The SuperEnduro had, in Cluj, the fourth round of the world championship, with the BT Arena hosting the competition in Romania for the first time. Billy Bolt was once again the main highlight, on a day when Diogo Vieira finished ninth.
The story of the night is a 100% copy of the previous round, where, despite not being 100% after injuring his knee two weeks ago in Riesa, world championship leader Billy Bolt won the overall, leaving his rivals reflecting on another missed opportunity.
Just like in the third round, the battle with Jonny Walker was intense during the three races of the night, but Bolt came out victorious twice against Walker’s one, and the champion is clearly not willing to let the pain hinder his campaign in the championship.
Bolt and Walker have so far shared the Superpole results in France, Poland, and Germany, before arriving at the very treacherous track of Cluj. In the race, both made mistakes and it was the Swedish rider Eddie Karlsson who surprised everyone with the best time of 35.218 seconds, followed by Mani Lettenbichler and Diogo Vieira, with the two favorites, Bolt and Walker, in an unexpected P4 and P7, respectively.
Both struggled in the log turn before the finish line and this would be a controversial part of the track throughout the night.
With the best grid position for Karlsson, the Swede briefly led the first final of the Prestige category, but the pack chased him down and he gradually lost momentum. The world championship leader took the lead ahead of Walker and Rieju’s new recruit, Will Hoare. But Jonny put his rival under pressure and when Bolt got stuck again in the “devil’s curve,” Walker seized the opportunity to overtake and clinched the victory, ahead of Bolt and Lettenbichler, after the Red Bull KTM rider had worked his way through.
The second race, with the usual reverse grid order, started with Will Hoare in the lead, although Walker quickly took advantage of a mistake by his compatriot to claim first place, followed by Bolt, Mitchell Brightmore, Domink Olszowy, and Lettenbichler in the middle.
Shortly after, a mistake by Walker allowed Billy to close in, and when Bolt launched his attack on the final lap to take the lead, the victory was his. Walker crossed the finish line two seconds behind, with Olszowy in third place, followed by Mitch and Mani in fifth, after several battles.
In the final moto, Walker and Bolt’s blistering pace allowed them to pull away from Karlsson, Lettenbichler, and Hoare relatively easily in the early laps. The Husqvarna rider took the opportunity to overtake the Beta rival, opening up a gap for the lead and ultimately securing a comfortable victory.
Thanks to his fourth win of the season, Bolt establishes himself as the championship leader with 239 points, with Walker in second position, 19 points behind his compatriot, and Lettenbichler further down the table with 153.
In the Junior category, Suff Sella and Ashton Brightmore seemed once again favorites in the title fight, but it was the British rider’s night in the tight logs, with his trial history shining through.
Brightmore won the first moto from Sella and the second, despite the reverse grid order.
The third Junior final was a repeat with Sella and Brightmore in the top two positions, followed by Fernández and Schmusser. But this time the positions were reversed between the top two, after the Israeli took advantage of Ash’s mistakes.
With this result, the championship leader plate is once again in Brightmore’s hands, three points ahead of Sella in the overall standings.
Just like in the previous event in Germany, the Grand Prix of Romania also featured the participation of the European Championship, where Spanish rider Xavi León achieved another double victory, ahead of American rider Dustin Mccarthy and Polish rider Maciej Wieckowski.
Source: enduro21
