Despite a short turnaround between the final round of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship and round one of the FIM SuperEnduro World Championship, Billy Bolt took the win in the opener in France, followed home by fellow Brit Jonny Walker in every single race. And Will Hoare took third for a British clean sweep of the podium.
Bolt was fired up to go racing in Lievin, France following several weeks of intense training. Confident of a positive start to the series, the fast-paced course favoured the Brit. Fastest in timed practice, Bolt then began the evening’s racing by topping the superpole hot lap by over eight tenths of a second.
Opting for a middle starting gate for race one, Bolt timed his reactions to perfection and grabbed the holeshot. With his wheels out front, he set a blisteringly fast pace on the opening few laps to build a comfortable lead. Extending that advantage as the race progressed, he took the opening win of the night by a very sizeable 20 seconds.
With the start order reversed for race two, Billy made good of his outside start position on row two. Attacking from the drop of the gate, he exited the first rock garden in sixth, then quickly moved up to third by the end of lap one. During the following lap he took the lead and never looked back. Unchallenged, he eased away to another commanding win.
Aiming to end round one on a high, Bolt took his second holeshot of the night in race three. Knowing the course was deteriorating, he pushed hard for the first few laps to establish a strong advantage over the chasing pack. Remaining mistake free, he raced on to make it three wins from three starts and with it secured a deserved overall victory.
The FIM SuperEnduro World Championship now moves on to round two in Krakow, Poland on December 9th.
Billy Bolt: “It’s been a perfect night and perfect start to the championship here in France. To get three wins from three starts, along with winning superpole, is great. But more importantly, I felt my riding was where I wanted it to be and without mistakes. With only a few weeks between the hard enduro and SuperEnduro series, I wasn’t sure where my intensity level would be in the races. But my fitness was good and I could go the distance each race. I’m looking forward to building on this at round two in Poland.”
Results – 2024 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship – Round 1, France
Prestige Overall
- Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) 63pts;
- Jonny Walker (Beta) 53pts;
- Will Hoare (Beta) 39pts;
- Dominik Olszowy (Rieju) 35pts;
- Alfredo Gomez (Rieju) 34pts
Prestige Race 1
- Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) 10 laps, 7:04.244;
- Jonny Walker (Beta) 10 laps, 7:24.255;
- Dominik Olszowy (Rieju) 10 laps, 7:36.876
Prestige Race 2
- Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) 10 laps, 7:07.573;
- Jonny Walker (Beta) 10 laps, 7:21.327;
- Alfredo Gomez (Rieju) 10 laps, 7:44.980
Prestige Race 3
- Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) 10 laps, 6:56.880;
- Jonny Walker (Beta) 10 laps, 7:11.539;
- Will Hoare (Beta) 10 laps, 7:25.291
Championship Standings (After Round 1)
- Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) 63pts;
- Jonny Walker (Beta) 53pts;
- Will Hoare (Beta) 39pts;
- Dominik Olszowy (Rieju) 35pts;
- Alfredo Gomez (Rieju) 34pts