Kevin Gallas secures his second DOWATEK Hard Enduro Series Germany championship title with victory Reetz as challenger Marc Wulf falters in the prologue.

The 2022 HESG season concluded last weekend in Reetz with a new record for riders and for the first time in quite a while, rain fell in Brandenburg for the sixth and final round. The series this year has missed riders like Leon Hentschel and Tim Apolle but the return of Gallas has maintained the world-class title holder. That extends to Maria Franke who was alos able to claim the 2022 Women’s title in Reetz.

Prolog win decides title for Gallas

The race day was dominated by the decisive moment in the prologue where Kevin Gallas started first and secured the best time but closest challenger Marc Wulf could only manage fifth, so he lost all chance to keep the title fight open until the main race.

That meant Gallas won the championship with the extra points awarded for the prologue giving him an unassailable lead.

Exciting group races

The group races were characterised by close battles. Just in time for the start of the first group race, rain fell making it no easy task for the riders. Gallas continued where he had left off in the prologue and won the group race ahead of his long-term rival Marc Wulf. The most exciting fights for position were between Rico Petzold, Einar Meyer and Eric Seifert. Richter finally prevailed and stayed ahead of his two rivals to claim third place.

The second group race featured a three-way battle for the win between Paul-Erik Huster, Lenny Geretzky and Felix Bähker. The three youngsters each took turns to lead until finally, after 90 minutes, Geretzky won with all three within six seconds of each other.

The 85cc HESG Kids also competed in the group races and Raven Lippold came out on top, consolidating his lead in the standings. He is crowned the first HESG Kids Champion in the 85cc class ahead of Noah Rübesamen.

An exhibition run for Gallas in the final

Kevin Gallas was able to ride calmly in the difficult final race of the year, allowing Marc Wulf to take the early lead. But Gallas turned up the heat as the track dried out again in many places and went onto take the win by oen minute from Wulf with Louis Richter third.

After his championship title in 2018, Gallas draws level with Leon Hentschel in having two HESG championship titles.

It was a closer race in the Juniors too despite Milan Schmüser, who was already crowned champion, a non-starter.

Lenny Geretzky stepped up and took the lead at first and controlled the race. Louis Richter was having none of it though and made the pass at the halfway point of the race.

It was a decisive move for Richter who won his last race in the Junior class (he will move up to the PRO class next year due to his age) and overtook Geretzky to finish third in the Junior standings. Eric Seifert finished fourth behind Felix Bähker, and with that took the runner-up spot behind Schmüser.

Sören Emich (amateurs) and Rene Dietrich (seniors) were also delighted with their 2022 titles. Emich also finished second behind Nico Hapke.

The championship ceremony marked the end of an exciting 2022 season for the DOWATEK HardEnduroSeries Germany. The new season continues in March or April 2023 with the Champion Extremenduro Neuhaus-Schierschnitz.

More information and results: www.hardenduro-germany.de

Photo Credit: GrenzNic640