Release from 22.08.2026
Husqvarna Factory Racing rider marks his championship comeback with a dominant Sprint Race win in Sweden
Following his return to racing at the EnduroGP of Wales earlier this month, Bolt began his Forza Orza weekend with a seventh-place finish in Thursday’s Prologue. He then raised his pace considerably in Friday’s Sprint Race, delivering a dominant performance to claim victory and underline his continued strength in hard enduro competition.
In Saturday’s Main Race, Billy made a strong start and quickly settled into proceedings, but a costly mistake early on dropped him several positions to seventh. From there, the Husqvarna Factory Racing rider dug deep and worked his way up through the field, climbing to fifth by the chequered flag. The result marked another positive step in his return to competition and saw him claim valuable championship points.
Despite missing round three of the championship, Bolt’s fifth-place finish in Sweden moves him up to fifth overall in the 2026 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship standings. With four rounds still remaining, the seven-time world champion has plenty of opportunities to continue closing the gap at the sharp end of the championship leaderboard.
The 2026 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship continues with round five at Abestone Hard Enduro in Italy on September 4-6.
Billy Bolt: “Overall, it was a good weekend. Today was pretty eventful for me, with a big crash on the second lap, and the bike was pretty damaged, so it took me a couple of laps to regroup and get back into a rhythm. After that, I actually had really good speed through the middle part of the race and managed to come from quite far back to finish inside the top five. So, there are definitely a lot of positives to take. I’m very happy with yesterday’s Sprint Race and with the majority of today as well. Obviously, there was one big mistake and a few smaller ones, but overall it’s been a good start and it’s really nice to be back racing. We have a busy period coming up now with a lot of races, so there are plenty of chances to keep building and challenge for more good results and race wins.”
Main Race
1. Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM) 2:20:41
2. Mitch Brightmore (GASGAS) 2:24:17
3. Ashton Brightmore (GASGAS) 2:27:58
4. Eddie Karlsson (Stark) 2:30:57
5. Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) 2:32:41
2026 FIM HEWC Standings (After round four)
1. Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM) 117 pts
2. Mitch Brightmore (GASGAS) 102 pts
3. Teodor Kabakchiev (Sherco) 74 pts
4. Ashton Brightmore (GASGAS) 73 pts
5. Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) 65 pts
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