There has never been such a balanced field in the DOWATEK HardEnduroSeries Germany. The opening race in Neuhaus-Schierschnitz provided big surprises in several different surprises.
Facts, Champion Hardenduro Challenge Neuhaus-Schierschnitz 01.04.23
Weather: 7 degress, Rain
Prolog Award Winner: Max Faude (KTM)
Winner: Lenny Geretzky (GasGas)
Lenny Geretzky
The season opener, which was also the 25th round of the DOWATEK HardEnduroSeries Germany, was fully booked with 162 riders. Riders from various European countries were eager to see what MC Isolator had to offer at its Biene Enduro site. The weather provided the necessary spice to the already difficult track. After showers on the arrival day on Friday, rain followed on Saturday for almost the entire race day, which even intensified towards the finale. This made conditions more difficult for the organisation and the riders. Nevertheless, almost everything worked smoothly and due to the 6 individual heats during the day, there was only a delay of 15 minutes in the schedule.
HESG Kids with only one run
This season it is planned that the HESG Kids 50 & 65 cc classes will have 2 races each. Due to the extreme conditions, however, this plan had to be cancelled at the start. Extreme ruts made a second run impossible, so the result of the day was already known after the first run. Loris Solbrig was the new winner in the 65cc category, ahead of guest starter Emil Doras from the host club MC Isolator. In the 50cc category, victory also went to Theodor Kis from the Erzgebirge.
Max Faude dominates the Prolog Award
Max Faude showed himself clearly in front in the Prolog Award. In the first showdown of the day, he beat Marc Wulf by 8 seconds. Behind him, Fynn Hannemann also showed his current form in the HESG. The current dominator in the German Enduro Cup lost only 0.7 seconds to Wulf.
Max Faude
In the following 70-minute group races, 20 riders per group reached the final. As the track in Neuhaus-Schierschnitz is quite short, there were three group races. Due to the extremely muddy conditions, this was also the right decision to avoid traffic jams. The winners of the groups were Milan Schmüser (group 1), Marc Wulf (group 2) and Louis Richter (group 3).
The women's victory went to Eva Täuber, and this classification was held in the second group race. Raven Lippold dominated the 85cc class and still managed 3 laps on the deep track.
Finale Grande in extreme conditions
Last year's champion Kevin Gallas has not yet been mentioned in the text. Nevertheless, he will once again go down in HESG history. He is competing this season with a newly built Youngtimer Honda and caused big eyes among the fans and opponents. With this "old" motorbike, he once again mixed with the field and was even able to achieve 9th place on the difficult final track. After the race he was happy because for the first time his own team was at the start. He also praised the overall great atmosphere among all the riders in the series.
Kevin Gallas
Due to Gallas' change of bike, there were now completely new results at the top. After lap 1, Marc Wulf, Lenny Geretzky and Felix Bähker were tied. In lap 3 Marc Wulf made some mistakes and Geretzky took advantage of them and took the lead. With a controlled driving style, he built up a comfortable lead and took the opening victory to the cheers of his parents. This means that the Suhl native has now arrived in the HESG Hall of Fame. In addition to the championship win, it was also enough for the junior victory. Wulf secured second place and at the same time victory in the Pro class. Felix Bähker and Fynn Hannemann, two other juniors, followed in third and fourth place. Milan Schmüser came fifth, a performance that is also highly commendable. After all, he had undergone shoulder surgery 10 days earlier.
As a conclusion of the opening race one can say that at least 6 riders have chances to win a race this season. And that the juniors are on the rise. It will definitely be an exciting season, which will continue in Crimmitschau on 22/23 April. You can still register for this race here: www.hardenduro-germany.de/registration-heaven-or-hell-xtreme-enduro-crimmitschau-22-23-04-2023.
Up-to-date information on the DOWATEK HardEnduroSeries Germany can always be found at www.hardenduro-germany.de and in the social media.
Photos: Michel238pic / Michel Kuchel