Sibiu - August 1, 2019 - For immediate release!
Alfredo Gomez (ESP, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) took no prisoners in winning Offroad Day 2 at the "Sweet 16" edition of Red Bull Romaniacs scoring 7 out of 10 fastest times at the check points. He finished with a total riding time of 5 hours and 41 minutes putting a gap of 5 minutes and 58 seconds on Graham Jarvis (UK, Husqvarna) who finished second with a total riding time of 5h 48m 2s. Manuel Lettenbichler (GER, KTM) lost 24 seconds on Graham today and came in third. With the result today Alfredo also leads the overall race progress ahead of Graham in second and Manuel in third.
It was the "Silent Assassin" Graham Jarvis who opened the Gold Class track named "Decebal" at 06:30 AM today. Decebal was the last King of Dacia - a historic region in Romania - and he is famous for fighting the Romans, also in the region where the competitors were supposed to fight against the track today. At the end of the day today, most of the international top competitors however provided excellent feedback saying that the mix of fast and technical sections was perfect. With 151 km this was the longest day to ride in terms of kilometers.
There was no denying that Alfredo Gomez was on a mission. Starting 7 minutes behind Graham this morning the pace Alfredo set from the very start was not of this world for the other competitors today. While we don’t use this expression too often, one has to admit that if even Graham Jarvis loses more than 6 minutes Alfredo's performance must've been an adorable one.
Right after the start the Gold Class competitors were exposed to the first rather serious uphill called "Espresso" - a nice wake up call in the early morning to make sure that it was not only the engines that were awake.
Despite a fractured bone in his foot, Wade Young decided to give it a try this morning. A suspected gear selector shaft problem right after the start caused him to return to the start to have it fixed which cost him a good 30 minutes reaching the Check Point 1. He lost another 33 minutes between CP 5 and 6, reached the Service Point but decided he had to quit and he left the Service Point by car instead by bike. Get well soon - you will come back stronger, Wade!
The struggle went on while Mani and Graham were trying to keep up with Alfredo's overall speed considering the actual riding time at most of the checkpoints - but they failed. The Spaniard was denying the access, he kept an average of 5-6 minutes on his haunters despite having a little crash close to the finish.
A heavy thunderstorm made the lives of those competitors difficult who hadn't made it to the finish by about 15:00 (Eastern European Time). The winners of the four classes weren't really affected but a lot of other competitors had to battle against the water and the extreme weather conditions to make it to the finsh line.
Competitors Quotes - Off-road Day 1 - Gold Class
Alfredo Gomez (ESP, Husqvarna): "Yes, this was a really good day. I was on the hunt the whole day chasing the boys and I had a good pace. The rhythm was pretty much perfect throughout the race. Only right before the finish I've had a stupid crash and broke the hand guards but the rest was very good! For the remaining two days my strategy is clear: I will be pushing like I did it today and I hope I'll have the same pace as today. If I manage that tomorrow and Saturday I should have a good chance to win the race. That's what I'm going for!"
Manuel Lettenbichler: "That was actually a tough day today. The rain made it pretty slippery here and there, especially in some uphill sections. I tried to keep up with Alfredo's pace - he was riding really, really good today. I was tired in the "Brother of K2" section, struggled a bit but not too much. Towards the end I made some mistakes which cost me a lot of time. But I'm happy with the day, it was a fast day but it also had some difficult stuff in it - typical and perfect Romaniacs style I'd say. I really liked it. Now I will get some rest to attack again tomorrow on the third day."
Graham Jarvis (UK, Husqvarna): "The rain made a big difference on a couple of hillclimbs today, those were definitely more difficult. I guess I put the line in for everybody else. The "Brother of K2" was really tough. We needed some help up there but I guess it was a good show for the crowd. It was a really good mix today of fast and difficult bits, a long day, lots of kilometres. I'm tired now and will get some rest for tomorrow."
Mario Roman (ESP, Sherco): "It was a fun day, not so long. Some places were dry, some wet - I really enjoyed myself out here today and am looking forward to getting on the track of Off-road Day 3 tomorrow. I didn't struggle, it was a good track today. A few slippery places but it was fine."
Off-road Day 3 - Walachia
August 2, 2019 - Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Mastermind Martin Freinademetz, Track Director Teo Isaac and Track Manager Mike Skinner found some really tasty tracks in that region: 140km for the Gold Class competitors being exposed to some alpine style, stony terrain with very long climbs and downhills of around 1,000 altitude metres.
This will be a fun and great riding day with a couple of older Red Bull Romaniacs classic tracks and a new section called Man Ridge where most of the Pro competitors will spend some time pushing their bikes. However, following that section they will be able to rest a little on a longer liaison finishing back in Sibiu.
Off-road Day 3 Signature Sections: Black slope, Man ridge, Kiwi finish
The results of the Off-road Day 3 determine the starting order of the Off-road Day 4.
Top 10 Results - Gold Class
- Alfredo Gomez Cantero (ESP, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing): 5 hours 41 minutes 0 seconds
- Graham Jarvis (GBR Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing): 5h 48m 2s (+5m 58s)
- Manuel Lettenbichler (DEU, Flatschingfast Factory Team): 5h 47m 22s (+6m 22s)
- Mario Roman (ESP, Sherco Factory Racing Team): 5h 49 54s (+7m 2s)
- Jonny Walker (GBR, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing): 5h 55m 56s (+14m 56s)
- Taddy Blazusiak (POL, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing): 5h 59m 37s (+18m 37s)
- Billy Bolt (UK, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing): 6h 9m 8s (+28m 8s)
- David Cyprian (CZ, JD Gunnex KTM): 6h 19m 32s (+38m 32s)
- Josep Garcia Montana #13 (ESP, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing): 6h 54m 7s (+1h 13m 7s)
- Pol Tarrés (ESP, TTR Officine Rigamonti Husqvarna): 6h 57m 28s (+1h 16m 28s)
Top 3 Results Silver and Bronze Class
Top 3 Results - Silver Class
Josu Artola (ESP) Zatika Team: 5h 2m 54s
Josef Westgarth (GBR) Eurotek: 5h 16m 2s (+13m 8s)
Alberto Aramburu (ESP) Aramburu xtreme: 5h 16m 35s (+13m 41s)
Top 3 Results - Bronze Class
Jean-Michel Vigand (FRA) CHANY MOTOS: 4h 29m 58s
Eric Slominski (USA) Slowmaniac: 4h 34m 25s (+6m 12s)
Marius Muntean (ROU) Motoclub Haita: 4h 35m 4s (+6m 51s)
About Red Bull Romaniacs
The Red Bull Romaniacs Hard Enduro Rallye was created in 2004 by founder Martin Freinademetz. Over the past years it has become the world's toughest Hard Enduro Rallye and attracts competitors from about 50 countries each and every year.
The race is spread over five days - five days of pure hard enduro racing action: The event is kicked off with the legendary Prolog - a time trial in downtown Sibiu with thousands of enthusiastic fans and followed by four Off-road Days. The competitors are taken on some of the world's most beautiful hard enduro tracks in the region around Sibiu, in the Southern Carpathian Mountains of Romania. They'll have to master the art of navigating on visually marked tracks with GPS devices for control. The breathtaking wilderness, incredible uphill and downhill sections in a stunning landscape and the professional as well as experienced organization result in the toughest and at the same time most memorable experience for all participants.
Photographer Credit: Carmen Mayr
