Following the legendary and spectacular Incity-Prologue – where riders race across stones, trees, cars and variations of artificial obstacles, the competitors were then sent out into the ‘backyard’ of Lord Dracula. Endless rain and an unforgiving terrain would continuously test the mental and physical strength of the field for the next four days, and the course eventually turned into a muddy and slippery mess beyond imagination.
Andreas ‘Letti’ Lettenbichler arrived as the defending champion. The Team BMW Husqvarna Motorsport rider placed fourth in the prologue, respectively determining his starting position: “I got caught between trees very early and had to come from behind to finish fourth, but I knew from last year that this is no disadvantage,” said Letti after the prologue.
The relentless rain made things very, very challenging. Deep soil, gnarly climbs without any grip and frightening downhill sections on wet grass already separated the men from the boys on day one. Lettenbichler, like so many others, somehow couldn’t avoid crashing, suffering a slightly broken rib in the incident. However, the Bavarian gritted his teeth and kept fighting throughout the remainder of the race. Despite the painful injury, Lettenbichler managed to win day two by 24 minutes over Paul Bolton. The following days he scored a third and fourth place to capture third position overall on the BMW G 450 X.
Andi Lettenbichler: “I had a strong starting situation like last year from finishing fourth in the prologue, but then came problems with the event itself. Given the circumstances, the first day was too long. You simply had to drive yourself into the ground to keep going. Pretty much everyone went battered and bruised into the second day. I’m no cry-baby for sure, but this wasn’t fun! Most sections might have been rideable in the dry, but there was no way to get through them in the wet. The organisers should have skipped some of the most gnarly up and downhill sections in my opinion. Altogether though, I’m quite satisfied – the BMW worked well in these conditions and finishing on the podium isn’t too bad.”
Red Bull Romaniacs, Pro-Class results
1. Chris Birch (NZL), KTM, 28:17:31 hrs
2. Graham Jarvis (GBR), Sherco, 28:46:12
3. Andreas Lettenbichler (GER), BMW Husqvarna Motorsport, 29:18:29
4. Paul Bolton (GBR), KTM, 29:52:12
5. Jade Gutzeit (RSA), KTM, 30:21:32
6. Lionel Seydoux (SUI), KTM, 33:21:58
7. Gerhard Forster (GER), BMW, 35:47:18
8. Darryl Curtis (RSA), KTM, 40:06:41
9. Emanuel Gyenes (ROM), KTM, 42:10:59
10. Erich Brandauer (AUT), Husaberg, 42:36:54
