Manuel Lettenbichler wins Red Bull Erzbergrodeo
Manuel Lettenbichler of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing has won the 27th edition of the Red Bull Erzbergrodeo. The result ensures that Lettenbichler's name will go down in history as one of the few riders to achieve back-to-back victories in the iconic Austrian hard enduro.
After a strong qualifying run in the prologue on Friday and Saturday, Lettenbichler rode his 2024 KTM 300 EXC to seventh place and safely placed himself on the front row for the start of the main race on Sunday. When the flag dropped, Mani made an excellent start and after the first climbs he quickly moved into the top three.
It was Trystan Hart who quickly took the lead with Mani close behind his KTM teammate, but after about 20 minutes Lettenbichler regained the lead, only to lose his lead to his old rival Billy Bolt. As the race entered the woods, Mani came into his own and delivered a masterclass of hard enduro skills, power and technique to retake the lead and open a sizeable gap to the chasing pack.
Lettenbichler rode smoothly and without incident, completing the remaining kilometers of the course, including the tricky feature sections, to ultimately take victory with an impressive 11 minutes lead over the runner-up. Mani now has two wins from two starts in his FIM Hard Enduro World Championship campaign and is well on track to successfully defend his 2022 title.
Manuel Lettenbichler: "I can not believe it! After the start I followed Trystan, to save my energy a bit, but then Billy passed me and he looked really strong. He took a bit of a lead, but I knew I had to stay focused and ride my own race. When we hit the sandy hills I knew I could make up some time and luckily it all worked out fine. I was able to get back in the lead. Then I kept up that good pace and at the end I brought it home. The new engine was incredible. We worked a lot on it over the winter and it seems to have paid off, because it felt perfect today.”
Result Erzbergrodeo
1. Manuel Lettenbichler (GER), KTM, 2:31:15
2. Billy Bolt (GBR), Husqvarna, 2:42:15
3. Trystan Hart (CAN), KTM, 2:57:09
4. Jonny Walker (GBR), Beta, 2:59:30
5. Wade Young (RSA), Sherco, 3:04:21
Photos: KTM
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