Billy Bolt On A World SuperEnduro Roll!

As we reported in mid-December, Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Billy Bolt got his SuperEnduro World Championship title defence off to the perfect start in Poland with a clean sweep of three wins. And that was in spite it being his first race back after a five-month injury lay-off. Well, the implacable Uncle Billy has done again in Germany, where the series resumed on the weekend for Round 2. Here’s a snapshot of his team’s PR in the wake of another successful weekend’s work for the talented and amusing Brit…

With a full house of spectators in Riesa, Billy Bolt wasted no time in putting on a show. Blitzing the course for the SuperPole, Bolt topped the time sheets on his FE350 by over one and a half seconds.

Eager to carry that form into the rest of the night, Bolt timed the gate drop of race one to perfection to claim the holeshot and take an early lead. Settling into a fast rhythm, Billy pushed hard to increase his advantage. However, a slight lapse in concentration overtaking lapped riders allowed rival Jonny Walker to momentarily slip by. Immediately regrouping, Billy put his Husqvarna back in front and with a couple of laps to go, he attacked hard to ride clear for a five-second margin of victory.

With the start order reversed for race two, Billy made his now customary cautious start to the race. Putting on a charge, he slotted into second place on lap two. Tangling with Walker while challenging for the lead, both riders crashed in the sand corner. Bolt was quick to his feet and a lap later had fought his way into the lead. However, despite building up a comfortable advantage, a crash on the penultimate lap dropped him back to fourth. Fighting hard to recover, he crossed the finish line in third, despite a dramatic clash with Taddy Blazusiak, which saw both riders hit the dirt after the chequered flag.

Putting race two behind him, Billy focused on winning race three to seal the overall victory in Germany. Third off the start, he took the lead on lap one only to crash once more on the rocky climb. A second crash knocked him back to third. Racing up to second place, he faced a five-second deficit to leader Walker with three laps to go. Muscling his FE350 around the course, he finally drew level with Walker and took the lead with one lap to go. This time holding firm, he claimed a dramatic and hard-fought race three victory to secure the top step of the overall podium in Riesa.

Billy Bolt: “I made life hard for myself tonight, but I’m happy to have come out on top in the end. It was pretty hectic on track all night and to be honest I made too many stupid mistakes. I hold my hands up for that. The speed was there, but with only one good line on the track mistakes were easily made. Maybe tonight was about shaking off that Christmas break, but I feel like I have room to improve for Round 3. Overall, I’ve finished on top of the podium and extended my points lead, so I’m happy with the outcome and look forward to Budapest.”

The 2023 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship continues with Round 3 in Budapest, Hungary, on February 4.

FIM SUPERENDURO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, RD 2

PRESTIGE OVERALL, RD 2

1. Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) 58 pts

2. Jonny Walker (Beta) 56 pts

3. Taddy Blazusiak (GASGAS) 41 pts

Prestige Race 1

1. Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) 9 laps, 6:51.036

2. Jonny Walker (Beta) 9 laps, 6:56.548

3. Cody Webb (Sherco) 9 laps, 7:23.394

Prestige Race 2

1. Jonny Walker (Beta) 9 laps, 7:34.392

2. Taddy Blazusiak (GASGAS) 9 laps 7:37.662

3. Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) 9 laps, 7:38.662

Prestige Race 3

1. Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) 9 laps, 7:08.805

2. Jonny Walker (Beta) 9 laps, 7:11.138

3. Taddy Blazusiak (GASGAS) 9 laps, 7:32.626

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (AFTER RD 2)

1. Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) 121 pts

2. Jonny Walker (Beta) 107 pts

3. Taddy Blazusiak (GASGAS) 84 pts

GERMANY: RACE RECAP (“BILLY’S WORLD”)

2023 SUPERENDURO C’SHIP PREVIEW

If you want to dive a bit deeper into the 2023 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship, check out Billy Bolt’s “Bill’s Festive Chit-Chat”, where he previews the six-round series and, among other amusing things, describes SuperEnduro to the uninitiated as, “kind of like if supercross and a building site had a baby”.