2023 Red Bull Romaniacs Results
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Manuel Lettenbichler easily powered clear of the field to win round three of the 2023 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship season at Red Bull Romaniacs and maintain the perfect start to his world title defence.
Riders from 55 countries competed as German Lettenbichler accelerated majestically through the gears over the first three days to open up a 58-minute lead that he never looked like relinquishing.
Letty made a strong start on Saturday to top the opening checkpoint, then managed his pace superbly throughout the day to finish ahead of the fellow KTM bikes of Canadian Trystan Hart and Teodor Kabakchiev.
Hart wrapped up his debut podium and became the first Canadian to finish in the top three of the world’s toughest Hard Enduro Rallye as Bulgarian rider Kabakchiev overhauled 2021 world champion Billy Bolt brilliantly late on to claim the final podium place.
Sherco rider Wade Young finished in fifth place with Austrian Michael Walkner sixth.
Lettenbichler now leads Hart by 18 points overall as the 2023 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship season enters its second half with round four at Red Bull Outliers, Canada on August 26-27.
Manuel Lettenbichler – P1
“What a crazy, crazy race – I can’t believe it. After coming sixth last year after fighting back from a technical issue early on in the race, I really wanted to make up for it this year. The whole event has gone perfectly for me. I was able to make up time each day and that’s definitely the way to race Romaniacs. The other guys have been pushing so hard as well, so that makes this win even more special. That’s my fourth win now at Romaniacs, I still have a few more to get before I beat Graham’s record, but that’s the goal for now. Let’s see how that works out. Overall, I’m super stoked and looking forward to celebrating with the team.”
Trystan Hart – P2
“It’s been a tough event, but I’m super happy with second. Thankfully it was quite a short day today and with a good gap over the third place guy, I knew I didn’t have to push too hard and so just tried to keep things safe. Wade caught me today and we rode together to the finish, putting on a good show in this final arena for the fans. Of course, I’d be happier to finish a little closer to Mani, but this race is so tough, and anything can happen, so to come away with a strong result is great. I’m second in the championship now and looking forward to my home race in Canada next month.”
1. Manuel Lettenbichler – KTM 300 EXC 19h45m15s
2. Trystan Hart – KTM 300 EXC +1h9m59s
3. Teodor Kabakchiev – KTM 300 EXC +1h24m1s
Billy Bolt – P4
“It’s been a tough week. Red Bull Romaniacs is never easy but coming here with limited bike time and still nursing an injury added to the difficulty of it. It started out great by winning the prologue and then followed with two good days in the mountains, but as the race continued it wore me down and that was frustrating. I would have loved to take the podium, but ultimately the goal was always to reach the finish line. With my fourth-place result, plus the three additional points for winning the prologue, it has been good for my championship.”
The highest finishing Australian was Jason Dwyer who took fourth place in the Silver category. Also in the Silver class was Grady Byrne in 28th, Dudley Duffy 29th, Conrad Tewes 36th, Sam Preece 41st, Andrew Jeffries 47th and Chris Tones-Erickson 48th. Craig Byrne 108th, Jason Beaton 126th and Dylan Reinshagen in 128th are not classed as finishers.
Michael Chapman just missed the Bronze category podium in fourth while countryman Ian Derwent carded a top ten finish in ninth. Max Nulley was 37th in Bronze ahead of countrymen Grady Holland 42nd, Glenn Toner 44th, Brett Macnamara 66th, Chris Wyman 97th. Stephen Brown was 150th in Bronze but along with countryman Stuart Maclean 263rd was classified as a non-finisher.
Jack Pearce was top Aussie in the Iron category in 34th place ahead of Braden Gibson in 56th and Brenden Murphy 76th.
Phillip White was the highest placing Aussie in the Atom class ahead of countrymen Graeme Riley in 19th. Darren Brown was 46th and Jason Rylance in 59th but classified as non-finishers.
2023 Red Bull Romaniacs Results
- Manuel Lettenbichler – KTM 300 EXC 19h45m15s
- Trystan Hart – KTM 300 EXC +1h9m59s
- Teodor Kabakchiev – KTM 300 EXC +1h24m1s
- Billy Bolt – Husqvarna TE300 +1h40m1s
- Wade Young – Sherco 300 SE +1h46m47s
- Michael Walkner – GASGAS EC300 +1h52m33s
- Mario Roman – Sherco 300 SE +2h46m15s
- Graham Jarvis – Husqvarna TE300 +3h59m13s
- Sonny Goggia – KTM 300 EXC +4h34m16s
- Matthew Green – KTM 300 EXC +5h14m10s
- Marc Riba Lazaro – Beta EC300 +6h41m55s
- Dieter Rudolf – GASGAS EC300 +7h27m1s
- Dominik Olszowy – GASGAS EC300 +7h41m47s
- Marc Fernandez Serra – KTM 300 EXC +9h43m56s
- Rienk Tuinstra – Husqvarna TE300 +11h58m53s
- Peru Arbulu Irazola – GASGAS EC300 +13h3m51s
- Felix Bahker – Sherco 300 SE +14h40m12s
- Lenny Geretzky – GASGAS EC300 +20h7m49s
- Didier Goirand – Sherco 300 SE +21h39m21s
- Dawid Szcxotka – KTM 300 EXC +21h54m3s
2023 Red Bull Romaniacs Results
Gold
- Manuel Lettenbichler
- Trystan Hart
- Teodor Kabakchiev
FIM Hard Enduro World Championship Points Standings
- Manuel Lettenbichler 63
- Trystan Hart 46
- Billy Bolt 44
- Teodor Kabakchiev 38
- Michael Walkner 31
- Graham Jarvis 29
- Wade Young 27
- Mario Roman 26
- Alfredo Gomez 21
- Matthew Green 19
- Dominik Olszowy 16
- David Cyprian 12
- Vaclav Nedved 9
- William Hoare 7
- Dan Peace 7
FIM Hard Enduro World Championship Points Standings
Junior
- Matthew Green 42
- Mitch Brightmore 37
- Richard Moorhouse 24
- Robert Crayston 23
- Felix Bahker 23
- Marc Fernandez Serra 19
- Barnabas Csizmazai 17
- Fabien Poirot 16
- Huge Crozet 14
- Christopher Vieghofer 12
2023 Red Bull Romaniacs Results
Silver
- Ben Wibberley
- Valentino Hutter
- Sergiu Grecu
2023 Red Bull Romaniacs Results
Bronze
- Jurg Schutz
- Ovidiu Nistor
- Priit Biene
2023 Red Bull Romaniacs Results
Iron
- Robert Adams
- Samuel Defoy
- Paul Bulai
2023 Red Bull Romaniacs Results
Atom
- Janie Stauers
- Moritz Muller
- Daniel Cernusca
