The steeper the better! Mario Roman rides the fastest times on Offroad day 3

After a full day of battling between the top five Gold Class competitors it was Mario Roman (ESP, Sherco) who came out on top with the fastest times of the day. Starting out in third position, six minutes behind the Teo Kabakchiev (BGR, Sherco) Mario Roman was absolutely determined. Going into ‘super Mario”mode and strongly favouring the harder technical terrain he was in his element being thrown straight into “Commanda Ridge” and “Monk Trail” before the LEATT LIVEmaniacs section at “Via Ferrata”. 

Red Bull Romaniacs press release by Susan Mould

Mani Lettenbichler came in second fastest only 2m26s behind Mario Roman. Wade Young (ZAF) went into overdrive today and passed through some of the Check Points with the consistently good times which gave him the result of third best time today, 7m1s behind Mario Roman.

Mario Roman: “Today was a good day. I enjoyed the riding. I rode with Mani for a while, it was amazing to ride with him with all the experience he has had over these years. I’m super happy to have the best times of the day”.

Mani Lettenbichler: “It was a good day, cool mix, yesterday was a bit of a fast day but today was a good mix of technical stuff and fast sections so I’m overall happy. Congrats to Mario who rode really well today. I’m excited for the last day tomorrow for sure”.

Wade Young: “It was a nice day and I enjoyed the marathon stage. I felt my best today, I had more rhythm but I may have lost too much time already but I’ll keep pushing”.

Wade Young put in a solid day and was able to make up enough time to get ahead of Michael Walkner (AUT) who has had an incredible race so far and sits in position 4 overall and  Sonny Goggia (ITA) twisted the throttle extra hard to finish with the sixth fastest time today. 

Leading the FIM Hard Enduro Junior Championship with a good margin is Mitch Brightmore (GBR) who is making strides at his first ever Red Bull Romaniacs, coming in eighth position today and sitting in position 6 overall. Other Junior competitors who are creeping up behind Mitch are his brother Ashton Brightmore (GBR), Stuff Sella (ISR) and James Moore (ZAF).  

Mitch Brightmore: “I enjoyed it a lot. The track was perfect, a bit of pushing, but mostly rideable. I’m getting a bit faster now, usually I’m better in the technical sections but I’m making time on the technical too”.

After spending the night in the town where Dracula’s Grandfather was from and having received no outside assistance with their bike maintenance during the marathon stage, competitors were ready to hit the tracks which had received some overnight rain giving good traction today, which was good as they were not allowed to have fresh tires since Day 2 Service Point. It was Teo Kabachiev (BGR, Sherco) who was first to be unleashed, followed by Mani Lettenbichler (DEU, KTM) and Mario Roman (ESP, Sherco) in three minute intervals of one another. Mani Lettenbichler, still holding an overall lead of 34m54s, was not going to let Teo Kabakchiev out of his sights and arrived hot on his tailpipe at the LEATT LIVEmaniacs section, “Via Ferrata”, which is where Mani Lettenbichler made his move. Teo Kabachiev did not have as smooth a run through the very technical LIVEmaniacs section and he lost valuable time in the three laps. On the other hand Mario Roman was all smiles as he conquered the gnarly section with the combined fastest times.

The LEATT LIVEmaniacs, “Via Ferrata” section was by far the most extreme technical terrain so far for the LIVEmaniacs. Competitors would complete two laps during this stage of steep climbs, pivot turns, man-made bridges over narrow ridges and then the final lap took a variation of the route taking competitors up a metal rail staircase over a rock which would not be rideable otherwise. The top five elite riders seemingly made light work of the tough section which surprised the founder Martin Freinademetz, who at least was able to see the struggle from the other Gold Class competitors who didn’t seem to ride the section with such fluidity.

Today’s Gold tracks were a good balance of steep hard enduro tracks and some flowy sections. “Mofo” would be the last signature section after LIVEmaniacs before the Service Point. The second part of the day would have a liaison followed by a few more steep, rocky technical climbs; “Black Slope”, “Quickly” and “Alpina”, the weather was favourable and the tracks were not so demanding once the “Via Ferrata” was done and dusted.

Silver Class had a difficult day today starting off with a steep downhill section and some challenging climbs throughout the day. The top three in Silver Class are all within less than two minutes of each other so the fianl Offroad Day 4 will be an “all or nothing” day for these competitors. Kornel Ott (HUN) is the overall leader with a 1m13s lead over Chris Birch (NZL) and 1m57s over Patrick Riegler (AUT).

Chris Birch (NZL) just sneaked into the finish with the fastest time, only eleven seconds ahead of Ben Wibberly (GBR), which moved the legend up from third to second place in the overall rankings.

Sandra Gomez picked her way through the Silver competitors to finish in position 24 today.

Pol Tarres lost valuable time out on the tracks before the Service Point after damaging a radiator over a log causing him to arrive at the finish with his Ténéré 700 in position 110. If he can push through one more Offroad Day he will achieve the unthinkable and make Romaniacs history by being the first Silver Class competitor to cross the final finish line on an twin cylinder adventure bike.

Silver Class Offroad Day 3 Results:
First – Chris Birch (NZL)
Second – Ben Wibberley (GBR)
Third – Kornel Ott (HUN)

Bronze Class faced a long and tough day covering 171 km with plenty of technical sections and some classic flowy Romaniacs style forest trails as well as some alpine landscapes.

Bronze Class Offroad Day 3 Results:
First – Eligh Cobb (AUS)
Second – David Ignat (ROU)
Third – Josh Kirby (GBR)

Kevin Gallas (DEU) on his Ténéré 700 maintains a 13 minute lead over his second rival Josh Kirby (GBR) in the overall ranking.

Iron Class covered 151 km today. The tracks started out pretty heavy with a good mix of flowy and technical for the rest of the day.

Iron Class Offroad Day 3 Results:
First – Dhmhtrhs Margos (GRC)
Second – Nelso De Vega (ESP)
Third – Mauricio Fernandes (BRA)

Atom Class trails were 148 km, a long day and riding partly with the Iron Class. The tracks were not too challenging and these amateur competitors were able to keep their throttles open. The Atom Class is dominated by the same three competitors who apparently have already chosen their podium positions.

Atom Class Offroad Day 3 Results:
First – Alexander Petroiu (CAN)
Second – Valentin Ganea (ROU)
Third – Dmitry Reznitskiy (KAZ)

Jonny Walker (GBR) had to abandon the day due to injury after having had such good results for the first half of the Offroad days and starting out in position 6 this morning. Graham Jarvis also abandoned in the first part of the day prior to the LEATT LIVEmaniacs.

Saturday 27 July will be the final Offroad Day 4 for the Limitless competitors, all classes will converge at the final Hillclimbs where, in front of thousands of spectators, the competitors will attempt to climb the infamous hillclimbs and be faced with some special prolog- style treats from Andy Fazekas before finally reaching their goal of becoming a Red Bull Romaniacs finisher.