Billy Bolt has taken his first podium in roughly four months, and he took it from the top step. The Husqvarna Factory Racing rider won Friday's sprint race at Forza Orza, Round 4 of the 2026 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship, completing five laps in 1:01:15.0 to beat reigning world champion Manuel Lettenbichler by 36 seconds in front of a packed Swedish crowd at Orsa Grönklitt.
One Hour, Full gas
Day two of Sweden's first-ever HEWC round took the form of a one-hour sprint, run on a course that stitched together sections from Thursday's prologue and Saturday's Gold race. The format gave riders no time to settle , and Bolt, returning from a long injury layoff, looked immediately at home on it.
Lettenbichler followed home in second, with Ashton Brightmore third for X-Grip GASGAS Racing Team , a strong showing for the Junior class leader against the outright front-runners. His brother Mitch Brightmore took fourth, with James Moore fifth for AG Racing Beta.
Home favourite Eddie Karlsson delivered sixth on the Stark in front of a Swedish audience, followed by Mario Román (MR74 Racing Team), Thomas Scales (AG Racing), Teodor Kabakchiev (Sherco Factory Racing) and Lorenzo Gandola (Sherco Racing Factory) rounding out the top ten. All ten completed the full five laps.
A Course Built Around the Crowd
The atmosphere was a story in itself. Event organiser Glenn Olsson of Kong Events had set out to build a Hard Enduro course that put spectators genuinely close to the racing rather than scattered across a mountainside, and on Friday that ambition paid off, with huge crowds packed around the key sections.
Credit is also due to track designer Mike Skinner, whose layout tested the deepest field in the sport without ever becoming a war of attrition. Technical enough to separate the front three inside an hour, watchable enough to hold a crowd from start to finish, that balance is difficult to strike, and Forza Orza struck it.
Tough Luck for Alfredo Gomez
The day was not kind to everyone. Alfredo Gomez was forced out of the sprint race with an injury after a crash at the miniature "Carl's Diner" section, ending his day early. Everyone at the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship wishes him a fast recovery.
The Main Race Decides It
Round 4 concludes on Saturday 22 August with the Main race, a two-hour race plus one final lap, on a course running to roughly 20 minutes per lap over similar terrain. With sprint points already banked and the main race carrying the largest share of the round's championship points, the running order in Sweden is far from settled.
Manuel Lettenbichler arrived in Orsa leading the championship on 88 points to Mitch Brightmore's 75, with Teodor Kabakchiev third on 68. Follow Saturday's finale via live timing and at forzaorza.com, then track the confirmed points on the 2026 championship standings. Round 5, Abestone Hard Enduro, follows in Abetone, Italy on 4–6 September.