Billy Bolt opened his 2026 SuperEnduro World Championship campaign in dominant fashion in Gliwice, Poland, but not without pressure from a fired-up Jonny Walker on the Triumph. Eddie Karlsson completed the podium to claim a first overall for both himself and Stark.

SuperEnduro round 1 in a nutshell:

There was no shortage of hype heading into the new indoor season: a reigning champion chasing a sixth title, the freshly crowned AMA EnduroCross champion, EnduroGP and Hard Enduro world champions on the entry list, electric bikes into their second season, and the Brightmore brothers continuing their sharp rise.

The PreZero Arena, around an hour from Krakow, was a packed and featured a track which produced good racing across the classes (with nearly 100 riders on track in total) and that held up well despite complaints of limited grip.

Practice and qualifying pointed to a focused Jonny Walker, while Billy Bolt made a few uncharacteristic errors. When it counted in SuperPole, though, Bolt delivered, topping the session ahead of Mitch and Ash Brightmore, Eddie Karlsson and Josep Garcia. Walker stalled in the final technical turns and ended up last of the last of SuperPole riders, a mistake which would shape the rest of his night.

Moto 1

Unlike previous visits to Gliwice, Bolt wasted no time and gifted no-one any opportunities tonight. An aggressive and clean start in moto one saw the Husqvarna rider muscle his way into the lead by turn two and was able to control the race from the front.

Behind him, the battle brewed between the Brightmore brothers and Walker, who was forced to come from deep in the pack after being pushed wide in the first-turn chaos.

The scrap for third went to the final lap. Walker repeatedly pressured Ash Brightmore, the pair clashing in the final switchback as Walker block passed and then dropped his bike. Ash rode over Jonny for P3 which helped stun the Triumph enough for Eddie Karlsson to also slip through in the run to the line, leaving Walker fifth.

Moto 2

Diogo Vieira took full advantage of the reverse-grid start, leading from the front row while the field untangled itself behind him.

Walker charged from the back with some solid overtaking on the opening lap and hit the front by lap three. Bolt followed Walker through to second and began closing in before a heavy crash after missing his rear brake opened a gap he couldn’t recover and the win was Jonny’s.

The fight for third again involved Karlsson and the Brightmores with Ashton making the decisive pass on the Stark rider mid-race for another podium finish.

Moto 3

Bolt grabbed the holeshot again in the final race, but the win wasn’t as comfortable as it looked on track. Walker, hampered once more by a poor gate pick, steadily reeled him in over the closing laps. Bolt later admitted he eased slightly and that another lap could have changed things.

The result, however, saw Bolt seal the overall, Walker’s 5-1-2 scorecard earned second on the night, the Triumph rider left to reflect on the SuperPole error.

A podium appeared destined for one of the Brightmore brothers until Ashton crashed into his brother, hitting the ground heavily at turn two on the opening lap of the final moto. It put Ash painfully out the race and Mitch scrambling from dead last. No-one was happy, least of all Mitch, but the X-Grip Racing team will live to fight another day, once they’ve finished fighting each other.

That opened the door for Eddie Karlsson, who claimed his first SuperEnduro overall podium and a landmark result for Stark. A surprise but a very welcome one for the Swedish rider who finished the race not knowing the overall was his but has earned it for all his work with the Varg race bike.

Prestige class overall results: 

Junior class

In what feels like his tenth season in Juniors, Milan Schmuser once again set the pace. He took a comfortable win in moto one, then charged through the field from the reverse-grid start to win moto two ahead of Ramon Godino and Fraiser Lampkin, both stepping up from Youth last year.

Moto three followed the same pattern, Schmuser disappearing at the front to complete the full set and a dominant opening round. Behind him, the points took some calculating, but reigning Youth champion Godino made the Junior podium on debut, while Toby Shaw secured third overall thanks to a strong final race.

Junior class overall

Youth class

Local favourite Wojtek Walczak was the standout Youth rider of the night. A 1-3 scorecard was enough to take the overall and lift the home crowd for the Polish anthem.

Luca Kropitsch’s consistency earned him second overall, while a moto two victory put Britain’s Conor Watson onto the podium in third.

Youth class overall

European class

The European Championship was controlled by Rieju rider Eric Miguel with two convincing moto wins. Hungary’s Mark Szoke finished second overall, with Italy’s Alessandro Azzalini third.

European class overall

Photo credit: Future7Media | Andrea Belluschi