Wade Young 5th. Matthew Green 10th…
Man! This was one for the books. Grueling stuff as riders battled terrain and inclement weather…
Red Bull Romaniacs is the longest event in the World Hard Enduro Championship and the brainchild of former snowboard champion Martin Freinademetz starting out with the fan-friendly Prolog around the medieval city of Sibiu before a marathon four days of riding around the beautiful Carpathian Mountains.
This year, the weather played a massive role in raising the level of extreme enduro as driving rain, hail, thunder and lightning pelted the competitors on day 1. This lot made the tracks almost unrideable and led to much drama.
Many competitors have dubbed this one as the toughest Romaniacs ever.
Mani Lettenbihler was a class act as he dominated the race from the beginning. He took off on day four with a 58 minute lead over his closest rival Trystan Hart.
Hart, in turn, was 1 hour and 21 minutes ahead of Billy Bolt.
All eyes were on the battle between Bolt and Teo Kabakchiev, who had less than 5 minutes between them. It was a massive race from the start.
Lettenbichler hit the tracks knowing that he had a great lead. Teo Kabakchiev on the other hand was a man on a mission. He pushed Mani until he finally got in front. Battles raged through passes like ‘The revenge’, ‘Ass slide’, ‘Steroid, ‘Flying Ford’ and the famous ‘Wolf’s Nest’. Kabakchiev arrived at the Hillclimbs first, but he made a mistake on a vertical hill which gave Mani the opportunity to pass him again and arrive through the finishing arch in first position, his fourth win at Red Bull Romaniacs.
“It was a crazy Romaniacs but I can’t believe it.” Said Mani at the finish. “I wanted redemption this year and it paid off. I think this week went perfect and that’s the way to win. I pushed really hard because I really wanted it. I will try to do Graham’s record but it’s not easy!”
Trystan Hart had enough in the tank and was able to ride to a strong second overall, making him the first ever Canadian on the Romaniacs podium. This guy is the real deal and has laid claim to his second place in the 2023 World Championship as the series heads to his home round in Canada.
Andy Fazekas, Prolog Director designed a track that combined serious vertical climbs with Prolog style obstacles including ladders, ramps, jumps and of course, water, creating a special finish for the Edition 20 anniversary. Hart was the first rider to conquer the full length of the uphill to reach the Red Bull arch at the top, giving him the King of the Hill status for the second consecutive year.
Kabakchiev came in third overall with the days fastest time by 2 minutes and 3 seconds.
“After a 30 minute penalty on the first day I am very happy to recover to take the podium on the last day. I worked so hard.” Said the Bulgarian taking his second podium in two years.
Four hard days took its toll on Billy Bolt and ultimately cost him a podium position. The Husqvarna rider finished in P4, 16 minutes back.
“It was a little bit frustrating starting the week so well but my main goal was to maintain today. I knew the pace was so high at the front it was going to be tough, the races are always tough but this was the hardest that’s for sure. I’ve brought a broken bike back every night so thanks to the team.”
Wade Young rounded off the top five, just five minutes down on Billy. Young, 27, said: “This edition of Red Bull Romaniacs didn’t let up. Each day was hard, at the limit of possible. Overall I feel like I had a good week and was able to put a consistent race together.”
The best Junior World Championship rider was Matty Green in a very respectable 10th place.. he says he havd a “Very” Lekker time…
Martin Freinademetz, founder:
“The Impossible lived up to its name. Impossible for some to finish and others fought till the end, reaching the finish. It’s been a tough competition for us to organise after the pandemic years, we had the participants who had to cancel during that time all returning this year. Thanks to our track crew and good logistics planning we were able to have controlled racing. In all five classes there were alot of tracks only being used by that one class and not a lot of common trails and so no queues and good and fair racing. Competitors experienced every type of weather conditions from hot to wet, very stormy and ugly, it was a good variety of Romaniacs conditions! It has been a really successful twentieth edition and I look forward to another twenty. Thank you to the team and the enduro community”
The final 2023 Edition 20 ‘The Impossible’ GOLD results were:
1. Mani Lettenbichler (KTM) Total ride time 19h45m15s, FOUR TIME WINNER
2. Trystan Hart (KTM) Total ride time 20h55m14s
3. Teo Kabakchiev (BGR, Econt) Total ride time 21h9m16s
Silver: Valentino Hutter took the final day, but British rider Ben Wibberley won the event overall.Hutter finished second with Sergiu Grecu third.
Bronze: Was won by Switzerland’s Jürg Shütz with a comfortable margin of almost 30 mins. Romania took its second podium. Ovidiu Nistor came in second with Priit Biene claiming third.
Iron: Robert Adams took the Iron class win, 27 minutes clear of Sam Defoy and another Romanian, Paul Bulai in third.
Atom: Janis Stauers managed to over-turn a four minute deficit to claim the win ahead of Moritz Muller and Daniel Cernusca.
Take nothing away from these competitors, Romaniacs was tough through all classes by all accounts. Lets hope that we see riders like these filtering through to Roof Of Africa…
