June 02, 2024

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Manuel Lettenbichler put on a masterclass at round two of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship to take victory at Red Bull Erzbergrodeo. The German was sensational at Austria’s Iron Giant, claiming a comfortable win over FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Trystan Hart and Sherco Factory Racing’s Mario Roman. TTR Squadra Corse’s Mitch Brightmore won the FIM Hard Enduro Junior World Championship supported by KLIM category.

• Manuel Lettenbichler takes the win at FIM HEWC round two

• Canadian Trystan Hart claims P2 after recovering from a first corner crash that dropped him to 50th place

• Mitch Brightmore is best of the Junior class riders

• 500 competitors race Sunday’s Red Bull Erzbergrodeo

The biggest question anyone has in the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship is when someone is going to find a way to beat Mani Lettenbichler. Coming into the biggest race of the year the German rider was on a nine race winning streak that extended back through his unbeaten 2023 season. He was also on a 2x winning streak at Red Bull Erzbergrodeo, and (especially with Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Billy Bolt out for his knee injury) realistically he was the only one who could be called the favourite.

The wild card coming into the race was the appearance of the two US Hard Enduro series heavy hitters, Trystan Hart and Cody Webb. These two riders have been battling hard in North America this year, and forcing each other to up their games. From my perspective, Hart had the best chance of de-throning Lettenbichler going into the week and was a solid choice for the second step of the podium. Unfortunately for North American fans, Webb high-sided in the second day of the Iron Road prologue and was unable to race Sunday due to knee pain from the crash.

RIEJU Factory Racing’s Will Hoare grabbed the holeshot but was immediately overtaken by Germany’s Chris Gunderman (KTM) on the first set of high-speed gravel tracks. There was trouble in the first corner with Trystan Hart (KTM) crashing, which also created a bottleneck for Sherco Factory Racing’s Teodor Kabakchiev and Red Bull Leader Tread’s Wade Young.

LETTENBICHLER PULLS CLEAR OF HIS RIVALS

Entering the first major section, 24MX Wasserleitung, Manuel Lettenbichler disposed of Hoare and Gunderman to take the lead. At that point many expected Lettenbichler to disappear into the distance, but the following wooded sections saw positions briefly change again. By checkpoint eight Repository, Lettenbichler had slotted back into the lead and began his charge to victory.

With course revisions for 2024 seeing the infamous Carl’s Dinner take place earlier in the race, Lettenbichler began the boulder garden at race minute 30. Getting to work with comfort and poise, he steadily increased his lead. Needing 40 minutes to navigate Carl’s Dinner Light and Carl’s Dinner, Lettenbichler was now eight minutes clear of his rivals. 

Ticking off the remaining 13 checkpoints, he completed the 35-kilometre course in two hours and 47 minutes to secure his third consecutive Red Bull Erzbergrodeo win and back-to-back victory in the 2024 FIM HEWC.

Behind Lettenbichler and positions were constantly changing. Kabakchiev was riding strong, but multiple mistakes were hampering his early pace. Hart, however, was pushing forward following his first turn crash. Completing checkpoint 14 Machine, he had moved into second position. From there he remained unchallenged to finish as runner-up.

Hart Puts the Hammer Down to recover from Disastrous Start

The race started terribly for Hart. The Robot had a good jump off the line and, despite several riders launching seconds early, was one of the first to reach the hairpin first turn. Hart got taken out at this point by another rider, but managed to stay on his feet. He was unable to get back to his bike, though, until the other 49 riders from the front row had passed leaving him to chase back to the front from P50 in a repeat of what Billy Bolt went through on the first climb out of the start last year. Lettenbichler, on the other hand, had a good start and was able to pass the hard-charging prologue specialists to make it into P1 by the first major checkpoint of the race. Hart kept grinding and was able to move into P2 by the end of Checkpoint 14 (Machine), approximately mid-way through the race.

ROMAN FIGHTS HARD FOR FINAL PODIUM PLACING

The battle for third was heating up with both Sherco Factory Racing’s Mario Roman and Jarvis Racing’s Graham Jarvis moving through the pack after slow starts. At checkpoint 23 MOTOREX Highway the duo were neck-and-neck, with momentum now on Roman’s side. Sportingly helping each other over a steep, rooted line, they then battled for the finish line. 

By the penultimate checkpoint Dynamite, Roman had a firm grasp on third place. Comfortably scaling the final Lazy Noon climb, the Spaniard rode into the finish line to secure the final step of the podium. In doing so it marked his second top-three result of the season. For Jarvis, dreams of another Red Bull Erzbergrodeo podium result came to a close and the five-time race winner had to settle for fourth.

The battle for fifth was heating up in the closing stages of the four-hour race between Young and Kabakchiev. The duo swapped position multiple times, before Young finally disposed of the Bulgarian on Dynamite and earned a well-deserved fifth overall. 

Initially Kabakchiev looked to have held onto sixth, despite a very late lunge to the line by Jonny Walker (Beta). However, the Bulgarian would endure further bad luck when it emerged that he had missed checkpoint five, along with Will Hoare (RIEJU) and Marc Fernandez (KTM). As a result the trio are officially classified until checkpoint four, dropping Kabakchiev out of sixth position.

MITCH BRIGHTMORE TAKES JUNIOR CLASS WIN

As the clock ticked towards the allotted four-hour race time, there were anxious moments at the finish line as riders raced to reach it in time. On course to make the cut, TTR Squadra Corse’s Mitch Brightmore was leading the FIM Hard Enduro Junior World Championship supported by KLIM.

The young Brit was putting in a fast and clinical ride among his peers. Reaching as high as sixth mid-distance, Brightmore could be pleased with his efforts of claiming his first top-10 Red Bull Erzbergrodeo finish with seventh. As the first, and only, Junior class rider to reach the finish line, he secured his second class win this season.

Battling all the way to the end, Rigo Racing’s Matthew Green took eighth. The South African crossed the finish line with less than four minutes to spare, becoming the final finisher in this year’s Red Bull Erzbergrodeo.

The Women’s Hard Enduro Performance Award supported by 24MX saw Sandra Gomez (Zona Paddock) take the trophy at round two. The Spaniard reached checkpoint 11 in 111th position.

The FIM Hard Enduro World Championship now looks forward to round three at the epic Xross Hard Enduro Rally in Serbia from June 19-22.

Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM): “I’m pretty speechless with this win. It’s an incredible feeling to go three victories in a row at Red Bull Erzbergrodeo, but also my 10th consecutive race victory in the championship too. The race was so gnarly today. There were a lot of new sections, and I struggled a bit with MOTOREX Highway. But overall, I managed to ride my own race, avoid major mistakes and come out on top again. Thanks so much to the team, we’ll celebrate this one for sure!”

Trystan Hart (KTM): “The race didn’t start well by crashing in the first corner. It was like a war zone for the first 30 minutes trying to pick riders off and getting covered in mud. But after Carl’s Dinner I settled into my race and took it to the finish.”

Mario Roman (Sherco): “The level of the race this year was super hard. It caught me by surprise early on. There were many rock sections and big climbs. We had to cut in some new lines too. It was a lot of fun to battle with Graham and was nice to help each other too. After MOTOREX Highway I got in front of him to hold third and controlled that position to the finish line. I’m super happy with that. With two podium results so far this year, it’s been a great start to the championship.”

Mitch Brightmore (Husqvarna): “I’m very happy to reach the finish line and take top spot in the Juniors. There were a lot of water splashes straight off the start so I tried to be cautious there and then settle in once the high-speed sections were cleared. I just chipped away at things and rode each section as they came. A big thank you to everyone for the support and helping with this result.”