[ROMANIA] REDBULL ROMANIACS 2014 A SIBIU 15-19 LUGLIO 2014

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The most diversified Extreme Enduro track ever

Press release Sibiu, Romania, 30th June 2014

Track Details of the 11th Edition of the Red Bull Romaniacs 

Sibiu, Romania, June 30th, 2014 – The 11th edition of the Red Bull Romaniacs is only two weeks away and the organizing team around Martin “Frein” Freinademetz is on cruise control for final preparations. The team is now growing by a dozen per day and will reach it`s race-mode size of 400 people with the start of the registrations. The group of track managers around Track director Klaus Sorensen had finished the race track-routing months ago and is now focussed on preparing a world-class marking of the trails. With ten years of experience, the track management team of the Red Bull Romaniacs was facing their ultimate challenge during the preparation of the 11th edition: Adding a completely new class to the existing lineup of three classes meant adjusting 600km of trails to the profile of the new “Iron-Class” (profile = rideable). Here is what they came up with:

The Red Bull Romaniacs is a five-day Extreme Enduro race, that kicks off with an inner city prologue, followed by four extremely demanding offroad days through the Southern Carpathian wilderness.

In 2014, Offroad-Day Two will be the most challenging one: with a very high frequency of uninviting sections for all classes and extremely steep profiles. In 2010, we considered the area still “unrideable”.

Offroad Day Three will be almost as gnarly but it makes up for it with a great mix of landscapes, flowy trails and the biggest altitude deltas. It is track-director Klaus Sorensen`s favorite. Founder Martin Freinademetz however prefers Offroad Day Four for it`s high paced rallye-style, the beautiful passages through high-mountain areas and the special surprises at the end (overall finish).

Offroad Day Four will be the toughest one for the Iron Class and will bring all classes to their limits. Which leaves Offroad Day One as the day that gently eases competitors into race-mode. At least more gentle than Offroad Day One 2013!

 

The following information describes the race days in detail:

The first half of Offroad-Day 1 is all about getting into race mode: with relative easy riding in open spaces for the Iron- and Bronze-Class. The same could be said for the Gold- and Silver-Class, if there  wasn't  the gnarly “Doomed”-section just before the service point. The second half of the race day continues with flowy riding for the Iron-Class but already leads the Gold-, Silver- and Bronze-Class into the higher mountains where they get their first taste of Red Bull Romaniacs racing. They will also pass through the sections “Hunter 3”, Hunter 4”, “Bad Shape”, “Sherco River” and deliver some spectator-friendly action in the quarry.

Offroad-Day Two and Three will greet the Iron-Class with a rough awakening in the morning and a few technical challenges to chew on. After the service point, they will face a more relaxed pace on the way home (both days). For all other classes, it will be the opposite on Offroad-Day Two: a set of fun, roller-coaster-like rides will provide them an enjoyable morning until the service point. Only the Gold-Class gets hit by a surprise with “10A” just before the break. After the service point, it will be altitude crunching: the Bronze-, Silver- and Gold-Class will face climb-ups from 400m altitude up to the level of 2000m and descents back down. The Silver- and Gold-riders will learn to fear the names “The Beast” and “Tsuika-Line” and for the Gold-Class it will get even worse in “The never ending story”!

Offroad-Day Three greets all classes with gently easing them into the day, except the Iron class, who will have their workout in the morning again. But soon enough, all three other classes will be hit by “1000 Stone Travers” and “SkiDoo River”, while the Gold- and Silver class receive exclusive treatment in the “Expert Killer”. After the break at the service point, there is no stopping for the Iron-Class, heading straight for the finish on the roof of the factory in Petrosani. The other classes will get to learn why Offroad Day Three is track director Klaus Sorensen`s favorite: in a high-mountain loop, they will experience a great variety of terrain and sections like the “Trial Uphill”, “Heavy Shit”, “Frontflip”, “Armpump River”, and “Switchback Heaven”.

Offroad-Day Four welcomes the riders to their longest and fastest day with a technical, 500m rock-crossing that will be especially tough for the Iron-Class. After that, all classes will crunch some kilometers heading for the service point. Only the Gold- and Silver-Classes get a little workout at “Sigi Zig Zag”. The second half of the day is all foreplay for the famous Gusterita hill-climb finish in front of thousands of spectators. It will be spiced with river-crossings for all classes, among them a wall-ride, variations of tricky ups & downs for the Bronze-Class and the toughest climb of the race for the Silver-Class. Some of the the Silver riders will push their bike upwards for up to two hours - depending on the weather. They will also face, together with the “Golden Boys”, the “Slimy River”-section. The Gold-Class itself will of course never run out of interesting challenges and will get hit hard by “Long Walk Junior”, “Congo”, and “Black Mamba” before getting relieved in the finish arena. There will be some nice offroad-riding towards the finish right through Sibiu!

 

The toughest sections of the 2014 Red Bull Romaniacs (all Gold-Class):

“10A” a very short, intense up & down, very rocky, named after the graduation rating of climbing routes (10A = the hardest)

“Doomed”, already known from previous years, has become even more cruel after adding a heavy uphill before a long and challenging downhill (average rider will need 90 minutes)

“Never Ending Story”, a totally new and exposed trail going up a steep and wild ridge with a mix of steps, off-cambers, rocks, log jumping, all inclusive! One of the sections that will sort the sheep from the goats, trial-techniques will be of advantage.

 

Most fun sections:

“Tsuika line”, a funny trail that ends at a woodworkers wagon where we received some good local Romanian schnapps for the efforts

“Black Mamba” – one of our most popular and well known sections - water-cooled, 3km of hard-rock river up

Wallride and hill climb finish – 180 degrees wall ride crossing a river and then the good old Gusterita hill climb

More info:

Red Bull Romaniacs Website: http://www.redbullromaniacs.com/

Photos on Flickr: bit.ly/11qNJYh

Photos on FTP: ftp://media:romaniacs@hq.xventure.net

Breathtaking videos on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/romaniacs08

Daily updates on Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/RBRomaniacs

Red Bull Romaniacs team: http://bit.ly/12bwlbw

Red Bull Content Pool: https://www.redbullcontentpool.com

Additional stories about the Red Bull Romaniacs and Hard Enduro on http://www.redbull.com/en/motorsports/offroad/video-series/1331582163917/hard-enduro

Press-Contact: Volker Jacob, Air7 for Red Bull Romaniacs, Communications

Mobile (Romania) +40 (737) 915 662, Email: air7@air7.ch

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15.07.2014: Bolton wins the Red Bull Romaniacs prologue, again Extreme Enduro at its best in the heart of the historic city center of Sibiu

Sibiu, Romania, July 15th, 2014 – The 11th edition of the Red Bull Romaniacs kicked off in perfect sunny weather and in front of ca. 15.000 enthusiastic spectators. The hospitable city of Sibiu hosts the 11th edition of the world`s toughest Extreme Enduro race. Traffic and every-day business came to a screeching halt, when 350 riders from 35 nations invaded the city center with their dirt-bikes. The Enduro mayhem already started to unfolded on Sunday, when one of the city's main boulevards was blocked off and converted into an inner-city race track.

The task of managing the construction of the race-course was again assigned to Red Bull Romaniacs prologue-master Andy Fazekas. He is known for his cruel creations in the past. In 2014, when his “chain” was one of the most feared extreme enduro obstacles of the year, he was most certainly the main cast in many riders` nightmares. This year, after having promised to go slightly more easy on the riders, Andy took 120 tons of rock, 130 tons of wood, ca. 3km of fences, some barriers, concrete blocks, pipes and barriers - and built another work of art. The 3km-long race track, shaped as a loop along the 4-lane inner city boulevard “Coposu" in Sibiu provided the perfect playground for the Red Bull Romaniacs kick-off! The sections include several railroads and a trailer crossing, the inevitable cable-reels, wall-rides, a city forest, the anti-jump, a spiral wall ride, crazy jumps and the “guillotine”, a moving log…

Once the race took off with the time trials qualification, only the top 35 riders of each class qualified for the finals. Later in the finals, all 35 riders were unleashed onto the course at the same time. They started in five rows of seven riders; the starting position was freely choosable depending on time trials-results. For the Gold-Class, with riders taking as little as just over one minute per lap, it meant going passing more than 10 laps on the crowded track.

For the finals, the spectators were awarded with heated battles especially in the Gold-Class. The tension started to rise slowly over the heats of the different classes: there some heavy bike lifting and struggles could be seen in the heats of the Iron-, Bronze-, and even in the Silver-Class but riders were supported by enthusiastic cheers of the crowd. Once the Gold-Class hit the course, the race developed into a world-class Enduro-Cross battle. Cory Graffunder (CAN) who brought tons of experience to the table, was fighting a winning battle for the podium, until his engine died briefly before the finish - due to a faulty spark plug. Bad Luck. Local matador Dani Otil (ROU) faced the same fate and had to drop out because of technical problems.

Jonny Walker was clearly dominating and leading the race for the first third, but seemed to start remembering his strategy and went easier on the throttle in the last part, giving way to Graham Jarvis (UK). Jarvis had raced the prologue in his usual unspectacular style and no-one expected to see him on the podium. But he is not called “the silent assassin” without a reason and proved again, that the Carpathians are his kingdom and that he means business to keep the crown. Despite a little wipeout, Jarvis finished the race 2nd. The biggest show was delivered by last year`s prologue winner Paul Bolton (UK), who rode like a shark in a fishtank and combined technique with top-shape and aggressiveness. Bolton: “I had to win, I needed the money!”.

Another stunning performance was delivered by David Cyprian, a 16 year old teenager from the Czech Republic. He won the Silver-Team-Class and became the youngest rider ever to win a Red Bull Romaniacs prologue.

One case of even worse luck than Cory Graffunder struck Wiik Joar Resaland (NOR) who rode a spectacular race during the qualifying. But after the race, totally exhausted and thirsty, he grabbed the wrong bottle (cooling liquid) and ended up in the hospital. He is on dialysis now and will hopefully be able to continue the race.

Two highly anticipated top-riders did not even make it to Romania: Alfredo Gomez (SPA), last year`s overall 2nd, got involved in an accident and ended up with a broken foot just days before the Red Bull Romaniacs. David Knight, who was expected to bring some fresh wind into the established podium contenders, lost his Sherco-factory contract and had to cancel as well.

Overall, the 2014 Red Bull Romaniacs prologue passed smoothly and without major accidents. Heinz Kinigadner, motorsports legend, experienced race organizer and founder of “Wings for Life” congratulated Martin (Frein) Freinademetz on the successful kick-off: “You have created something unique and amazing here - I am happy that we finally managed to come and see it!”

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19.07.2014: Walker rides the race of his life and becomes the new “King of the Carpathians” in the most suspense-packed Red Bull Romaniacs ever

Top 5: Walker 1st, Jarvis 2nd, Young 3rd, Bolton 4th, Letti 5th

Sibiu, Romania, July 19th, 2014 – After his first Red Bull Romaniacs in 2013, Jonny Walker said: “For me they were the toughest days on a motorbike ever” - and he was devastated that he did not make it onto the podium. In 2014, just after having nailed the Erzberg Rodeo, Walker returned to Romania and came well prepared: “I have put in a lot of effort to prepare for this race and my focus is different from last year.” It might have been the necessary ingredient for a new “King of the Carpathians”, a new Extreme Enduro super talent. Walker was the first to arrive in the finish today, unchallenged and riding by himself. He had won 2 of the 4 Offroad Days and finished the Prologue 3rd. Walker is the overall winner of the 2014 Red Bull Romaniacs.

Today, Walker started as first in the morning, with Jarvis and Young following him in 5 mins intervals, Bolton 1 min later. Being fully determined and again on fire, Walker kept increasing his advantage over Jarvis step by step during the day. He lead by 3 mins at “Sigi Zig Zag”, 5 mins at the Service Point and 7 mins at checkpoint 7, just before the fearsome “Black Mamba”.

While the “retired King of the Carpathians”, Graham Jarvis, kept working on somehow catching up with Walker, he was starting to be chased himself: Paul Bolton, who had left 11 minutes after him at the Offroad Start in the morning, showed up hot on his heels. They kept playing “Catch me if you can” for a while, until Bolton managed to build a solid lead over Jarvis. Graham Jarvis: “Naturally, I was giving everything and rode a good race - to win the Red Bull Romaniacs a fifth time. But Jonny was simply to hard to beat and his victory is well earned. The many fast sections were in his favor - and I was often far out of my comfort-zone trying to match his speed there”. Spoken like a true sportsman!

Paul Bolton who had also passed Wade Young earlier in the morning, is the surprise of the day and kept delivering some of the fastest riding times (he plowed through the “Black Mamba” faster than Walker and Jarvis). Bolton: “I had a blast of a day, just tried to enjoy myself while at the same time screaming “never give up!” This might have saved him today, as he found himself mid-air at some point, both feet and one hand completely detached from the bike… Only a quick full-throttle coup de gas saved him. Around midday, Bolton had built a time-gap between himself and Jarvis and he started to be a hot candidate for the No. 1 position of the day. Bolton arrived at the fearsome finish second after Walker and until the very last minute, it was unclear whether Bolton would scoop the Day 4 win over him.  Bolton was pumped to win the day and overall he finished 4th.

Like Walker, Wade Young came to his 2nd Red Bull Romaniacs in the best shape of his life. He surprised everyone on Offroad Day Two, when he started to ride some of the fastest times through the sections and was seen engaging with Walker and Jarvis. The Roof of Africa winner (youngest ever…), seemed to have unlimited energy resources all the way through the race and puzzled quite a few of his “colleagues” by simply lifting his bike through some unrideable sections. Wade Young: “The race was awesome. Day 1 I took it easy to get into things, day 2 I went really well and made up a lot of time, day 3 was good, I kept the pace going and made up some good time again. I almost ran out of petrol on day 3 having to ride 15km on reserve. On day 4, I battled a bit to to find my rhythm. I had one or two big crashes but tried to stay focused the whole race and managed to push all the way to the finish line. Young finished 3rd on Offroad Day Two and Three and 3rd overall.

The Czech Enduro legend Zdenek Cyprian started together with his 16 year old son David and they won the Silver-Team Class. David is the youngest Red Bull Romaniacs winner / podium finisher ever. “I expected it to be harder, next year I will try my luck in the Gold-Class!” states the Red Bull Romaniacs rookie.

The final day of the 2014 Red Bull Romaniacs started with a foggy morning after some heavy thunderstorms the night before. The fog and the wide open spaces on the mountain-tops made navigation a critical factor for the morning. The top-guns were sometimes struggling with visibility of just a few meters, but took it like pros and still passed through the sections within the estimated riding times. The daily morning workout awaited the Gold- and Silver-Class riders at “Sigi Zig Zag” with some heavy bike lifting and pushing. Some also chose an extra “gymnastics-class”, rolling off their bikes and cartwheeling down the hills in the forest.

The second half of the day was all foreplay for the famous Gusterita hill-climb finish in Sibiu. It was spiced with river-crossings for all classes, among them a wall-ride, variations of tricky ups and downs for the Bronze-Class and the “Slimy River” for Gold- and Silver-Class. Also, the Gold-Class was hit hard by “Long Walk Junior”, “Congo”, and “Black Mamba” before getting to enjoy a cool offroad ride through Sibiu and arriving at the finish hill climb.

Heinz Kinigadner, motorsports legend, experienced race organizer and founder of “Wings for Life”: “Currently there are only two professionally executed Extreme Enduro events: The Erzberg Rodeo and the Red Bull Romaniacs. It was the first time for me to get to experience this event and I am quite surprised: by the concept, the amount of people involved and the professionalism. This is a very unique event, there is nothing comparable out there! What amazes me most, is how the team around Martin Freinademetz manages to bring the participants of each of the classes to their limits. Which is the purpose: at the end of the day it is a race and not a 5-day adventure tour!”

Daily top 3 and overall top 5:

Prologue: Bolton, Jarvis, Walker
Offroad Day One: Walker, Jarvis, Bolton
Offroad Day Two: Jarvis, Walker, Young
Offroad Day Three: Walker, Jarvis, Young
Offroad Day Four: Bolton, Walker, Jarvis
Overall: Walker, Jarvis, Young, Bolton, Lettenbichler

Results can be found here: http://www.redbullromaniacs.com/results/results-2014/