Sibiu, Romania, 28 July 2023 - Red Bull Romaniacs Offroad Day 3 was the toughest Offroad Day so far for the Gold competitors, it would push skill and endurance levels to the limits. Signature sections included ‘K2’, ‘Beer Bar’, ‘Lost world’, ‘Kill’em all’, ‘No Sex’, ‘Galindo’ and ‘Long walk’. Fortunately the weather was sunny and the tracks were dry. The time gaps between the competitors were larger, caused by the weather extremes on Offroad Day 1 and the pressure was on for the top guns who would have to push hard to close those gaps today. Overall after Offroad Day 2, Mani Lettenbichler (DEU, KTM) had a lead of 37 minutes 47 seconds over Trystan Hart (CAN, KTM) in second position overall so far.
Mani Lettenbichler
The pace was high right from the start. The signature section ‘Brother of K2’ was the site for todays live broadcast of the LIVEmaniacs Stage 3. The tracks were steep with switchbacks, rock step-ups and narrow ridges, but did not seem to present too much of a challenge. Up until today Lettenbichler had been riding solo in a league of his own at the front of the pack during the Offroad Days. He managed to complete the LIVEmaniacs Stage 3 with the fastest time. Teo Kabakchiev (BGR, Econt) had the fastest overall time yesterday and knew he needed to keep pushing to climb up the ladder from his fifth overall position. Billy Bolt (GBR, Husqvarna), seeing a real chance of being on the 2023 podium, was on a mission. Bolt was the third fastest time out of the LIVEmaniacs Stage 3 and stayed in pursuit of Kabakchiev using him to set the pace.
Billy Bolt and Teo Kabakchiev
As the day progressed there was a constant bombardment of steep technical sections before the Service Point later in the day. Signature section ‘No Sex’, with its gnarly technical rock climb followed by its long uphill slog proved to be the place where positions would change, Kabakchiev was finally able to catch up to frontrunner, Lettenbichler while this section took its toll on Bolt, losing him some valuable time.
Hungry to make up lost time Mario Roman (ESP, Sherco), who had mechanical issues on both Offroad days so far, started out fiercely, shown by having the second fastest times through the LIVEmaniacs Stage 3. Roman, favouring the technical sections, used this to his advantage and arrived into the Service Point with the second fastest times after Lettenbichler. Michael Walkner (AUT, GASGAS) has had an impressive race overall so far, in the morning he did not let Wade Young (ZAF, Sherco) out of his reach, it was during the onslaught of technical sections before the Service Point that he managed to sneak ahead of both Bolt and Young.
Mario Roman
At the end of the extremely tough day the fastest times in the Gold Class were:
1. Mani Lettenbichler (DEU, KTM), 5h39m30s
2. Teo Kabakchiev (BGR, Econt), 5h53m54s
3. Mario Roman (ESP, Sherco), 5h59m42s
4. Trystan Hart (CAN, KTM), 5h59m47s
Overall it is Mani Lettenbichler who is leading, followed by Trystan Hart and Billy Bolt in third. Overall Kabakchiev is now just under 5 minutes behind Bolt so he'll be giving it all he's got to make that up tomorrow so he can once again be on the podium. Bolt will not let go of his first potential podium spot easily though.
Mani Lettenbichler Offroad Day 3
For Graham Jarvis, 7 times Red Bull Romaniacs champion, a master of conserving energy, calculating and picking lines and finding traction, today he rode a consistent race and maintained his rank of eighth fastest time for the day and overall. Jarvis has found it difficult to recover from the extreme conditions of Offroad Day 1 and has been in survival mode since.
Sonny Goggia (ITA) put on a notable performance in the Gold Class playing tag back and forth with Jarvis for a good portion of the day. He came in with the tenth fastest time for the day and is in ninth position overall. Matthew Green (ZAF), who won the 2022 FIM Hard Enduro Junior World Championship, is making his mark with the big boys and raced his way into ninth fastest of the day and overall sits in tenth position.
Mani Lettenbichler: "Definitely tough and long to the service point, you could feel yourself getting tired. 'No Sex' uphill was intense so I'm stoked to be back in the finish and I'd say it was definitely the hardest Romaniacs so far. Some of the classic tracks that are used in most years are still quite fresh and some of them are so, so. Depends on the day and weather! I'm stoked for tomorrow".
Silver Class today had a really long, tough day, starting with faster tracks but soon arriving at the technical sections, namely ’Dacian trail’, ‘Perla down’, ‘Lost world’, ‘Donkey trail’. Steep Romaniacs up and downhills with some off camber logs requiring some bike pushing and teamwork shaped the day for these Silver competitors who covered 125 km.
- Ben Wibberley (GBR)
- Ott Kornel (HUN)
- Valentino Hutter (AUT)
Overall the fastest times are: Ben Wibberley (GBR), second is Valentino Hutter (AUT) and third is Sergiu Grecu (ROU).
Bronze Class
Bronze competitors were dished up some harder up and in particular longer downhills, feeling a bit like Silver tracks at times, as well as some fast flowy sections. Competitors completed 121 km of tracks. Schütz (CHE) managed to take the fastest time today ahead of Nistor (ROU) by only 12 seconds. Bronze women had a good day today, Maria Grigoras (ROU) finished in tenth position and Tjaša Fifer (SVN) in fortieth.
- Jürg Schütz (CHE)
- 2. Ovidiu Nistor (ROU)
- Michael Chapman (AUS)
Overall the fastest times are: Jürg Schütz (CHE) followed by Ovidiu Nistor (ROU) and then Priit Biene (EST).
James Allen (GBR), Iron Class
Iron Class completed 106 km of tracks which included lots of singletrack with tricky, off camber, slippery logs and roots where competitors would have to choose their lines carefully. Robert Adams (GBR) maintaining the Overall fastest times so far, Samuel Defoy (BEL) in second and Paul Bulai (ROU) in third overall.
1. Harry Trotman (GBR)
2. Robert Adams (GBR)
3. Paul Bulai (ROU)
Atom competitors had some tighter singletrack along with the flowy sections across the alpine landscape. The three fastest times of the day are also dominating the overall fastest times in Atom Class so it’ll be a real push to get ahead of the top three on the final Offroad Day.
1. Daniel Cernusca (ROU)
2. Janis Strauers (LVA)
3. Moritz Müller (DEU)
Overall fastest times are: Moritz Müller (DEU), second Janis Strauers (LVA) and third overall so far is Daniel Cernusca (ROU).
All four amateur classes have Romanian representation in the top three which shows how the sport of hard enduro has grown in the Red Bull Romaniacs host country.
Mani Lettenbichler will be first at the start for the Gold Class Offroad Day 4 at 08:00, Silver Class will start at 06:45, Bronze Class at 06:45, Iron Class at 08:10 and Atom Class at 09:25.
SATURDAY 28 JULY is Offroad Day 4 AND THE FINAL HILLCLIMBS. LIVE streaming starts at 12:00 EEST
The Spectator Points - descriptions and maps can be found here.
THE FINAL HILLCLIMBS LOCATION IS Dealul Gușterița, Sibiu
Keep track of the race progress throughout the day here.
ONLINE LIVE streaming schedules can be found here.
FINAL HILLCLIMBS LIVE Streaming can be found here.
