When the fourth round of the 2021 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship begins tomorrow at Red Bull Romaniacs all eyes will be on Germany ’ s Manuel Lettenbichler .
The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider has won the last two editions of the world ’ s toughest Hard Enduro Rallye and is gunning to make it three . An epic battle for victory at the recent Abestone Hard Enduro saw him narrowly lose out to Britain ’ s Billy Bolt , but it was clear to see that the speed , hunger , and passion needed to win was right there .
Staring down the barrel of five epic days of riding - Time Trial qualification and four Off Road Days - Manuel has got his sights set on the top prize …
Mani , let ’ s jump straight in ! You ’ ve won the last two editions of Red Bull Romaniacs and based on your Abestone Hard Enduro performance , you ’ re on top form . Can you make it a hat-trick of wins this week ?
Manuel Lettenbichler : “ A hat-trick of Red Bull Romaniacs wins would be sick , but at this race anything can happen . I ’ ve learned that all you can do is just go out there and do your best every day , you can ’ t really plan for too much more than that . But of course , I ’ d be super stoked to make it three-in-a-row because it ’ s the hardest race of the season .”
Your battle with Billy Bolt in Italy was amazing to watch , are you expecting that to carry over into Romania , as well as many other riders battling it out with you ?
“ Yeah , it was great , wasn ’ t it ! The pace of Billy and me was so high there , but with it being a shorter race it was possible to push so hard like that . Red Bull Romaniacs should be different because its five days . We might have to roll it back a little to go the distance , but then you never know . We all want to win !”
We ’ re moving back to the event ’ s traditional summer position , after last year ’ s race in October . How will that change things ?
“ It ’ s cool to be back at the normal time for Red Bull Romaniacs . We ’ ll probably be up each day before dawn , which is always tough , but the rest should be fine .”
We saw No Help Zones introduced last year at Red Bull Romaniacs , and again for Abestone Hard Enduro . Is this a good direction for the sport , providing the course is possible to complete ?
“ It ’ s a cool direction and important for the sport . It keeps it as a race for the rider and not a spectacle where bikes are pulled up hills . We ’ re already riding some pretty wild stuff , so Hard Enduro will always have that gnarly aspect fans love . I think most organisers are now doing a good
VOL . 6 ISSUE 8 - AUGUST 2021 // PAGE 17