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Hard-Enduro rookie wins Red Bull Romaniacs Rallye prologue!
The battle for the best starting position is over at the Red Bull Romaniacs Rallye and it’s been Spain’s Xavier Galindo-Arbones (KTM) to defeat title defender Graham Jarvis (GBR/Sherco) and last year’s runner-up, German BMW Rider Gerhard Forster. In front of 9.000 fanatic spectators in downtown Sibiu/Hermannstadt, the Spaniard left a very strong first impression at his first ever attempt. Back in the founding days of Red Bull Romaniacs in 2004, this prologue over man-made obstacles has been invented by organizer Martin Freinademetz, building Chief Andy Fazekas and his crew from the local Motorcycle Club, Crazy Bike Sibiu. Between then and now, lots of look-alike events and competitions have been following this success-story, never really matching the original one, traditionally held here. “This year we tried a very new format, best to be compared with Snowboard-Boardercross, and after last year’s wet weather and the troubles for the riders on the wet wooden obstacles, this year we’ve built the course in a more safe way, no matter what weather. Even with rain, it would hold up and offer enough grip, also for the hobby-, and experts-classes”, says building-chief Andy Fazekas. A very coincidental accident even added some “pyrotechnical effects” to this year’s edition, when Expert-Team rider George KINONAS’ (GRE) bike went up in flames during the race after a slight crash over one obstacle. Luckily and thanks to the safety-precautions, the burning bike (and partly - for a second - even the burning rider) have been extinguished by the rescue and safety personnel within some seconds. After a general overhaul of some hours, the bike has been renovated and is now ready to charge tomorrow’s first stage – and so is the rider! The respect of all riders towards this year’s course was given already before that and the adrenalin was flowing in the pre-start area before qualification, especially within the first-timers. “This looks way more gnarly than anything called Enduro-Cross which we have in the USA”, stated debut pro-rider and Dirtbike-Legend Jimmy Lewis (Husaberg). Gerhard Forster, today third on the podium and last year’s unfortunate runner-up is now happy to have two riders of the format of Jarvis and Galindo-Arbones in front of him, releasing him from the pressure of navigating the others through the trails as he had to in 2008. “I hope that there will be a lot of navigation to be done tomorrow morning by the two in front of me, so I can catch up with them and make up some time from the start-interval”, stated the German who appears to be riding with the precision of a Swiss watch. 2008 title defender and runner-up Graham Jarvis also was not too disappointed about his second place in the prologue: “I am glad it all worked well today, the bike and myself unharmed. I look forward to the days in the mountains to come, because I think that’s where the decision will take place.” Xavier Galindo-Arbones, only known to Hard-Enduro insiders from past participations in the World Enduro Championships and in selected indoor Enduros, can count on a solid trial-riding background which might get him far in the Red Bull Romaniacs Rallye: “Having those two experienced riders in my back is not a perfect scenario, but I’ll try my best to keep them off my back”, he stated after the race with a huge smile upon his face. Tomorrow, Sunday, August 16, the start is scheduled for 06:00 in the morning and due to the starting-intervals for the top-pros, the heat will be on, immediately. So catching up with the person in front of means having made up time in the overall results. Most probable, some of the lower ranked pros and well known names even calculated on this and finished no higher than in the higher mid-field. With our superb feature of a live-tracking and blogging service, invented by Red Bull Romaniacs in 2008, the entire race action of all days to come will be brought to anyone out there through our website www.redbullromaniacs.com from tomorrow morning on. We have the news, we have the hottest pictures, but most of all, we have our live-tracking: By clicking onto the live-tracking button on the start-site, users will enjoy real time racing by being able to follow the riders as blinking dots on a virtual map, which will be constantly fed by the signals of our live-tracking safety GPS devices, carried by every rider. In addition, a superb crew of field journalists (called “embedded journos” by CNN;-)) will be blogging texts and pictures from right out of the woods and provide even deeper insights on what’s going on in Vlad Dracula’s backyard.
After 4 grueling days, Great Britain's Graham Jarvis has won the 5th Red Bull Romaniacs at his first attempt. The 33 year old trial specialist rode a Sherco & he was the first rider to win the event on a 4 stroke. Germany's GPS master Gerhard Forster navigated his way through the Romanian wilderness to finished second overall & New Zealander Chris Birch was 3rd. Dutchman Frans Verhoeven was dogged by bad luck in the early stages but won the final stage. The last day was a shorter 117 kilometres course but no less intense than the previous days. All the riders were pleased to cross the finishing line on the roof of the dictator Ceaucescu unfinished mansion. Speaking at the end Graham Jarvis said “It was beginner’s luck that made me finish first! Throughout the whole race I concentrated on not making any big mistakes, as a trial specialist I had to ride tactically and smart. The last days were even harder than I expected but great fun also. I’d never expected to finish first!" Day
3 With the weather & visibility closing in, the scene was set for Gerhard Forster - the GPS machine - to make the break that would get him away from his shadows but the fates were typing away at 2.200m to re-write the script. By the time Gerhard arrived at the service point he had a smashed gear box & was only using 1st gear. He had dropped minutes on Verhoeven, Birch and Jarvis however by Checkpoint 4 the BMW rider had clawed his way back into second place. The fate also turned their attention to Frans Verhoeven who - not long after leaving the service point in second place - was forced to retire due to a technical problem. Graham Jarvis enlarge his lead over Forster 9:32 minutes. Results Day
2 The second day started with a real taste of autumn. Cold, foggy & wet. Prologue winner Paul Bolton activated his rescue system at 10.00am when a crash aggravated the knee injury that has dogged him this season. New Zealander Chris Birch had the best day finishing first ahead of Germany's Gerhard Forster. Forster has earned the nickname of the “GPS machine” due to his uncanny ability to navigate. Graham Jarvis was 3rd but maintained his overall lead with a 42 second. German Jürgen Dörr in the Expert single class crashed heavily in the same place as Paul Bolton & smashed his throttle. As Paul had retired he lent Jürgen his throttle so he could continue. The weather for tomorrow's third stage promises to be poor with fog & the possibility of snowfall at 2,200m. Results
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1 The first full day of the 5th Red Bull Romaniacs started 07.30am in the morning with a 180 kilometers lap. The climbs were technical and challenging. At the service point after almost five hours of riding the first to arrive were more than one hour later than expected. UK rider Graham Jarvis took the overall lead ahead of German rider Gerhard Forster. Chris Birch from New Zealand was 3rd. The 3 riders wisely decided to navigate the course together. Prologue winner Paul Bolton was one of the riders who struggled with the navigation. He missed a check point & he was penalised. Sepp Hasenauer leads the Experts from Wales' Craig Bounds. Day 1 results
The 5th edition of the Red Bull Romaniacs kicked off in the main boulevard of Sibiu on Saturday 13th Sept at the start of 5 days of one of the toughest Enduros in the World. The course designers had devised 15 different obstacles & the steady rain gave the tree trunks, walls & wooden ramps an extra slick coating that tested the international field of 213 riders to the limit. Despite a lay off during the Summer with a broke leg, Britain's Paul Bolton took the lead from Germany's Gerhard Forster. Paul took 3rd at Erzberg this year & relishes the trialsy going. He completed an incredible 8 laps - 2 more than 2nd placed Forster. Greg Evans (right) was a schoolboy MX champion but he has worked hard on his trials skills & his efforts have paid off as he took 3rd ahead of fellow Brit trials champion Graham Jarvis in 4th. Greg like Paul is also recovering from a broke leg. He got a last minute call to take Tom Sagar's entry. Tom's hand has not recovered & he needs to rest it after the Greece 6 Days. Wales' Craig Bounds won the Expert singles class. With 44 entries, British riders constitute the biggest national contingent & 6 Brits finished in the top ten. Prologue Results
THIRD VICTORY FOR CYRIL DESPRES Final Day: 4th Red Bull Romaniacs Hard Enduro Rally, 17 – 21 June 2007 After 2004 and 2005 it is again Cyril Despres from France who wins the Red Bull Romaniacs Hard Enduro Rallye in 2007, gaining his third victory in the fourth edition of the rally. German Privateer Gerhard Forster finishes second overall ahead of the New Zealander Chris Birch. Despres won the last special over 190km ahead of Chris Birch and Gerhard Forster. Only 30 minutes after the start Michel Gau (FRA) broke his right arm in a crash and could not continue the last special. The first man early away this Thursday morning was Michel Gau. The Frenchman had retaken the overall lead from Cyril Despres yesterday. As it was quite probable that these two riders fought it out, both of them were motivated to give their best on the last and decisive day of the fourth Red Bull Romaniacs Hard Enduro Rally. However, Michel Gau had the bad luck on his side and crashed; only 30 minutes after the start he slipped on a piece of wood made him fall off the bike and against a tree. His right arm was broken and he was not able to continue the race. Cyril Despres immediately stopped and stayed with him until the first aid arrived. 20 minutes later he continued the race without knowing how many riders had already passed. In the mean time 23-year old Chris Birch (NZL) did well, made no mistakes and was the first to finish the last special stage. Crossing the finish line second Cyril Despres got a time credit for staying with Michel Gau and - besides the overall victory – is today’s winner. Gerhard Forster, Privateer from Germany, completes the stage’s podium and claims the second overall position. “The hardest day of all four off-road stages”, the riders agreed unanimously after they had successfully and literally taken the last steps to the finish high above Sibiu. The see-saw right at the beginning, steep uphills, an almost never-ending and slippery downhill and a merciless last ascent to the day’s and overall finish – just to mention a few of today’s specialities the remaining 78 participates had to deal with. Results Day 5, 21 June 2007 Professionals 1. Cyril Despres FRA 2. Chris Birch NZL 3. Gerhard Forster GER
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