Sibiu - July 29, 2019
For immediate release!
Competitors from almost 50 nations finally made it to the Carpathian Mountains to expose themselves to 5 days of premium racing at what is known to be “the World’s Toughest Hard Enduro Rallye”: Red Bull Romaniacs - Sweet 16 Edition. The event will kick off tomorrow with the notorious Prolog.
The notorious Red Bull Romaniacs Prolog is the mother of all Prologs that exist today. The concept of an inner city time trial to kick off a hard enduro event was invented by Martin Freinademetz back in 2004 at the very first edition of Red Bull Romaniacs. It has certainly evolved over time: From rather fast tarmac with some obstacles here and there to a track that is stuffed with man-made obstacles which takes a large team and machinery a couple of days, working around the clock, to build.
Here are some facts and figures about the Sweet 16 Prolog on July 30, 2019: One lap is about 700 meters long and consists of 12 obstacles. Andy and his team of 10 workers have used
- 130 tons of stones
- 90 tons of logs
- 350 truck tires
- 25-30 cubic meters of wood to build special obstacles such as the podium obstacle.
- special construction machines such as excavator, crane, bobcats (a bulldozer was also required to complete the finish of Offroad Day 4)
Mastermind Martin Freinademetz: “Red Bull Romaniacs 2019 will be the 16th edition and we decided to call it Sweet 16. We will have a lot of absolutely new and fresh tracks that have never been ridden before in the previous editions. While designing those tracks we tried to find a good balance between “sweet” and challenging tracks. Make no mistake, they will also take the competitors of all classes to their limits during the 4 offroad days - but still we believe we’re not pushing the difficulty too far and competitors who come prepared and who are in good physical shape will certainly have a really good time on those tracks, no matter what class they are riding in.”
Andy Fazekas, the Prolog Designer and Director: "The Sweet 16 Prolog will be quite a bit easier and faster compared with the one we did in 2018. We’ve used about the same amount of material for it but overall it’s a faster and smoother ride. Over the 16 years the Prolog has evolved, we’ve set high standards and keep getting tremendous feedback - but we won’t rest and will always create something new that has never been done before. I believe we are the first race to ever present “Camera Glory Holes” that will allow a smaller group of selected professional photographers to take photos from really special perspectives.”
As always, the results of the Prolog determine the starting order of the Offroad Day 1.
The Prolog Schedule
All times are Eastern European times (EEST)
08:00 - Qualifications Bronze Class
10:45 - Qualifications Silver Class
12:00 - Qualifications Gold Class 1
12:15 - Qualifications Gold Class 2
12:45 - Qualifications Iron Class
Prolog Finals
17:00 - Prolog Finals: The 35 qualified competitors In Gold, Silver and Bronze
Winner celebrations immediately after the last race at the Finish Red Bull Arch.
The Live Transmission on Red Bull TV will start at 17:00! You will find it on Red Bull TV.
The Offroad Day 1- 4: What to expect
Offroad Day 1 - War Zone
July 31, 2019 - We leave it up to your imagination to figure out what the name actually implies when it comes to riding the track. The track hits the frontline of the 1st World War every now and then and takes you on trails which have been used by soldiers to transport their equipment to the military positions and trenches. The Gold Class Track will be 102 km. It starts with the good and heavy double loop "Titanic" and "The Wall" where some strong riding technique is required. After the Service Point it'll continue with two harder loops where some pushing will most likely be required. After that the competitors will enjoy some nice single trails as they approach the finish. With 102km it's a rather short but pretty intense day for the Gold Class.
Offroad Day 1 - Signature Sections: Titanic, Impossible, Damn Dam
The results of the Offroad Day 1 determine the starting order of the Offroad Day 2.
Offroad Day 2 - Decebal
August 1, 2019 - This course will be one with some historical flavors. Decebal was the last King of Dacia - a historic region in Romania and he is famous for fighting the Romans. The competitors will fight against the track, especially on the 151km of the Gold Class track: The second day will again start with a good proper Red Bull Romaniacs style Gold Loop and then it turns into a very fast race covering a lot of kilometres. At the end of the race there is a new section - Brother of K2 - where competitors will require good uphill riding skills. The remaining section between the Brother of K2 and the finish is a fast track again.
Offroad Day 2 Signature Sections: Hill 16, No way out, Brother of K2.
The results of the Offroad Day 2 determine the starting order of the Offroad Day 3.
Offroad Day 3 - Valachia
August 2, 2019 - Valachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians.
140km of tracks for the Gold Class competitors on Offroad Day 3. They will be 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 they will be able to rest a little on a longer liaison finishing back in Sibiu.
Offroad Day 3 Signature Sections: Black slope, Man ridge, Kiwi finish
The results of the Offroad Day 3 determine the starting order of the Offroad Day 4.
Offroad Day 4 - Sibiu
August 3, 2019 - After 124km on the Gold Class tracks the Offroad Day 4 will end – yes, you’re right - at the infamous hill climb in Gusterita but the track right before the finish line will be different and have some added spice compared to the 2018 Epic Edition. The competitors will have to climb a good 10,000 metres throughout the entire day, within the vicinity of Sibiu. They will come up against known signature sections such as Black Mamba, One Day Hill and Ottoman just to mention a few. All in all it will be a classic mix of forest and alpine riding in the deep valleys around Sibiu and Paltinis.
Offroad Day 4 Signature Sections: Frogleg, Hug the tree, Antifreeze/Ventilator
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 with GPS devices. 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.
