2022 SuperEnduro World Championship: Billy Bolt dominates Rnd 1 in Poland

Results from round one of the 2022 SuperEnduro World Championship in Lodz, Poland where Billy Bolt made a textbook start with three dominant moto wins to lead the series.

SuperEnduro round one, Lodz, Poland in a nutshell:

11 SuperEnduro prestige class world champions lined up at the opening GP of the SuperEnduro season, plus eight different manufacturers too and it is fair to say the racing did not disappoint.
It turned out to be a very good night for Rockstar Husqvarna with a one-two as action got underway with the Superpole laps. Billy Bolt laid a marker for what would come, almost two seconds ahead of team-mate Colton Haaker.
In the three heat races which followed Bolt simply showed a class and technique around the Polish track that no-one else could match and ultimately it looked like he only had himself to beat.
The reverse grid heat two was the best race of the night with Bolt last off the line and Taddy Blazusiak also going down in turn one. Haaker was the first of the fastest riders through to the front and the American led for much of the race.
But he was always riding hunted. Bolt was again the quickest rider by some distance with lap times two seconds faster. Despite a pile of mistakes, Billy eventually took his second win of the night after finally muscling past Haaker in the last corners.
Moto three was a comparative quiet race for Bolt who led from the start and looked like he was cruising. It was ominous for any of his rivals.
Mani Lettenbichler impressed, perhaps more so for himself than anyone else in the stadium. Twice runner-up in the motos, Lettenbichler took P2 on the overall podium and heads to round two second overall in the championship.
What about the Americans? Reigning EnduroCross champ Haaker looked to have at least the pace to match Billy with second fastest Superpole time. He was also Bolt’s nearest challenger in the races having almost taken the second moto. In the end it wasn’t a bad night for Colton, a 2-2-4 scorecard meant third overall and a solid start to the season.
Cody Webb meanwhile struggled in Poland and ended the night with a DNF through no fault of his own. The Sherco rider got squeezed of the starts on more than one occasion and when it happened in the final race, and Pol Tarres inadvertently ran over his leg, Cody called time on a bad night.
Jonny Walker was equally studious in his business tonight, much like Lettenbichler. A 3-3-5 scorecard was a good start for the Beta rider who is putting his two-stroke among the 4T boys.
Home hero Taddy Blazusiak made life hard for himself after getting tangled at the starts in two of the three heats as well. In typical Taddy style he rallied through the traffic to much cheering from the crowd but in the end it wasn’t enough and he took a rare off the podium result on home soil.
Dominik Olszowy did put on a show in the Junior class in front of his home crowd though and took all three moto wins. Behind him it was more chaotic but Leon Hentschel grabbed the best of the rest reward and took second overall ahead of Milan Schmueser.
Sonny Goggia put himself and the Rieju where a rider of his experience should be on the top step of the European Cup class podium. Aurelien Addesso took second place and Oskar Kaczmarczyk third.