'In Madness We Trust'  Edition 19  Red Bull Romaniacs hard enduro rallye  July 26-30. 2022

Sibiu, Romania, 30 July 2022 - Red Bull Romaniacs Offroad Day 4, the final day of In 'Madness We Trust’. Edition 19, It was another sweltering and humid day with dry tracks. Tensions were high with everything at stake today where every second would count. 

Graham Jarvis (GBR, Husqvarna) held the overall lead by 15 minutes and 44 seconds over Teodor Kabakchiev (BGR, Husqvarna), who was giving an outstanding performance at this year's hard enduro rallye. Mario Roman (ESP, Sherco) was chasing hard in third overall while Michael Walkner (AUS, GAS GAS) and Trystan Hart (CAN, KTM) were pushing hard, motivated by the thought of a chance on the podium. Manuel Lettenbichler (DEU, KTM) was on fire with incredible times, now riding for F.I.M World Hard Enduro Championship points after a 2 hour penalty was issued for outside help with a broken clutch on Offroad Day 1. 

Once the Gold class were let loose onto the tracks it became clear what Jarvis’ strategy was, he was playing it ‘cool’, aiming for consistency, not taking too many risks, knowing he had a 15 minute window to play with. But this would not allow for any mistakes however, this was not the case and he seemed to have more incidents than previous days each one costing him precious minutes, for example, one in ‘Dutch oven’ where he slid down a steep pitch and his bike landed on top of him.

Track director, Teo Isaac, had no intention of showing any mercy today. The level of these competitors has become so high that he felt it necessary to keep upping the amount of torture. Today's signature sections included ‘Momentum’, ‘We love you Teo’, ‘Dutch oven’, ‘Flying Ford’, ‘Steroid’, 'Ventilator’, ‘Wolfsnest’ and the LIVEmaniacs stages was broadcast from the ‘Cliffhanger’ section.

Live transmission from the ‘Cliffhanger’ section was at the end of the day, before the final Gușterița hill climb and after four gruelling, tough days in the saddle. This section has steep rock faces and narrow switch backs with vertical drops, it is inconceivable to the average, ‘normal’ person that you could even walk up it, let alone ride a motorbike up. That is everyone except Martin Freinademetz, founder and the continual pusher of boundaries in madness. 

The leaders of the pack set an unbelievable pace through the three LIVEmaniacs stages, riding up sheer rock faces, almost vertical and very narrow trails with no real opportunity to pass. It was Lettenbichler who made the fastest time over the three laps.

Mario Roman (ESP, Sherco) was on fire again today. He knew he needed to bridge the gap with Jarvis and Teo Kabakchiev (BGR, Husqvarna). He had some of the fastest times during the LIVEmaniacs on the previous 3 days, overall Roman put on a stellar performance, suffering a bit of dehydration on Offroad Day 2 may have lost him some time but not enough to take the podium away. Roman reached his goal and was rewarded with third position at the 2022 Red Bull Romaniacs. 

Teodor Kabakchiev had an astonishing race. He was relentless in his mission to stay hot on the heels of the leaders. His combined skill in the steeps and really high speeds on the fast sections was the perfect combination, coupled with very few mistakes, endless energy and an unstoppable attitude. He managed to achieve an amazing result and was second on the podium at the end of the five days.

The Gold class formed two groups, the leading top six riders, which also included Michael Walkner (AUS, GAS GAS) and Trystan Hart (CAN, KTM) and those competitors who were not able to set the same pace were separated by a gap of over three hours. 

In the end it was Graham Jarvis who took the win, his seventh win and twelfth podium at Red Bull Romaniacs.  His strategy paid off, all of his nicknames came into play, the ‘mountain goat’, ‘silent assassin’, ‘G-force Jarvis’ - all given to him for a reason. The 47 year old did it again. Jarvis is undoubtedly a legend in the sport of extreme hard enduro, the most recognised hard enduro athlete, an ambassador, a phenom, an icon and role model for all riders and fans across the globe. He is respected and looked up to by fellow Gold class competitors who try to follow him and gain from his knowledge and experience. 

Graham Jarvis: “I felt good the other days but today I had to dig so deep, I had no energy, people were passing me and I just held on, anything can happen, even for old guys. I'm just happy to be riding my bike after an injury like I had last year. At 47 years old it's incredible, probably the best win of my career, honestly”

In the other classes today, Silver class veteran competitor Chris Birch (NZL, KTM) raced his four stroke 500 exc to the finish first after batting closely with Fabien Poirot (FRA) for all four Offroad days. Poirot came in second, just 1 minute 26 seconds behind and Adam Giles (AUS) was third. 

Bronze class had their most technical day and got to finish on a high. After playing a game of tag for three days it was Edgars Silins (LVA) who triumphed, taking the win for Bronze class followed by Marius Achim Popovici (ROU) in second, just 4 minutes behind. In third position was the big surprise, Matthias Walkner (AUT, KTM) on his factory rally bike.  Matthias originally came to Red Bull Romaniacs to dabble in the new discipline of hard enduro, realised the potential after Offroad day 1 and went into race mode finishing on the podium.

Both Iron and Atom competitors had to dig deep today, their training and endurance was pushed to the limit one last time on their toughest and final day. The competitors would realise their achievements as they arrived in the Gușterița finish in front of hoards of cheering fans, music and Red Bull arches. 

In first position for the Iron class was Ovidiu Nistor (ROU), in second Arron Flynn (GBR) and in third was Richard Copsey (GBR) 

In first position in the Atom class was Chris Beecroft (GBR), in second position was Hans Peter Haunschmid (AUT) and in third Markos Pantelides (CYP).

Silver class competitor, Emanuel Gyenes, Romanian Dakar champion, is the only competitor who has completed all nineteen editions of the Red Bull Romaniacs. He is an ambassador for the sport here in Romania. He had some mechanical problems on Day 3 but still placed rank 16 overall. There were three competitors from Sibiu representing the host region well, Marius Achim Popovici who finished 2 place in Bronze and Ovidiu Nistor who finished rank #1 in the Iron class And Claudiu Bozesan who finished rank 21 in Gold class.
 
Red Bull Romaniacs has continued to reach new limits and bring something unique to the table each year in the world of hard enduro. Martin Freinademetz is constantly creating new concepts, he has also never been known for making things ‘easy’ for competitors and this year the LIVEmaniacs streaming transmissions brought his extreme event to the masses. The three stages completed in the middle of a race day featuring the Gold class competitors was a real game changer in being able to share what these extreme competiors have to endure. All LIVEmaniacs can be replayed via the website

Martin Freinademetz: “I'm very satisfied that we could pull off the competition in these difficult times with 52 nations coming. Thanks to the hard work of the entire team we have been able to offer our competitors a world class toughest experience in their lifetimes with calculated risks but still under control thanks to all the security and safety measures that we take with all our rescue crews and danger points. This year has been a very good test for the grand Edition 20 anniversary next year to be held between July 25-29. 2023. We are working on ideas to make the event even greater. LIVEmaniacs has been a good way to bring our sport closer to the public and fans and from this year's experience we are going to improve and make hard enduro sport even more suitable for the mainstream media. We would like to thank all our competitors and fans and our team for a successful Edition 19” 

Photo ftp: gofile.me/5URjn/maqlvGYkh 

Red Bull Romaniacs Social media
Facebook  !  Instagram  !  You Tube  !  Tic Tok
Red Bull Romaniacs - website