Sibiu, Romania, 26 July 2023 - Red Bull Romaniacs Offroad Day 1 started with sunny skies with a little overnight rain on the tracks which offered good traction, however this would change. A heavy rainstorm rolled in by noon bringing with it hail and dramatically changing the track conditions from hero to zero in the second half of the day. Slippery, greasy tracks combined with darkness resembling night-time in the forests made the tough sections not far from impossible, with bikes slipping down the off camber tracks and a lot more pushing than normal was required.
Sunny flowy tracks in the morning
The day started with Alfredo Gomez (ESP, Rieju) out onto the tracks first but he was faced with some bike issues before his race even began, losing him time. Mani Lettenbichler (DEU, KTM), who set out second, flew past him followed by Billy Bolt (GBR, Husqvarna) who started in third position. Gold class were straight into the 'Martial Arts' section where the LIVEmaniacs Stage 1 was broadcast. The rocky quarry with steep, almost vertical climbs, was rideable for the leaders of the pack, however it became harder as the tracks got more worn leaving the second half of the Gold class struggling on some of the vertical sections. Mani Lettenbichler (DEU, KTM) was first out of the LIVEmaniacs stage and Mario Roman had the fastest times through the LIVEmaniacs.
Mani Lettenbichler leads the way
Once back out onto the tracks it was wide open for the top guns who were all on fire, trying to push as hard as possible to establish themselves right from the start. As the day progressed the harder sections were dished out one after the other topped only by mother nature when the skies turned dark and the heavens opened up.
The tracks soon became very slippery
Signature sections included ‘No way out’, ‘Hi5’, ‘Gold digger’, ‘Textbook’, ‘Leaking helmet’, ‘Never ending’, ‘Back to the roots’, ‘One day hill’, and the new ‘Sniper’ uphill. Martin Freinademetz and Teo Isaac, Track Director, intended to show little mercy during the 112 km of Gold tracks on Offroad Day 1 and this was only made more like 'The Impossible' once the torrential storm hit.
In the end it was Mani Lettenbichler (DEU, KTM) followed by Trystan Hart (CAN, KTM) and Billy Bolt (GBR, Husqvarna) who had the fastest times of the day. Due to the severe weather conditions the finish for the Gold Class was moved to Check Point 12 and not at the Gura Raului Dam.
1. Mani Lettenbichler (DEU)
2. Trystan Hart (CAN)
3. Billy Bolt (GBR)
4. Wade Young (ZAF)
Mani Lettenbichler: "Crazy, crazy day! When I got to the last section of uphill and it started hailing and strong wind I just asked myself 'Man, what are we doing here?' but that's Red Bull Romaniacs. After the service it was fast and I wondered where the hard stuff was and then the last hour was so difficult because of the rain. I'm just glad to make it into the finish"
Trystan Hart: "It started raining so hard you could barely see, everyone was going under trees and it just seemed like survival mode at that point, it didn't even seem like a race for maybe about 45 minutes. It was really thundering, it was actually a pretty cool experience, maybe not for some though! It was a pretty long day"
Silver Class had a big day covering 117 km with some consistent heavy sections before the Service Point including ‘Hi5’, ‘Text book loops’ and ‘Let's go!'. Many competitors resorted to walking their bikes down the steeper downhills after the storm. It became a long day for the Silver competitors who will be hoping for better weather tomorrow.
1. Valentino Hutter (AUT)
2. Ben Wibberley (GBR)
3. Philipp Burtl (AUT)
Bronze Class competitors had a flowy, smooth morning with some up and downhills but the flow soon turned to slipping and sliding after the storm. Bronze competitors had to really work to reach the Gura Raului Dam finish, once they did make it the majority of them were elated to have survived and experienced a day they will never forget. They completed 113 km today.
1. Jürg Schütz (CHE)
2. Ovidiu Nistor (ROU)
3. Priit Biene (EST)
Kevin Gallas (DEU) manages his Ténéré 700 through the wet rocks
Iron Class had a shorter start to the Offroad Days covering 80 km. Some short technical sections gave the competitors a taste of what is to come in the next three days. Many of the Iron and Atom classes are competing for their first time at Red Bull Romaniacs and today gave them a hardcore introduction to the concept that anything goes in extreme enduro.
1. Robert Adams (GBR)
2. Samuel Defoy (BEL)
3. Peter Wuth (AUT)
Atom Class received their introduction to the Red Bull Romaniacs with 75 km of flowy, less technical terrain, which was appreciated when the track conditions became very tough. Things will step up a notch, as they always do at Romaniacs, but surviving today was a good adventure for starters.
1. Moritz Müller (DEU)
2. Nicolae Marin (ROU)
3. Janis Stauers (LVA)
There are eight women competing in the Edition 20 of Red Bull Romaniacs. Kirsten Landman gave a strong performance today comig in position 57 in Silver Class and in Bronze Class Tjaša Fifer (SVN) came in position 17 and Maria Grigoras (ROU) in position 21, outstanding performances on Offroad Day 1.
Pol Tarres managed to steer his hefty stead into the finish in an amazing position 4.
Gura Raului Dam finish
Mani Lettenbichler will be first at the start for the Gold Class Offroad Day 2 at 07:10, Silver Class will start at 06:45, Bronze Class at 06:45, Iron Class at 08:41 and Atom Class at 10:13.
THURSDAY 27 JULY is Offroad Day 2.
The Spectator Points - descriptions and maps can be found here.
Keep track of the race progress throughout the day here.
ONLINE LIVE streaming schedules can be found here.
