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All content © Bob MuIIins | |||
 
Paul Bolton on the road with the WESS Series With 3 rounds out of 8 under the belt and the exciting announcement of Fast Eddy Racing hosting a round at Hawkstone in September, the World Enduro Super Series (WESS) is living up to high expectations! For those of you who are not so familiar with the new series, it’s a major step forward towards taking the sport of enduro (and particularly Hard Enduro), to the next level. Eight independent races come under the ‘World Series’ umbrella, spanning seven months May-November. It puts into the mix new races, new styles of enduro and new riders – all competing both in and out of their comfort zones, in a bid to be crowned the ULTIMATE ENDURO CHAMPION. Hard enduro, traditional timecard enduro, beach racing and cross country are combined. It elevates almost everything – the level of competition, the media attention, the grandeur of the races and the excitement to be a part of it! At the core of each race is a mass-participation element – something that we know embraces the spirit of enduro. Pros mingle with amateurs, teams prepare and socialise together and the atmosphere is jovial…until the flag drops and things get serious of course! The series kicked off to a great start in May in Portugal, with the Extreme XL Lagares race. It was the first meeting of the athletes (the regular Hard Enduro faces and new entrants particularly from World Enduro). There was plenty of action for 3 days including on the endurocross track, on the streets of beautiful Porto and finally in the main race – where slippery streams characterised this ‘no traction’ season opener. It was a seriously tough event for all. Paul qualified 4th after 2 days of ‘prologue’ and he came a respectable 8th place in the main race. Podium positions went to Billy Bolt (1st), Jonny Walker (2nd) and Manuel Lettenbichler (3rd). Then it was onto 2 weekends of back-to-back WESS races that couldn’t have been more different! Firstly Erzberg, which was as exhilarating as ever. Starting with 2 qualifying days racing up the 13km Iron Road Prologue, the aim was to get a crucial ‘top 50’ front row position. Paul qualified 9th on day 1 and ended up in 12th after 2 days. As the sweltering heat came, so did the main race, making for very dry and dusty conditions. Having walked many of the sections in the days up to the race, the riders knew that the big rock sections like Carl’s Diner would be all the more treacherous in the beating sun. This year there were also many new super-steep descents, leaving riders wondering if they would manage them on the bike or by foot! Sunday’s main race arrived. Paul had a reasonable start, but outside of the top 10, the dust was horrendous and at points he was unable to see the front wheel. He and Jarvis used their experience and let others pass, knowing that the first goal was to get out of the quarry in one piece! Erzberg always commands a balance between pushing the limit and preserving body and bike. The winner is undeniably the rider who masters this best. Picking off riders, Paul came from about 25th to reach 12th by the end of the first forest. Arriving at Carl’s Diner in 8th position, Paul overtook Travis Teasdale and Mario Roman and created a 12-minute gap on them over Carl’s Diner, placing him comfortably in 6th position. At the infamous ‘Downtown’ (the race-stopper in 2015) which was this year named Green Hell, many riders like Billy Bolt and Manuel Lettenbichler helped each other up. Stunning rides from the likes of Graham Jarvis and Jonny Walker saw them tackle the climb alone and gain on the leaders. This was a crucial turning point in the race for Graham who had gained tremendous ground, managing the climb quickly and forging ahead into the lead! Paul was also alone but it took him 6 attempts to get high enough to get out. He was rather frustrated at this point, losing his 12-minute gap and enabling Travis Teasdale to close in. Travis managed Green Hell in one attempt by himself, with what was probably the best clean ascent of all riders. At the rock-laiden Dynamite section, Travis overtook Paul. Keeping up the pace to the finish, Paul came in 7th closely behind Travis and ahead of Taddy Blazusiak, Mario Roman and Colton Haaker, to name but a few. Podium positions went to Graham Jarvis (1st), Jonny Walker (2nd) and Manuel Lettenbichler (3rd).
So now it’s time to get ready for the longest race in the series, Red
Bull Romaniacs in July! Paul’s POV commentary at Erzberg prologue:
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With
the paddock de-constructed and bikes loaded up, we drove from Erzberg to the
beautiful Lozere region of France. A significant change of racing style was
required for the oldest form of enduro, classic enduro. The Trefle Lozerian
incorporated 600km of liaison over 3 days with slack time checks and a relaxed
atmosphere. This meant that 5 special tests per day is what mattered most in
the results. It was going to be a real test of raw speed and skill! The
majority of tests were fast grass fields, with a few odd-ball tests thrown in,
such as an asphalt sprint and a motocross race. The French grass-specialists
were absolutely on fire, putting the rest of the pro-riders in their places.
They reminded them that the new WESS is about finding the most adaptable rider
to be crowned the ‘Ultimate Enduro Champion’. The competition was so tough
with positions being split by hundredths of seconds. It has been a great
experience for many of the hard enduro regulars and something new to get their
teeth into. The French riders dominated, however World Enduro Champion Joseph
Garcia who will be competing in the full WESS series had a superb ride coming
in 3rd overall and fellow World Enduro rider Nathan Watson placed 7th. The
rest of the ‘hard enduro’ regulars positioned as follows: Jonny Walker
10th, Manuel Lettenbichler 15th, Colton Haaker 17th, Taddy Blazusiac 20th,
Paul Bolton 27th, Billy Bolt 38th and Graham Jarvis 44th. Additionally Paul
placed 3rd in E3.