VOLUME 58 ISSUE 28 JULY 13, 2021 P41
that my pace at Extreme XL
Lagares was no fluke and
that I'm ready for the river-
beds and climbs and I got to
show that.
"The race itself was a
bit of a blur, it was proper
intense. I messed the early
river section up and Mani
got on my wheel, and we
just battled from there. He
had me in the Minestrone
Rock Garden, but I felt
strong in the woods. On
the final lap I just went for
the pass, made it stick and
hung it out for the win!"
"I'm a little bummed not
to have won," Lettenbichler
said, "but second is definite-
ly a great start to the season and
the pace we had over the rest of
the field was very strong. I can't
complain with my riding. I gave
it everything and it was a good
fight with Billy. I caught him early
in the river and we rode back
and forth together for most of the
race. It came down to the wire,
but just didn't go my way. But it's
good to know where my pace is
at now and with what we showed
today, there's going to be a lot
more tight battles to come."
Behind the leading duo—over
13 minutes behind—Jarvis was
another man on a mission. Ham-
pered by a starting position of
ninth, he had work to do. Build-
ing pace as the race progressed,
he began to pull back positions.
A gamble not to refuel at the
end of lap one leapfrogged him
further up the running order.
And with a strong run over the
mountain, the 46-year-old legend
took third.
"My qualification wasn't too
good with ninth, so I had a good
bit of traffic in front of me most of
the way through. I rode too tense
on the first lap and struggled to
find a decent rhythm—especially
with those early riverbed sec-
tions. Gradually I got the speed
up and lap two was much better.
We gambled on not refueling,
and it worked out in our favor. I
think my speed and fitness was
there to get up with the top two,
but the early issues didn't make it
possible. But I'm looking forward
now for Red Bull Romaniacs."
Putting in a strong showing
throughout the two laps, Jonny
Walker (Beta) just didn't have an
answer for Jarvis in the closing
stages and had to be content
with fourth. Shadowing Jarvis
off the line, Alfredo Gomez
(Husqvarna) kept close to his
teammate during the open-
ing lap. But with Jarvis finding
another gear on lap two, the
Spaniard wasn't able to go with
him, ending his race fifth.
The FIM Hard Enduro World
Championship continues with
round four at Red Bull Romani-
acs in Romania on July 27-31.
CN
Final
1. Billy Bolt (Hus) 1:44:36
2. Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM) +41.686
3. Graham Jarvis (Hus) +13:37.827
4. Jonny Walker (Bet) +14:35.019
5. Alfredo Gomez (Hus) +15:03.058
6. Taddy Blazusiak (GG) +17:52.934
7. Mario Roman (She) +27:48.692
8. Wade Young (She) + 29:42.319
9. Michael Walkner (GG) +30:15.407
10. Francesc Moret (Rie) +45:24.961
KTM's Manuel
Lettenbichler kept
Bolt in check in the
final but came up
short, settling for
second overall.
