’ve won again and strengthened the championship lead further.”
“The track was tight and technical tonight, and after I messed up the Superpole, I was determined to try and get good starts and give Billy a fight,” said Walker. “In the first race, I was in a good spot, and I managed to win; I felt happy with that, but I knew I’d be on the ‘wrong’ side of the gate for the reverse grid race, and it wasn’t easy. Billy is a machine, and he got the better of me in the end. [It was] a difficult night for all of us physically with this layout, but I feel like I’m improving with each round.”
“I’m definitely making improvements and finding more pace at every round,” Lettenbichler said. “The top two guys are still a little ways ahead in terms of speed, but I’m happy with how I rode today. I’m really trying to get that gap down, though, and in fact, on the first race, I was able to hang on for quite a lot of the moto. The races are just so intense, so physically demanding, but I’m learning and hopefully I can carry the speed and what I’ve learned here in Romania on to Budapest.”
Bolt now has a firm 19-point lead over Walker in the championship with three rounds left to go. Lettenbichler is a distant third, but Hoare, is nipping at his heels in fourth. Olszowy is holding down fifth and is within striking distance of Hoare.CN
PRESTIGE OVERALL
- Billy Bolt (Hus)
- Jonny Walker (Bet)
- Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM)
- Dominik Olszowy (Rie)
- Eddie Karlsson (Hus)