FEATURES
Behind the Race: Mani Lettenbichler’s Domination of Red Bull Romaniacs
Manuel Lettenbichler (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) returned to the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship in Romania just five weeks after knee surgery and put on an absolute masterclass in how to dominate a multi-day event through a combination of speed and race management. After putting 34 minutes into the field on off-road Day 1, there was really no question that the German Hard Enduro surgeon was going to bring home his 5th win in the past six years, barring major physical or mechanical issues. In this article we’re going to take an analytical look at how Lettenbichler won again this year, and how he’s been able to dominate the race over the past several years.
Shooting Pro Hard Enduro: Red Bull Outliers - The Track Walk
In mid-August I got back from shooting for a week in Ontario at the Canadian Grand National Championships and the final round of the Triple Crown Series. Next up for me was to shoot Red Bull Outliers - Round 5 of the FIM World Hard Enduro Championship Series here in, and around, my hometown of Calgary AB.
For Outliers the prologue would take place at Olympic Plaza in downtown Calgary, with the single Hard Enduro stage being run in the Badlands just north of Brooks in Steveville, Alberta (about 2.5 hours east of Calgary). I’ll cover the prologue and the hard enduro stage in later posts, but for this one I’m going to share my experience going to shoot the pro riders’ reconnaissance track walk out in Steveville on the Thursday afternoon before the weekend of racing.
The Outliers course is held on private ranch land, just on the edge of Dinosaur Provincial Park. The Badlands are a beautiful combination of desert and prairie, characterised by relatively short but very steep hills made of clay and sandstone/shale. In the summer, this area can get atrociously hot and dry, with temperatures in 30c+ range most days. There’s basically no shade out there, except for what you can find in the coulees (valleys) below the hills. To top it all off, this is rattlesnake country, too, which just adds to the fun from a sports photographer’s perspective, lol!