Forza Orza: Exclusive interview with winner Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM)

Featured on the World Championship calendar for the first time, organiser Glen Olsson, who has 12 years’ experience in organising WRC rounds, set out with great ambition to capitalise on what he sees as the enormous potential of hard enduro in Sweden too, and to deliver a race that would appeal to spectators and competitors alike. According to Manuel Lettenbichler, with whom we spoke exclusively following his victory in the Main Event, he certainly succeeded in doing so.

Manuel Lettenbichler hat es wieder einmal geschafft

Foto: KTM

Forza Orza is new to the calendar. What was your impression of this race in Sweden? For a first time there, it wasn’t bad. It’s a cool place. The terrain isn’t ideal for Hard Enduro, but they’ve tried to make up for that with lots of man-made obstacles. It was a very technical and gruelling race. The organisers certainly made the best of it. There’s a lot of potential there and I’m keen to see how they develop it in the future.

How did the Prologue and Sprint go for you? The Prologue went well; we had two heats. In the first one, I came second behind Eddie Karlsson, and in the second it was a bit faster because the track had already been ridden in. In the second race, I unfortunately made a mistake on a climb, didn’t make it up straight away and ended up only fifth overall. I dropped points, which annoyed me. In the sprint race, I got off to a good start and had a good battle with Billy, but I made a mistake whilst lapping the field. At Steinfeld, I lost the gear lever. Because of that, I was using the clutch a lot as I was trying to change gears less often. I was actually very happy with second place behind Billy.

At the Red Bull Romaniacs, there were also problems with the bike. Was it a coincidence, or is there currently an issue with the mechanics? Pure coincidence – it was something different each time. Because of the large number of riders, I couldn’t make it up a step on a climb and then chose a line that wasn’t really a line. That’s when there was a crash and something broke, so I couldn’t get the bike started at first. Fortunately, I managed to start it again on the descent and made sure it didn’t cut out again. Unfortunately, that didn’t quite work out on the penultimate climb before the finish. I got quite nervous again there, but managed to get it going again. As I said, it was pure luck, but I’ve had enough of technical problems for now.

Mitch confirmed he’s in good form – do you see him as a potential successor? Definitely! He’ll be very hungry and motivated, and he’s really doing a great job! He’s performing at a very high level at the moment, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of Mitch Brightmore in the future!

At Abestone, Billy finished ahead of you last year, so you’ve got a score to settle. What are you expecting there? I’m curious to see what will happen at Abestone this year, although it’s bound to be a similar format to last year’s. I’m looking forward to it – it’s only five hours from home. I’m already looking forward to the lovely pizza and pasta!

Will you be competing in the Roof of Africa and Sea to Sky afterwards? The team’s plan is for us to compete in both the Roof and the Sea to Sky.