Lettenbichler survives late drama to win inaugural Forza Orza

2026 Hard Enduro World Championship

Round Four – Forza Orza – Sweden

Silver Kings winner Mitch Brightmore struck first; Billy Bolt topped Friday’s Sprint Race on his championship return, but Manuel Lettenbichler ultimately had the final say at the inaugural Forza Orza in Sweden.

Round four arrived with the championship battle firmly alive following Brightmore’s breakthrough victory at Silver Kings in Idaho.

The Brit had defeated Trystan Hart by just 5.55 seconds following a decisive move on the final King Slayer hillclimb, with Lettenbichler third. That result reduced the German’s championship advantage to 13 points, leaving him on 88 against Brightmore’s 75 as the series headed into its mid-season break.

Lettenbichler did not spend that break resting on his laurels. The reigning champion claimed a record-equalling seventh Red Bull Romaniacs victory before turning his attention back to the championship and Sweden’s first-ever HEWC round.

Bolt was another rider attracting plenty of attention on arrival at Orsa Grönklitt. The Husqvarna rider had missed Silver Kings with a hand injury and had only recently returned to competition at the EnduroGP of Wales.

Forza Orza offered championship points across all three days, beginning with Thursday’s Prologue before a one-hour Sprint Race on Friday and a two-hour-plus-one-lap Main Race on Saturday.

Brightmore drew first blood in Thursday’s Prologue, but initially it appeared that home favourite Eddie Karlsson might deliver the opening victory for the Swedish crowd.

Karlsson stopped the clock at 4:44.38 on his first run aboard the Stark, setting the early benchmark. His second attempt ended with a crash, however, and he limped home in 5:46.32.

With the quickest of each rider’s two attempts determining the result, Karlsson’s opening time remained good enough for fourth overall, but an opportunity to challenge for victory had escaped.

Brightmore was only sixth following his opening run, but the X-Grip GASGAS rider transformed his performance on lap two. His 4:36.99 secured the Prologue win by 3.41 seconds over AG Racing Beta rider James Moore.

Ashton Brightmore made it two brothers and two GASGAS machines inside the top three, while Lettenbichler finished fifth and Bolt began his return with seventh.

The three championship points awarded for the Prologue victory reduced Lettenbichler’s advantage over Mitch Brightmore from 13 points to 10.

Bolt answered emphatically in Friday’s Sprint Race.

The one-hour contest used sections from Thursday’s Prologue and Saturday’s Gold race, with the compact course designed to keep spectators close to the action around Orsa Grönklitt.

Bolt completed five laps in 1:01:15.0 to beat Lettenbichler by 36 seconds, securing his first HEWC stage podium in roughly four months from its top step.

Lettenbichler banked valuable championship points in second, while Junior World Cup leader Ashton Brightmore again mixed it with the outright contenders to take third.

Mitch Brightmore finished fourth ahead of Moore, with Karlsson sixth in front of the Swedish crowd. Mario Román, Thomas Scales, Teodor Kabakchiev and Lorenzo Gandola completed the top 10, all covering the full five laps.

The day ended less happily for Alfredo Gómez, who crashed at the miniature Carl’s Diner section and was forced out with an injury.

Changing weather left Saturday’s Main Race course considerably more slippery, but Lettenbichler immediately established himself at the front aboard his KTM 300 EXC.

The German steadily extended his advantage and held a lead of approximately six-and-a-half minutes by lap eight.

That comfortable margin suddenly became important when Lettenbichler crashed while working his way through traffic on the second-last lap. The incident caused a technical problem and the KTM stalled in a difficult section.

Lettenbichler initially could not restart the bike. With encouragement from the crowd and instructions from his mechanic, he eventually managed to bump-start the KTM and rejoined with his lead severely reduced.

Mitch Brightmore sensed an opportunity and pushed on, but Lettenbichler had done enough earlier in the race to keep the GASGAS rider at bay.

Lettenbichler crossed the finish line as the first Forza Orza winner in 2:20:41, with Brightmore second in 2:24:17.

Ashton Brightmore completed another impressive weekend by finishing third in 2:27:58 and winning the Junior World Cup classification.

Karlsson delivered fourth for the home crowd aboard the electric Stark, while Bolt recovered from a major crash on the second lap to finish fifth.

Bolt’s TE 300 was damaged in the incident, and he initially fell back to seventh. Once he regrouped, the Brit found strong pace through the middle of the race and worked his way back inside the top five.

Román completed the top six, while Moore and Gandola were classified seventh and eighth after completing nine laps. Matthew Green and Thomas Scales both completed eight laps to round out the top 10.

Manuel Lettenbichler – P1

“Yeah, it was a crazy race, honestly. The weather changed the track quite a lot and I didn’t expect it to be so slippery, so we had to push hard to get the win. I’m really happy with the result, especially because it’s good for the championship and we were able to gain some points on Mitch, who is riding really well at the moment.

“I felt good throughout the race, but then on the second-to-last lap I had a huge crash in the traffic. It was a bit of a mess, and unfortunately the crash caused me some problems. I was pretty nervous that Mitch might catch me, but I kept pushing and we still finished first. I think I did exactly what I had to do, and it’s great to come away with the win. What a race!”

Billy Bolt – P5

“Overall, it was a good weekend. Today was pretty eventful for me, with a big crash on the second lap, and the bike was pretty damaged, so it took me a couple of laps to regroup and get back into a rhythm.

“After that, I actually had really good speed through the middle part of the race and managed to come from quite far back to finish inside the top five. So, there are definitely a lot of positives to take.

“I’m very happy with yesterday’s Sprint Race and with the majority of today as well. Obviously, there was one big mistake and a few smaller ones, but overall it’s been a good start and it’s really nice to be back racing. We have a busy period coming up now with a lot of races, so there are plenty of chances to keep building and challenge for more good results and race wins.”

2026 Forza Orza Hard Enduro Results

Lettenbichler collected 29 points across the three days in Sweden, with his second place in the Sprint Race and Main Race victory more than compensating for fifth in the Prologue.

Mitch Brightmore scored 27 points and remains Lettenbichler’s nearest challenger, but the gap between the pair has increased from 13 points before the round to 15 at the halfway point of the eight-round championship.

Kabakchiev retains third on 74 points, although Ashton Brightmore’s 24-point haul in Sweden has moved the Junior leader to within a single point of the Bulgarian.

Bolt’s Sprint victory and fifth in the Main Race earned him 21 points, moving the Husqvarna rider to fifth in the championship despite missing the previous round.

2026 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship Standings

2026 FIM HEWC Calendar

The 2026 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship is set to span eight rounds across Europe, North America and Africa, reduced from nine following the cancellation of the Wildwoods event.

• Round 1 – 24MX Alestrem Hard Enduro
  April 17-19 – Ales, France
• Round 2 – Extreme XL Lagares
  May 1-3 – Porto, Portugal
• Round 3 – Silver Kings Hard Enduro
  June 18-20 – Idaho/Silver Mountain Resort, United States
• Round 4 – Forza Orza
  August 20-22 – Orsa, Sweden
• Round 5 – Abestone Hard Enduro
  September 4-6 – Abetone, Italy
• Round 6 – Roof of Africa
  September 24-26 – Maseru, Lesotho
• Round 7 – Sea to Sky
  October 8-10 – Kemer, Turkey
• Round 8 – 24MX Hixpania Hard Enduro
  October 23-25 – Aguilar de Campoo, Spain

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