Hard Enduro World Championship Hixpania: Bolt wins sprint ahead of world champion Lettenbichler

Over the race distance of one hour plus one lap – eight laps in total – a nail-biting battle unfolded at the front of the field at the Hixpania in northern Spain: For SuperEnduro star Billy Bolt (Husqvarna), it was his second victory of the weekend following the prologue, but the reigning and newly crowned world champion Manuel Lettenbichler made life incredibly difficult for him right up to the finish line. In the end, the top three finished within less than ten seconds of one another. Lettenbichler set the fastest lap in 8:59 mins, whilst Bolt struck back on the final lap – the Red Bull KTM works rider from Kiefersfelden fell just 3.5 seconds short of victory. Youngster Ashton Brightmore rounded off the tight leading trio in third place (+9.7 seconds).

Behind them, there were huge gaps. James Moore finished fourth, almost two minutes behind. The race proved bitter for Mitch Brightmore (GASGAS): On the seventh lap, the Briton lost almost six minutes due to a technical problem – a single lap of 14:53 minutes instead of his usual just over 9 – and crossed the line in sixth place, behind his direct rival in the battle for second place in the World Championship, Teo Kabakchiev (Sherco), who finished fifth.

With the sprint points (10-9-8-7 etc.), Lettenbichler extended his lead in the World Championship; he has already secured the title anyway. Although Kabakchiev picked up one more point than Brightmore in the sprint, ahead of Sunday’s final main event – in which a maximum of 20 points are still up for grabs – Brightmore, on 170 points, holds a comfortable 30-point lead over Kabakchiev, making him the World Championship runner-up. Although Lettenbichler will, as announced, focus on riding cleanly and avoiding mistakes in the Main Event, his rivals need not hope that this will slow him down.

Results: Hard Enduro World Championship, Hixpania, Sprint:

Hard Enduro World Championship standings: