Billy Bolt begins FIM HEWC campaign with strong runner-up ride at Valleys Hard Enduro

Returning to hard enduro action, Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Billy Bolt has delivered a solid second-place result at the Valleys Hard Enduro in Wales for the opening round of the 2025 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship.

With his championship-winning SuperEnduro season complete, and now feeling fully fit and recovered from a number of injuries, the 2021 FIM HEWC champion was excited to begin his outdoor season. After missing the event in 2024, Billy looked to deliver a strong outing on his TE 300 in front of his home fans.

The event, held over two days at Walters Arena, featured a points-paying prologue and afternoon knockout races on Saturday, which determined the starting order for Sunday’s four-lap main event.

Wasting no time in settling into the unusually dry and dusty Welsh terrain, Billy immediately set the pace on his TE 300 by winning the prologue. Fastest by over one second, the Husqvarna rider claimed the three championship points on offer.

Heading into the evening’s knockout battles, Billy was eager to keep that momentum rolling. Winning both of his heat races, he easily advanced into the final. Looking to make it a hat trick of knockout wins, Billy pushed on but an unfortunate crash in the loose dust saw his hopes of victory dashed. However, with a front-row start already secured for Sunday’s main race, all was not lost.

Knowing the dust clouds would prove troublesome on the opening lap of four, Billy battled hard to claim the holeshot. Just missing out, he instead had to work his way through traffic on lap one. Managing it well, he raced his way into second as they began lap two. However, with eventual race winner Manuel Lettenbichler far out front, Billy was unable to close the gap despite matching his pace.

Opting to control his advantage over third, Billy rode strongly for the remainder of the race, crossing the finish line in a dusty-but-deserved runner-up position.

Attention now turns to the legendary Red Bull Erzbergrodeo on May 29-June 1, before the FIM HEWC resumes with round two at Silver Kings, USA on June 12-14.

Billy Bolt: “With a bad start in the main race I struggled a bit on lap one and wasn’t comfortable. The dust was quite bad and that made it difficult to settle into the pace I knew I was capable of. When we cleared lap one, Mani [Lettenbichler] was already out to a big lead. I was able to keep that gap for the majority of the race, but unfortunately the damage was done early on. Behind me, Teo [Kabakchiev] was pushing too, and at the end of the second lap he got close. I was riding the difficult parts really well but losing a little on the sections in between. For the final two laps I just tried to execute the hard parts to the best of my ability and hold my position. Overall, it was a fast four laps, and in this dust, I rode well to claim second. We have a small gap now until Red Bull Erzbergrodeo. I want to work on my pace on the medium-difficult sections to get up to that overall level I know I’m capable of. Between my SuperEnduro duties and taking some time off for injuries, I haven’t quite gelled yet outdoors. But I’m healthy and hungry now for hard enduro.”

Provisional Results: 2025 FIM HEWC, Round One – Valleys Hard Enduro
1. Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM) 4 laps, 2:14:23.88
2. Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) 4 laps, 2:16:40.35
3. Teodor Kabakchiev (Sherco) 4 laps, 2:17:14.23
4. Mario Roman (Sherco) 4 laps, 2:18:15.85
5. Ashton Brightmore (GASGAS) 4 laps, 2:22:28.39

Provisional Standings - FIM HEWC (after 1 of 7 rounds)
1. Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM) 22 pts
2. Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) 20 pts
3. Teodor Kabakchiev (Sherco) 15 pts
4. Mario Roman (Sherco) 13 pts
5. Ashton Brightmore (GASGAS) 11 pts