Hard Enduro World Championship, Abestone: Lettenbichler also dominated the Main Event

Having already won the prologue and the sprint race the previous day, Manuel Lettenbichler of the Red Bull KTM factory team led the Main Event at Abestone from Lap 1 onwards and never relinquished the lead. Briton Mitch Brightmore, riding his GASGAS for the X-GRIP Racing Team, was the only rider to stay within sight and made a final push on the last lap, but could not get any closer than six minutes behind Lettenbichler. Teo Kabakchiev rode his Sherco to a podium finish with a strong lap time on the fifth lap, thereby moving back up to third place in the World Championship standings, just ahead of the younger of the Brightmore brothers, Ashton.

South African James Moore (Beta) and Spaniard Mario Roman (Husqvarna) were the last riders to finish in the 6-lap race. Local hero Lorenzo Gandola was the highest-placed Italian in 6th place on his Sherco, just ahead of Ashton Brightmore (GASGAS). Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) had already encountered problems in Saturday’s sprint race – fatigue set in relatively early and continued to hamper him in the main event as well, meaning he crossed the line in 12th place.

Nur direkt nach dem Start lag Letti kurz mal hinter Mitch und Billy

Foto: HEWC/Macphtos

Lettenbichler now leads the overall standings after 5 of 8 World Championship races with 24 points, ahead of Mitch Brightmore. And for those keen to do the maths: 76 points from the remaining three races would mathematically crown Manuel world champion, whilst fewer would suffice provided Brightmore fails to secure the maximum haul of 99 points.

Manuel Lettenbichler: “What an amazing World Championship round. The crowd here in Italy was incredible, and it felt as though there were even more people there than last year. It’s really cool to see that the sport is continuing to grow in Italy and internationally. Both the event and the track were top-notch, and the track was actually really good to ride – that made for an intense but really enjoyable race. It was tough on the body, but I think we managed the weekend very well. It’s quite amazing to win here again, especially with such a clear lead at the end. Towards the end, I briefly lost my rhythm when I pushed a bit too hard trying to increase the gap on Mitch – but luckily it didn’t cost us anything. The spectators were amazing – thanks to everyone out there with the chainsaws and the incredible support in the woods. What a race. Grazie a tutti!”

The next race on the Hard Enduro World Championship calendar is the Roof of Africa, taking place from 24 to 26 September.

Mitch Brightmore stabilisiert seine starke Performance in Italien

Foto: HEWC/Macphtos

Main Event results, Abestone Hard Enduro (Top 10):

FIM Hard Enduro World Championship standings after 5 of 8 races (Top 10):