{"id":40679,"date":"2018-05-14T14:45:03","date_gmt":"2018-05-14T12:45:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.enduro.nl\/?p=40679"},"modified":"2018-05-14T14:45:03","modified_gmt":"2018-05-14T12:45:03","slug":"bolt-wins-world-enduro-super-series-opener-in-lagares-portugal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enduro.nl\/wordpress-enduronlnewsite\/40679\/bolt-wins-world-enduro-super-series-opener-in-lagares-portugal\/","title":{"rendered":"Bolt Wins World Enduro Super Series Opener In Lagares, Portugal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Lagares, Portugal – May 13, 2018 \u2014 Britain\u2019s Billy Bolt has claimed victory at the opening round of the inaugural World Enduro Super Series \u2013 the Extreme XL Lagares in Portugal. Securing the top step of the podium the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider takes an early lead in this year\u2019s search for the ULTIMATE ENDURO CHAMPION.
\nIn what was a thrilling and at times unpredictable battle, Bolt was followed home by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing\u2019s Jonny Walker (GB) in second with Germany\u2019s Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM) completing the podium in third.<\/p>\n

Following two days of intense qualification action from Friday\u2019s Endurocross and Saturday\u2019s Urban Prologue, 252 competitors from 20 nations took to the start of Sunday\u2019s Main Race. With Pro riders facing two laps and all other classes one lap, a tough day of riding in slippery, rocky riverbeds, high-speed forestry trails and technical climbs awaited all.<\/p>\n

Starting in 15-second intervals, top qualifier Walker was the first rider flagged away, followed by Cody Webb (KTM – USA) and Bolt. Despite facing the tough task of opening the course, Walker quickly settled into a fast rythym, setting the pace up front. Behind him Bolt reeled in and passed Webb as the duo tackled the opening stages of the race.<\/p>\n

With a significant hurdle to overcome, Poland\u2019s Taddy Blazusiak (KTM) was one of the later riders to start the race due to a poor qualification result. Working his way through traffic at a considerable rate, the Polish star fought his way from outside the top 40 on lap one to become a possible race winner \u2013 on corrected time \u2013 as riders began lap two.<\/p>\n

For Walker, a clean refuelling stop saw him begin the second lap with a six-minute advantage over his closest rival Bolt. Further back Lettenbichler, Webb and Graham Jarvis (Husqvarna – GB) were engaged in a tight battle for a place inside the top five. Struggling to overtake some of the Hobby riders ahead of him on the course, Walker saw his race lead diminish as Bolt upped his pace. With one-quarter of a lap to go the Husqvarna rider took control of the race lead and charged his way into the finishing arena to take the chequered flag, ahead of Walker.<\/p>\n

However, with Blazusiak challenging for the win on corrected time Bolt faced a nervous wait for the KTM rider to arrive. But Blazusiak wasn\u2019t able to finish on the podium as Bolt secured the win and the opening victory in the 2018 World Enduro Super Series. Despite his best efforts, Blazusiak had to settle for fourth, with Jarvis rounding out the top five.<\/p>\n

After a difficult opening lap, Webb regrouped to end his day in sixth, while Sherco Factory Racing\u2019s Wade Young (South Africa) placed seventh. Britain\u2019s Paul Bolton (KTM) crossed the finish line as top privateer in eighth with Beta Factory Racing\u2019s Travis Teasdale (South Africa) ninth and Spain\u2019s Pol Tarres (Husqvarna) 10th. Adding in Yamaha mounted Blake Gutzeit (South Africa) and Gas Gas Factory Racing\u2019s Lars Enockl (Austria) in 11th and 12th respectively, six manufacturers placed inside the top 12 at round one of WESS.<\/p>\n

The 2018 World Enduro Super Series continues with round two at the Erzbergrodeo Red Bull Hare Scramble in Austria on June 1-3.<\/p>\n

Billy Bolt (Husqvarna – GB):<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019m so happy to win round one of WESS at Extreme XL Lagares. There were some tense times at the end when I was waiting for the results but it\u2019s a great feeling to stand on the top step of the podium. I started third today and tried to find a comfortable pace early on. The riverbeds were incredibly slippery but I just took the course as it was and remained focused on a long race ahead of me. On the second lap I pushed on and worked the back-markers to my advantage and caught Jonny as a result. Winning the opening round of WESS is fantastic and with just three weeks to go until round two at Erzbergrodeo Red Bull Hare Scramble I\u2019m excited to keep this momentum rolling in Austria.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jonny Walker (KTM – GB):<\/strong> \u201cIt\u2019s really good to get onto the WESS podium with second. Of course, I\u2019d loved to have won, but Billy just had that extra bit of pace towards the end. My opening lap was great and I managed to build a six-minute advantage over everyone. But as the first rider on the course that played against me on lap two when I had a lot of traffic to deal with. But I guess that\u2019s how it goes sometimes. It\u2019s nice to have round one in the bag and I know based on my speed today I can be a contender at the Erzbergrodeo Red Bull Hare Scramble.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM – Germany):<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019m so happy with my result today. I was riding strong all weekend and coming into the main race I knew I could produce a surprise result, so to finish third at round one of WESS is amazing. It\u2019s honestly the biggest result of my career to date. This gives me a lot of confidence now for the rest of \"\"<\/a>the championship and I\u2019m determined to continue showing what I\u2019m capable of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Results – World Enduro Super Series, Round 1, Extreme XL Lagares<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Billy Bolt (Husqvarna – GB); 2. Jonny Walker (KTM – GB); 3. Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM – Germany); 4. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM – Poland); 5. Graham Jarvis (Husqvarna – GB); 6. Cody Webb (KTM – USA); 7. Wade Young (Sherco – RSA); 8. Paul Bolton (KTM – GB); 9. Travis Teasdale (Beta – RSA); 10. Pol Tarres (Husqvarna) – Spain; 11. Blake Gutzeit (Yamaha – RSA); 12. Lars Enockl (Gas Gas – Austria); 13. Josep Garcia (KTM – Spain); 14. Michel Bosi (Beta – Italy); 15. Diogo Vieria (Yamaha – Portugal)\u2026<\/p>\n

World Enduro Super Series Standings (after round 1)<\/strong>
\n1. Billy Bolt (GBR), Husqvarna, 1000 points
\n2. Jonny Walker (GBR), KTM, 850 pts
\n3. Manni Lettenbichler (GER), KTM, 770 pts
\n4. Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 690 pts
\n5. Graham Jarvis (GBR), Husqvarna, 610 pts\u2026<\/p>\n

Complete results: https:\/\/iridewess.com\/news\/results-extreme-xl-lagares-day-3-main-event\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lagares, Portugal – May 13, 2018 \u2014 Britain\u2019s Billy Bolt has claimed victory at the opening round of the inaugural World Enduro Super Series \u2013 the Extreme XL Lagares in Portugal. Securing the top step of the podium the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider takes an early lead in this year\u2019s search for the…<\/p>\n

Lees meer “Bolt Wins World Enduro Super Series Opener In Lagares, Portugal”<\/span> »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-persberichten"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/enduro.nl\/wordpress-enduronlnewsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/enduro.nl\/wordpress-enduronlnewsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/enduro.nl\/wordpress-enduronlnewsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enduro.nl\/wordpress-enduronlnewsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enduro.nl\/wordpress-enduronlnewsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/enduro.nl\/wordpress-enduronlnewsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40679\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/enduro.nl\/wordpress-enduronlnewsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enduro.nl\/wordpress-enduronlnewsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enduro.nl\/wordpress-enduronlnewsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}