Red Bull Romaniacs: Lettenbichler Wins No. 7

LETTENBICHLER EQUALS THE RECORD AT THE 23RD RED BULL ROMANIACS

Red Bull Romaniacs 2026: Manuel Lettenbichler cements his status as a Hard Enduro great, capturing a historic seventh career victory at the 2026 Red Bull Romaniacs “UNSTOPPABLE” Edition 23.

This year’s crazy five-day event, held from July 28 to August 1, 2026 in the Carpathian Mountains surrounding Sibiu in Romania, pushed many of the world’s finest riders to their absolute physical and mechanical breaking points.

The city-center Prolog once again mixed stadium-style obstacles with technical precision. Riders entertained thousands of fans with spectacular jumps, near crashes, and impossible-looking balance tricks before heading into the Carpathian Mountains for some real “Vasbyt!”.

From the moment Sherco’s Bulgarian star Teodor Kabakchiev shocked the paddock by stealing the urban Prologue victory in front of thousands of fans in Sibiu, the pressure was unrelenting.

Romaniacs is as much a rally as it is an extreme enduro. Riders had to balance outright pace with GPS navigation across remote mountain terrain. A small navigation mistake could cost several minutes or even end a rider’s challenge if it led to missing checkpoints or time bars.

As the rally plunged deep into the dense wilderness for four consecutive off-road days, Germany’s Manuel Lettenbichler showcased the masterclass precision that defines his era. Riding his factory KTM 300 EXC, “Mani” methodically dismantled a massive one-hour gap over his rivals by dominating the final day and matching Graham Jarvis’s legendary all-time record of seven Romaniacs victories.

Behind him, Kabakchiev fought like a maniac through the technical stream beds to secure an impressive second overall.

The absolute revelation of the week however was our own James Moore.

Despite hurting his front shock stanchion and dealing with a big dent that often would not allow the forks to rebound, he raced on, navigating the terrifying signature final hillclimbs of Pandora and Wolfsnest on his Beta machine.

He held off a charging pack of veterans to land a sensational debut podium in the premier Gold class.

One of the recurring themes from daily footage has been sportsmanship. Even competitors fighting for good results were seen stopping to help another rider lift a bike over a log pile or restart a stalled machine. In Romaniacs, surviving the course often matters more than beating the clock.

The famous Gușterița Final Hill Climb once again delivered drama. Riders from multiple classes stalled, looped out, or needed several attempts to reach the top, while spectators lined the slopes cheering every successful climb. It’s become one of the iconic features of the event.

The Rise of the Next Generation:

The newly formalized Hard Adventure Class was a lot of fun to watch.

Pushing massive 900cc+ multi-cylinder adventure bikes up tracks traditionally reserved for light trials machinery, some standard-production models proved their worth.

Sherco extreme pilot Mario Roman took an incredible class win aboard his CFMOTO 450MT, while Dakar icon Sam Sunderland put on a masterclass of grit for Triumph.

Even after a crash snapped his clutch lever clean off on the final off-road day, Sunderland powered through on momentum alone to secure 2nd overall in the Adventure Core category.

Meanwhile, the support classes delivered their own theater of grit.

Australia’s Sandon Kerswell put on a clinical display to capture the Silver class crown, while Germany’s Benjamin Richter triumphed in Bronze.

OFFICIAL OVERALL PODIUMS & CLASSIFICATIONS

The official overall standings for the main competitive divisions at the conclusion of Offroad Day 4:

Gold Class

Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM) 22:14:41
Teodor Kabakchiev (She) +1:03:27
James Moore (Bet) +2:20:22 RSA
Matthew Green (KTM) +2:50:18 RSA
Mitch Brightmore (GG) +2:53:17
Michael Walkner (GG) +3:36:44
Lorenzo Gandola (She) +4:25:59
Thomas Scales (Bet) +5:46:45 RSA
Sonny Goggia (KTM) +6:5:44
David Cyprian (KTM) +6:28:14

3 South Africans in the top 10 and Moore on the podium. HOWZAAT!

Silver Class

1 Sandon Kerswell

2 Florian Kirchmayer

3 Lorenz Steinkellner

Current WorldSBK racer Remy Gardner used his summer racing break to take on one of the world’s most agonizing dirt bike races. Clocking a brutal 27 hours of competitive riding over the four days, Gardner defied the odds to cross the finish line placing a highly respectable 34th in the ultra-competitive Silver class.

Bronze Class

1 Benjamin Richter GER

2 David Rusanescu ROU

3 Emanuel Gyenes ROU

Iron & Atom Classes

Iron Class Champions: 1. Nico Friedmann (GER), 2. Patrick Jirjahn (GER), 3. Mark Whyte (NZL).

Atom Class Champions: 1. Daniel Fasching (AUT), 2. Iñigo Zardoya Egaña (ESP), 3. Aleš Pour (CZE).

The Adventure Class was one of the biggest talking points of the 2026 Red Bull Romaniacs. Spurred by rapid discipline growth, organizer Martin Freinademetz expanded the event to feature 100 riders split across three tiered classes, Ultimate, Core, and Lite, pushing heavy, large-capacity multi-cylinder adventure bikes into crazy hard enduro territory.

The Three-Tiered Structure Ultimate Class featured 20 Riders:

The most extreme tier featured brutal, steep mountain single-tracks, off-camber switchbacks, and massive steps meant only for riders with a heavy hard enduro background.

The Core Class featured 40 Riders:

It delivered technical trails and steep ascents but bypassed the highly destructive vertical obstacles found in Ultimate.

The Lite Class Featured 40 Riders:

Designed for first-time Romaniacs entries, it focused on scenic flowing tracks, though still throwing in occasional rugged mountain terrain to test navigation.

A “who’s who” of world-class racing, featuring factory backings from heavyweights like Yamaha, Triumph, KTM, BMW, and CFMOTO.

In the Ultimate Class, the premier big-bike division became a historic battleground.

While extreme riding pioneer Pol Tarrés and German star Kevin Gallas traded blows early on, it was Spanish veteran Mario Roman who stole the show by taking a breakthrough class victory aboard his CFMOTO 450MT

Gallas and Tarrés provided some of the most iconic moments of teamwork, literally helping each other drag their massive machines across treacherous sections.

Austrian favorite Dieter Rudolf put on a masterclass to lock down a highly impressive overall runner-up spot on his Yamaha Tenere 700.

In the Core Class, heavy mechanical optimization was permitted, with riders modifying their rims and gearing just to survive the vertical tracks.

Multi-time Dakar champion Sam Sunderland put on a heroic performance for the factory Triumph team. Despite snapping his clutch lever clean off on the final off-road day, he relied on pure momentum to battle his way back to a great 2nd place overall podium finish behind the class winner.