Once again the event is sold out. Red Bull Romaniacs welcomes riders from around 50 nations, including some of the best of the best in Hard Enduro, to the Sweet 16 Edition here in Sibiu. With Red Bull Romaniacs being round #5 in the World Enduro Super Series (WESS) all of the contenders who are hoping to become the “Ultimate Enduro Champion” will show up in Sibiu, some of them have already arrived.
Red Bull Romaniacs 2019 – Alle Top-Guns am Start
Graham Jarvis (UK, Husqvarna) will be the man to beat: With a record breaking six wins at Red Bull Romaniacs the 44-year-old is arriving in peak form after his recent victories at Erzbergrodeo and Hixpania and is most certainly determined to add a seventh win to his list:
“Red Bull Romaniacs has always been one of my favourite races. It requires seriously tough endurance and the 4 offroad days require a lot of commitment both mentally and physically. I feel like I am riding strong, leading in WESS so far, I just have to maintain my strength for the Carpathian Mountains and hope the weather is kind. I have been running my Jarvis Signature Tours in Bosnia and Greece which has given me lots of enjoyable training time so I feel ready and will give it my best shot. Obviously being on the Red Bull Romaniacs podium again is my goal and always a special place to stand after such a long, demanding event. I look forward to being there this year.”
Privateer Manuel Lettenbichler from Germany (KTM) is less than half the age of Jarvis. He is currently #2 in the WESS ranking, behind Jarvis, and on a mission to win his first ever WESS Hard Enduro race. The Sweet 16 Edition would be the perfect place for that – especially because his father Andreas “Letti” Lettenbichler took the win at Red Bull Romaniacs 10 years ago in 2009.
“Red Bull Romaniacs is the best race in the season. And there is a good reason for that: It’s just the best feeling ever when you realize on the last kilometres of the forth and final offroad day that you will actually finish the race after 4 long and gruelling days on brutal tracks. Before the race you have mixed emotions: You know it’s going to be really, really tough but mastering and enduring all the challenges during those days and making it to the finish line: That’s priceless. It’s worth so much, I can’t really describe it.”
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Manuel Lettenbichler: “I’ve been on the podium a couple of times in many of the events during the past seasons and I’ve been waiting for quite a while now to make the final step to the top of the podium – winning Red Bull Romaniacs would be the greatest achievement that I could imagine and I will give it all to make that happen. I expect Wade Young to be very strong. Graham has been amazing in the past races and he will be one of the contenders to beat but Red Bull Romaniacs is different from the other races: It’s not about being strong for a couple of hours, it’s about being strong for four days in a row, navigating without bigger mistakes and having a bit of luck here and there, too.“
South Africa’s Wade Young (Sherco) is certainly coming back to Sibiu to defend his victory from last year:
“Every year the race seems to just get harder and harder. I definitely look to be in similar condition to last year, it is a long race so the first goal would be to eliminate the mistakes and then aim for the top. The most challenging part is that it is a 5 day race so you have to stay focused the whole time and one mistake can change from you being first to not finishing. So for me the most challenging part is to stay focused through all those difficult sections. I really do feel like I went into last year race pretty experienced, I just think going into Romaniacs super fit and healthy is a big advantage.”
KTM and Husqvarna are sending their Factory Team trucks and there are already 15 service teams preparing bikes for approximately 200 competitors who have signed up for rental bikes and services.
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photos (c) Mihai Stetcu & Future7Media & Predrag Vuckovic/Red Bull Content Pool