Red Bull Romaniacs Offroad Day 2 pulled out all the stops with an extremely long day, 183 km, with heavy signature sections one after the other in soaring temperatures. 

“Twister” was the wake up call for Gold Class competitors today with Mani Lettenbichler (DEU, KTM) leading the pack again. Throughout the day he didn’t face any heavy, close battles, however he had to push hard and make no mistakes with only small time gaps between him his top rivals; Teo Kabakchiev (BGR, Sherco), Billy Bolt (GBR, Husqvarna) and Mario Roman (ESP, Sherco) who were all hot on his heels and hungry for the podium. 

By the end of this long gruelling day it was Lettenbichler who was able to maintain his lead and finish in first and Bolt managed to charge into second place with only an 8m 28s gap from Lettenbichler, despite the loss of his hydration pack in the morning causing extra exhaustion. Roman and Kabakchiev battled until the finish, Roman managed to finish ahead of his team mate by just over one minute and came in third position.

Lettenbichler had the slight disadvantage of having to open up the tracks before any terrain had been worn in yet. With the knowledge that every second counts, Lettenbichler has developed a style somewhat resembling that of Graham Jarvis (GBR) where every move is calculated, deliberate and precise so there is no time or energy wasted, critical at this level of extreme technical terrain and endurance. 

Roman was on fire today determined to make up time, characteristically he builds strength and momentum as the race progresses, this was proven as he arrived into the LIVEmaniacs Via Ferrata section ahead of his Sherco team mate Kabakchiev, who arrived third followed by Bolt. Bolt was not giving up, he was determined that he had something to prove with this year’s Romaniacs comeback and he did just that today. Skill and fast speeds gained him enough time to sneak ahead of Kabakchiev for the overall second fastest times at the half way point of the four Offroad Days. 

Graham Jarvis finished in P8 today with fast enough times to hold onto the remarkable overall P5 at the end of Offroad Day 2.

The Via Ferrata LIVEmaniacs section defines extreme, a true test of skill, strength and guts. The section involved a steep cliff climb, the Via Ferrata almost vertical ladder, long steep rock scree downhill and steep scree ascent, with multiple steep switchbacks requiring exact timing and rear wheel placement. Passing in this section is risky, Bolt and Roman had a close battle, at one point Roman tried to make an inside pass on the tight switch back, applying even greater pressure on Bolt in an area where reaching the top is the main focus while trying to keep their bikes in one piece.

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Alfredo Gomez (ESP, Beta), Michael Walkner (DEU), Mitch Brightmore(GBR) were also able to complete the three laps with good times, between 11 -14 minutes behind Lettenbichler’s lap times. Worth mentioning were Francesc Moret Clota (FRA) and Felix Baehker (DEU) who pushed really hard through the LIVEmaniacs section with outstanding performance (P8 and P9 fastest times in this stage). Unfortunately Gomez sustained an injury to his hand at the end of Offroad Day 2 and is no longer in the race.

Undeniably it was an intensely long, hot day for the Gold riders, incredibly tight racing, mental exhaustion with countless signature sections being dished up including “600cc”, “Alpina”, Happy Birthday”, Black Slope” and “Mofo”. 

All competitor classes finished with some endurocross style obstacles in Râmnicu Vâlcea where they will spend the marathon overnight stage. With hard technical tracks after today’s Service Point many of the competitors will spend valuable recovery time fixing their bikes ready for Offroad Day 3 where they won’t get any service help until the Service Point. 

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Lettenbichler: “Overall a fast day, it’s just so dry out there it’s a super fast pace so there’s no time for any mistakes, it was a long day for sure, I’m just happy no one passed me and I’m in the finish first. For the marathon stage I don’t have much bike service to do, luckily I didn’t have any crashes!”

Bolt: “Tough day especially up to the Service Point, I ran out of water one hour before the Service Point which was tough. I struggled in LIVEmaniacs, it didn’t go well for me. But  I recovered well after that and caught up to the Sherco guys and passed them. It was a physically tough, a long seven hour day but im really happy with my riding, try to recover now”

Eddie Karlsson takes the Stark Varg to a day win

In the Silver Class Eddie Karlsson (SWE, Stark Varg) had a remarkable win of the day on his STARK VARG eMoto. Karlsson’s experienced handling of his eMoto gave him the win after a huge 202 km. It was a long, technical day, there were fast, flowy tracks where the competitors could open up until they hit the many steep sections of the day. Silver competitors had the opportunity to ride alongside some of the Gold Class, giving the chance to watch Gold make light of some of the toughest sections. Karlsson was being hunted by Justin Elizondo (CRI) who was only 1m 14s behind him. 

Sandra Gomez (ESP) had a good day out in the mountains today finishing in P14. Kirsten Landman (AUS), competing under an Austrian flag now and riding for X-Grip, came in P88.

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The Bronze Class riders had 200 km of fast, flowy and some technical downhill sections

Plenty of time in the forests but endurance was the important factor for today. The conditions were good on the tracks with some damp tracks in the morning and good traction in the forests and no dust to deal with. 

Diego Chang (GTM) was able to get ahead today and finished in P1 with only a 1m 17s lead over Kevin Gallas (DEU). The next two Offroad Days will be intense for these competitors as the determination of Gallas is undeniable after last year’s win in the Bronze Class. Slovenia’s female competitor Tjaša Fifer had an amazingly fast day, finishing in P11.

Jonny Walker recovers lost time on Day1

In Adventure Ultimate Class it was Jonny Walker (GBR, Triumph Tiger 900) who put down an astonishing performance. Having lost time due to mechanical difficulties on Offroad Day 1 Walker was even more determined to push his big bike back up the ranks and he did exactly that. Hitting the relatively technical Atom class tracks like a “bat outta hell” Walker dominated the fastest times between most of the check points today proving to be a threat to the experienced Pol Tarres (Ténéré 700). The young Romanian,  Krisztian Tompa came in P3 which puts him only 1 second overall behind Jonny Walker. The top 8 competitors in the Ultimate Class were all putting on a good pace and finished within 18 minutes of each other after completing 180 km of tracks.

Adventure Lite Class was once again dominated by Sam Sunderland (GBR, Triumph Tiger 900) who gained quite a substantial lead over his fellow competitors. Sunderland is clearly suited to the Romaniacs Rallye style tracks and the new Triumph Tiger 900. Competitors from the new Adventure Lite Class were excited after the long 170 km day and experienced riding through some stunning landscapes. 

Photo credit: Traian Olinici, David Ramba, Tibi Hila