2023 FIM SuperEnduro Round 2 – Germany
Round 2 of the FIM SuperEnduro World Championship in Riesa, Germany saw the Brits take top honours across the Prestige, Junior and European classes, with Billy Bolt the man to beat, facing strong competition from Jonny Walker.
The Riesa club crafted a technical and tough track for the world’s best riders, with the rocky bridge section above a tunnel causing trouble for many of those who tackled it. Even Billy Bolt (GBR-Husqvarna) was caught out in this spot several times, despite floating over it with astonishing ease during SuperPole.
2023 SuperEnduro Round 2 Video Highlights
The evening started well for the Brit, although a heavy landing off a vertical jump on the fifth lap of the first race allowed Jonny Walker (GBR-Beta) to make a move on the series leader. Although Walker took the lead briefly, it wasn’t long before Bolt regained control, just a few turns after the landing. Bolt twisted the knife by beating the Beta rider by almost three-seconds. At the end of this first race, onlookers were beginning to imagine another ‘untouchable’ evening for Billy.
In the second race, the reverse grid heat saw Blake Gutzeit (SFA-TM) snatch the Airoh Holeshot and shoot into the lead. Trailing close behind was Dominik Olszowy (POL-GasGas), the 2022 Junior Champion enjoying a much better night than that of the opening round.
The Pole led the first laps of this round with authority, but eventually the GasGas rider was overwhelmed by the furious battle between Bolt and Walker, and as the Beta rider closed down his Husky mounted rival, and they both went down in the soft sand.
Olszowy temporarily retook the lead, but once back in the saddle, the battle of the Brits continued and Bolt quickly took over. Just when we thought Bolt was soaring to another victory, he had an uncharacteristic crash on the bridge climb. Fighting against gravity, Bolt saw Walker whizz past and into first place. Despite a huge charge at the end of the race, Bolt was not be able to close the gap that separated him from the Beta rider.
Meanwhile, Taddy Blazusiak (POL-GasGas) dived into second place, and looked back on form. The GasGas rider slipped on the finish line logs while taking the chequered flag and slid into the path of a chasing Bolt, who violently hit Blazusiak. Thankfully, the two riders emerged from the crash without serious injury, with the Pole suffering a mild shoulder injury. Jonny Walker had finally ended Bolt’s Riesa winning streak – he had been undefeated here since 2020!
The last race in the Prestige category was just as competitive and spectacular as the previous one. On the first lap of the last race, Bolt went down on the bridge once again, and Jonny Walker seemed odds-on favourite to win.
Four minutes from the end of the race, Walker was more than ten seconds ahead of Bolt. But the Husqvarna rider can never be counted out and he gave his all to regain the lead… something he did on the last lap of the race.
Taddy Blazusiak managed to fight back from his horror crash to climb on the third step of the final podium. The Polish legend therefore takes his first podium of the season. But the evening was once again marked by the Bolt/Walker domination.
Bolt leaves Germany 14-points ahead of Walker. Blazusiak is 37-points behind Bolt and just ahead of Webb by two points.
Billy Bolt – P1
“I made life hard for myself tonight, but I’m happy to have come out on top in the end. It was pretty hectic on track all night and to be honest I made too many stupid mistakes. I hold my hands up for that. The speed was there, but with only one good line on the track mistakes were easily made. Maybe tonight was about shaking off that Christmas break, but I feel like I have room to improve for round three. Overall, I’ve finished on top of the podium and extended my points leads, so I’m happy with the outcome and look forward to Budapest.”
Jonny Walker – P2
“P2 tonight, happy I made some good steps and was able to fight and get a win. Looking forward to the next round. 2-1-2 Thanks to all my amazing sponsors and fans, the crowd tonight was lit.”
Taddy Blazusiak – P3
“It was tough night, but it ended great. I wasn’t happy with how round one went, so I wanted to improve and bounce back from that. In race one I was in third, but then crashed on the rocks and dropped back to last. I regrouped and got seventh there. For the rest of the night I was just fighting as hard as I could. I’m super happy to come through for third overall and finish on the podium.”
2023 FIM SuperEnduro Round 2 – Germany Results/Overall Standings
| Pos | Rider | Total | SP | H1 | H2 | H3 |
| 1 | Billy BOLT | 121 | 3 | 20 | 15 | 20 |
| 2 | Jonny WALKER | 107 | 2 | 17 | 20 | 17 |
| 3 | Taddy BLAZUSIAK | 83 | – | 8 | 17 | 15 |
| 4 | Cody WEBB | 82 | – | 15 | 13 | 11 |
| 5 | Alfredo GOMEZ CANTERO | 63 | – | 13 | 9 | 13 |
| 6 | Cooper ABBOTT | 49 | – | 5 | 7 | 8 |
| 7 | William HOARE | 48 | – | 11 | 11 | 7 |
| 8 | Dominik OLSZOWY | 40 | – | 9 | 8 | 9 |
| 9 | Eddie KARLSSON | 33 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 4 |
| 10 | Diogo VIEIRA | 29 | – | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| 11 | Tim APOLLE | 26 | – | – | – | – |
| 12 | Blake GUTZEIT | 26 | – | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| 13 | Norbert ZSIGOVITS | 18 | – | 3 | 3 | 5 |
| 14 | Mirko FABERA | 7 | – | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 15 | Ramon BREGOLI | 3 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Juniors/European
While Mitch Brightmore (GBR-GasGas) shone in the Krakow night, it was his little brother Ashton Brightmore (GBR-GasGas) who impressively won this second GP in the Junior category. The two young brothers have been truly phenomenal this season, and it is important to remember that the German Grand Prix was only their second SuperEnduro participation.
Only Milan Schmueser (GER-Sherco) managed to win one of the six races that have so far been contested in Junior. The German, who was announced as the big favourite of the class, has been hounded by the British brothers.
This weekend, it was 16-year old Ashton’s turn to steal the show. Second in the first race behind Schmueser, he finished second again in the reverse grid race behind his brother. The youngster closed proceedings by leading the last race of the evening with authority. It is impressive to see such dominance on a very different track configuration to the opening round in Poland.
It is no longer in question; the two Brightmore brothers are two pure talents in the discipline. Remember the names, because they will surely continue to fly the Union Jack high in the future. Mitch leads the championship proceedings ahead of Ashton by just 8 points, Schmueser is not defeated and the German is only 9 points behind the category leader.
Ashton Brightmore
“It’s my second round of SuperEnduro, and I couldn’t believe that I got the win tonight. I managed to get a good start in the final heat and held the front. I made a mistake on the bridge in the last race, and I was really worried that someone was going to pass me, but I managed to stay in first position. I am over the moon to take the overall victory here tonight.”
Used to riding in trials competitions in Great Britain, Dan PEACE won on his first appearance in the SuperEnduro European category. The Brit put his Sherco in front of that of Hungarian Mark Szoke. It was another Hungarian, Roland Liszka (KTM) who climbed on the bottom step of the podium after three crazy races which once again made the fans in Riesa’s SachsenArena rise up.
The 2023 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship continues with round three in Budapest, Hungary on February 4.
2023 FIM SuperEnduro Round 2 Junior Results/Standings
| Pos | Rider | Total | H1 | H2 | H3 |
| 1 | Mitch BRIGHTMORE | 108 | 13 | 20 | 15 |
| 2 | Milan SCHMUESER | 95 | 20 | 15 | 11 |
| 3 | Ashton BRIGHTMORE | 95 | 17 | 17 | 20 |
| 4 | Raul GUIMERA | 76 | 15 | 13 | 17 |
| 5 | Kacper DUDZIC | 58 | 11 | 9 | 9 |
| 6 | Alonso TRIGO | 49 | 7 | 7 | 13 |
| 7 | Robert CRAYSTON | 41 | 8 | 11 | 7 |
| 8 | Marc FERNANDEZ SERRA | 35 | – | – | – |
| 9 | Richard MOORHOUSE | 35 | 4 | 8 | 6 |
| 10 | Manuel GOMEZ MARTINEZ | 30 | 9 | 6 | 8 |
| 11 | Szymon KUS | 23 | – | – | – |
| 12 | Per Kristian SVENSRUD | 20 | 5 | 3 | – |
| 13 | Roland LISZKA | 18 | – | – | – |
| 14 | Moritz PURGSTALLER | 10 | – | 5 | 5 |
| 15 | Oskar WALIGORA | 9 | 6 | – | 3 |
| 16 | Patryk PISKOREK | 8 | – | 4 | 4 |
| 17 | Diego RODRIGUES | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 18 | Tristian HANAK | 4 | – | – | – |
