Sibiu, Romania, Tuesday 22 July - Red Bull Romaniacs iconic in-city Prolog went off in style today, famous for pioneering the inner city showdown of motorbikes racing over man-made obstacles in front of thousands of fans, Romaniacs and the Game Changer Edition 22 did not disappoint.
Billy Bolt dominated the tracks, appearing to be in a race of his own, almost in a class of his own. Bolt took the holeshot right out the startline, Mitch Brightmore was chasing his tail but by the time they had jumped over a few of the tires Bolt was starting to pull away. Bolt, the most experienced SuperEnduro competitor out on the tracks today, definitely used that to his advantage maintaining precision and smooth flow over the obstacles, riding a mistake free performance.
Mitch Brightmore (GBR) was pushing hard to catch Bolt but he ended up battling instead with Mani Lettenbichler (DEU, KTM) for all ten laps for the second place as Bolt separated himself from the pack. Lettenbichler held his third position for all ten laps right up to the finish.
Teo Kabakchiev (BUL, Sherco) was a close threat but didn't manage to pull past Lettenbichler, and finished in fourth. The
Graham Jarvis held a steady pace, not pushing himself, rather saving himself for the Romanian wilderness where his true skills lie. He finished the Prolog in position 9 with nine laps.
Gold Class action at the Prolog finals
The flow today was fast and consistent, a pace that was maintainable and mostly mistake free by the top guns, most of whom displayed faultless performance. Bolt dominated the Prolog with a well deserved win which resulted in him being third out onto the tracks for Offroad Day 1, Brightmore will head out second onto the Offroad tracks and Lettenbichler will leave the startline first on the first of the Offroad Days tomorrow.
Billy Bolt: “Good start, happy I managed to stay in front, It was really hot, luckily there wasn't any traffic to navigate. I always put pressure on myself at the prolog because its supposed to be my thing, it’s always nice to start out in front. I’m happy with the result. It felt like so long since i was able to be here and be strong. I aim to just try to stay mistake free and chip away at the week now”
Mitch Brightmore: “Happy to come out in one piece! I battled a bit with Mani and had a good pace of my own. Billy was long gone, it was a good battle with the boys. The water was tricky, had to be on your “A” game, I'm hoping to progress on last years result, I’ve done lots of training. Ideally I want to be safe and uninjured and have a good time”.
Mani Lettenbichler: “Good race so far, Mitch and I had a battle, I tried to keep my place in third with no mistakes. It was a nice flowy track. I’m really looking forward to getting back into the mountains tomorrow”
Gold Class podium
Eddie Karlsson (SWE, STARK VARG) dominated the Silver Class, winning both the qualifiers and finals on his STARK VARG eMoto, Eddie Karlsson (SWE), who comes from a trials and SuperEnduro background, was able to put these skill sets to use and cruised through the obstacles with smooth ease. He was able to complete seven laps. The Silver Class is stacked with strong contenders so the Offroad Days will see competitors pushing themselves as fiercely as the Gold athletes are.
Silver Class:
First - Eddie Karlsson (SWE, STARK eMoto)
Second - Kornel Olt (HUN)
Third - Tobin Miller (USA)
In the Bronze Class Kevin Gallas (DEU), who despite scoring a clear win in the qualifiers this morning and getting a fast start in the finals, then damaged the kill switch on his bike coming out of the water on the wooden ramp which stole his spot on the finals podium. The water was the main trap for the Bronze Class riders who struggled to get traction out on the wood slope. The top three all completed five laps.
Bronze Class results:
First - Mark Jackson (GBR)
Second - Daryoosh Ghorbani (IRN)
Third - Mario Dorado (ESP)
Silver Class Prolog finals
The Adventure Class riders were the first to hit the track at 07:00am. The three likely candidates in the Adventure Ultimate Class were Pol Tarres (ESP, Yamaha Tėnėrė 700), Jonny Walker (Triumph, Tiger 900) and Greg Gordinne (BEL, KTM, 890 ADV R) who finished in the top 3, in that order. Tarres gained good momentum and pace right off the start which he managed to maintain.
Sam Sunderland (GBR, Triumph Tiger 900) cleared the Prolog with ease coming in first place in the new Adventure Lite Class, which will start his adventure into the “Romaniacs unknown” on a high.
Tens of thousands of spectators were drawn to the Bulevardul Coposu to watch the action in the heat. The track was designed to have good flow with not too many dare devil obstacles allowing the faster riders to open up and go for it, putting on a show where speed and jumps were the name of the game. Andy Fazekas had the goal to make it more rideable for all classes hoping for little carnage, he definitely succeeded.
The LEATT LIVEmaniacs broadcast the entire Prolog finals live and can be watched in replay directly from the website.
Iron Class results:
1. Alexander Petroiu (CAN)
2.Fabio Carvalho (PRT)
3.Miguel Cortes Vara (ESP)
Atom Class results:
1.Israel Segundo (BRA)
2.Carlos Gracida (MEX)
3.Ruben Rollon (ESP)
Adventure Ultimate:
1. Pol Tarres (ESP)
2. Jonny Walker (GBR)
3. Greg Gordinne (BEL)
Adventure Lite:
1. Sam Sunderland (GBR)
2. Daniel Fernandez (COL)
3. Alin Sǎndulescu (ROU)
EMoto Expert:
1.Sebastian Dudas (ROU)
2. Tommy Kunert (DEU)
3. Josef Strobl (DEU)
Wednesday 23 JULY is the start of the four Offroad Days. All classes will be covering between 100 - 140 km of tracks.
The Spectator Point descriptions and maps can be found here.
Keep track of the race progress throughout the day.
ONLINE LEATT LIVEmaniacs schedule.
Live News feed bringing videos and action from the tracks.
The Red Bull Romaniacs will pass through some of the most beautiful, breathtaking wilderness in the Southern Carpathian Mountains, in the Sibiu and Alba County. Competitors will need to navigate their way with the help of their GPS devices, they’ll conquer some of the steepest up and downhill climbs ever, confront their mental and physical exhaustion limits, all in order to reach the Romaniacs finish. Wednesday 23 July will be Offroad Day 1.
Classic Billy Bolt finish line jump.
Photo credit: Traian Olinci, Tibi Hila, Crisan Lucabogdan.
Head of Press Release: Susan Mould
Media Team
Red Bull Romaniacs
