Kiwi Rider January Vol.2 2023 | Page 21

DIRT NEWS
five-second margin of victory . With the start order reversed for race two , Bolt made his now customary cautious start to the race . Putting on a charge , he slotted into second place on lap two . Tangling with Walker while challenging for the lead , both riders crashed in the sand corner . Bolt was quick to his feet and a lap later had fought his way into the lead . However , despite building up a comfortable advantage , a crash on the penultimate lap dropped him back to 4th . Fighting hard to recover , he crossed the finish line in 3rd , despite a dramatic clash with Taddy Blazusiak , which saw both riders hit the dirt after the chequered flag . Putting race two behind him , Bolt focused on winning race three to seal the overall victory in Germany . Third off the start , he took the lead on lap one only to crash once more on the rocky climb . A second crash knocked him back to third . Racing up to second place , he faced a five-second deficit to leader Walker with three laps to go . Muscling his FE350 around the course , he finally drew level with Walker and took the lead with one lap to go . This time holding firm , he claimed a dramatic and hardfought race three victory to secure the top step of the podium in Riesa . “ I made life hard for myself tonight , but I ’ m happy to have come out on top in the end ,” Bolt said . “ 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 .” The 2023 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship continues with round three in Budapest , Hungary on February 4 .
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