DIRT NEWS
a row has come as a big surprise and it wasn ’ t something that I expected to happen at the beginning of the year . We ’ ve got Red Bull Romaniacs next , it ’ s one of my favourites so I ’ m excited for that .” Despite finishing runner-up to Lettenbichler , Bolt maintains his overall grip on the championship going into Romaniacs on July 26 .
BOLT “ That was a hard race for sure ,” Bolt said , “ We knew the course would be difficult , but doing two laps made it even tougher . I ’ m pleased with second place though . Kicking things off by winning the qualification and straight rhythm was nice . I always enjoy those race formats and qualifying first put me in a strong position for Sunday . Starting out first I knew it was a good opportunity to make some time on a clear track . But with my wrist injury it was hard to hang on during the downhill sections and I just couldn ’ t push the pace I wanted . When Mani came past , I made a small mistake and lost touch with him . He pulled away a bit and I pulled a gap on third place , so the final lap was about trying to manage that and bring it home safe .”
ROMAN Coming home in third ahead of Gomez was Sherco rider Mario Roman who put in a Herculean effort to overcome a poor start to nab the final spot on the podium . “ I had my work cut out for me today ,” he said , “ I started quite far back in 13th and had a lot of guys to overtake to get near the front . On the first lap I just tried to keep steady and chip away at the positions . On the final lap I was into the top five and felt strong , so I gave it everything to catch Alfredo and got third .” The FIM Hard Enduro World Championship moves on to round five at Red Bull Romaniacs on July 26-31 .
FIM Hard Enduro World Championship Standings 1 . Billy Bolt ( GBR ), Husqvarna , 62pts 2 . Manuel Lettenbichler ( GER ), KTM , 60pts 3 . Mario Roman ( ESP ), Sherco , 58pts 4 . Alfredo Gomez ( ESP ), GASGAS , 47pts 5 . Graham Jarvis ( GBR ), Husqvarna , 40pts
MICHAEL WALKNER
KIWI RIDER 21