Sibiu, Romania, 23 June 2025 - The 2025, Game Changer Edition 22 is flipping a switch in so many ways; there will be two completely new race categories - the Adventure Rallye and eMoto, both brand new with two race classes; Adventure Ultimate and Lite and eMoto Expert and Hobby; also in the mix, as a special announcement Red Bull Romaniacs will give tribute to one of the enduro greats of all time and dedicate Edition 22 to the sporting legend Graham Jarvis.
Graham Jarvis wins the 2008 Edition, the begining of a total of seven victories to date.
Jarvis, who is 50 years old, has seized the victory seven times with a total of twelve podiums, his first win was in 2008 at the age of 33 years. Jarvis does not gloat on his past victories, rather he strives to be better and push harder in every race and has a relentless competitive drive despite his age over some of the other athletes. Jarvis introduced a new style of riding into the world of Hard Enduro which didn't previously exist and played a vital role in pushing the sport to the next level. Manuel Lettenbichler (DEU, KTM) is his nearest rival with five victories so far.
Jarvis in 2022, his most recent victory.
As expected, Martin Freinademetz, Red Bull Romaniacs Founder, has thrown in a few treats for the Game Changer edition; competitors can expect the additional challenge of an overnight marathon stage again this year. It will be in the same location as last year, Râmnicu Vâlcea, with its optimal proximity to the epic expanse of terrain in the Cindrel, Lotru, and Capatanii mountains.
To the huge relief of the competitors the marathon stage will be hotel accommodation as opposed to camping as featured in the Vertical Madness Reloaded Edition in 2021. Râmnicu Vâlcea offers the infrastructure requirements for the competitors and the complex logistics involved by adding this stage to the race organisation.
The Silent Assassin, Graham Jarvis.
All of the competitors will be responsible to take on the task of handling their own motorcycle servicing/mechanics once they have left the Service Point on Offroad Day 2 and up until arriving at the Service Point on Offroad Day 3 with no tyre changes between these points being permitted. The eMoto race classes are an exception as they will have much shorter distances and will be met by their battery charging support teams at the eMoto Offroad Day 2 Finish and be transported to their overnight accommodation at Băile Olănești.
Track Director, Teo Isac and his team of track managers have been foraging through the wilderness terrain coming up with some outstanding Gold Class surprises and tracks to push all nine classes’ abilities. Athletes endurance will be put to the test, all the while accessing some of the most scenic mountain and renowned Romaniacs forest riding on the planet. With the two new Adventure Rallye classes a lot of new areas have been opened up to explore with greater distances averaging about 150 km plus per day for these competitors.
Some classic Romaniacs signature sections such as Pandora, Galindo, Bedtime Alarm, Manridge, Via Ferata, Forgotten Trail, Cliffhanger, Wolfsnest, Ass Slide will rear their daunting heads again. Track managers have thrown in a good collection of new gnarly sections such as Skydive and Mayday Mom.
Mario Roman and Graham Jarvis battling it out on Offroad Day 1, 2022
All motorcycle race classes will have a competitor paddock start with a short liaison (approximately 20 minutes) to the Offroad start on all four Offroad days. The Offroad Day 1 will finish in front of the historical Săliște City Hall. The final tracks at the famous Sibiu hill climbs arena on Offroad Day 4 will direct the Gold competitors even closer to the spectators and will have some jaw dropping moments before passing through the final finishing arch.
The Game Changer Romaniacs Prolog will once again kick things off in the heart of Sibiu city center. Prolog Director, Andy Fazekas was inspired to build upon the success of last year's experimental intersecting Prolog track design which amped up the intensity of the non stop action as competitors' criss crossed one another. This, never seen before, design in a Prolog created a dramatic spectacle and was a real crowd pleaser, while not increasing any risk to the competitors. The Game Changer Prolog can expect to see more of the same intersecting style and bustle.
All eyes will be on the Silver Class as the eMoto Expert class will compete on the same Prolog track as the classic enduro motorcycle competitors. A live duel will unfold on the streets of Sibiu between the enduro motorcycles and the eMoto’s, it will be interesting to see how the times compare. Included in the excitement will be the new spectacle of the amateur Adventure Rallye competitors tackling the man-made obstacles on their “big bikes”; also an exciting first ever.
All the Prolog obstacles will have unique twists on anything seen before while a less technical variation will be added for the Adventure Rallye categories. While only mandatory for Gold and Silver classes, the track will be designed to entice competitors of the other classes to perform their skills in front of tens of thousands of fans and spectators who congregate on the "Bulevardul Coposu" in Sibiu’s medieval city centre.
Red Bull Romaniacs will welcome 64 nations at the start line, representing the largest number of nations to compete in any sporting event in Romania, giving centre stage to the largest global representation in the extreme enduro community. Among the competitors the top Gold athletes who will be attending are; Graham Jarvis (GBR), Manuel Lettenbichler (DEU, KTM), Billy Bolt (UK, Husqvarna), Teodor Kabakchiev (BGR, Sherco), Mario Roman (ESP, Sherco), Alfredo Gomez (ESP, Beta), Matthew Green (ZAF, KTM), Wade Young (ZAF, GASGAS), Mitch Brightmore (GBR, GASGAS). Unique entries are two-time Romaniacs winner, Jonny Walker (GBR, Triumph) who is switching modes and will be competing in the Adventure Rallye Ultimate Class and two-time Dakar Rally Champion, Sam Sunderland (GBR, Triumph) competing in the Adventure Lite and SuperEnduro rider, Eddie Karlsson (SWE, Stark Varg) who will be competing in Silver Class on his Stark Varg eMoto. Pol Tarres (ESP, Ténéré) faces battle in the Silver Class again alongside extreme enduro and eMoto athletes, making this class a collection of all three bike styles. Kevin Gallas (DEU) will be hoping to retain his title from 2024 in the Bronze Class on his Ténéré 700.
2022 Podium, Jarvis (GBR), Kabakchiev (BGR) and Roman (ESP).
LINKS:
Event information
About the Adventure Rallye Class
Download the Red Bull Romaniacs 2025 Event poster.
Red Bull Romaniacs looks forward to welcoming all press and media to Sibiu for July 22-26, 2025 - The GAME CHANGER, Edition 22 of Red Bull Romaniacs. Founded by Martin Freinademetz in 2004, Romaniacs is the only five day Extreme Enduro Rallye of its kind in the world. Competitors experience some of the most breathtaking scenery while competing in the Transylvanian Carpathian Mountains and attempt to conquer some of the toughest terrain to either win a spot on the Red Bull Romaniacs podium or to succeed in achieving the dream and goal of becoming a Red Bull Romaniacs finisher.
Watch 2008 Highlights - Graham Jarvis' first victory at Red Bull Romaniacs
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Photo credit: Mihai Stetcu, Red Bull Content Pool, Future 7 Media.
Diana Lomota
Head of Marketing Red Bull Romaniacs
redbullromaniacsmedia@xventure.net
Mobile & WhatsApp: +40 745 661 046
România
Media națională: Renatta Stepanov renatta.stepanov@gmail.com
Media locală: Bogdan Brylynski press@brylu.ro
Head of Press Release: Susan Mould Susan Mould@xventure.net
