Hard Enduro World Championship in the USA: Mitch Brightmore beats Letti at the Silver Kings

The first championship points of the weekend were awarded at Thursday’s Super Kings Prologue. Following the qualifying heats, the fastest riders competed against each other in a six-minute-plus-one-lap sprint final, in which the top three finishers could earn World Championship points and secure valuable starting positions for Friday’s race. Britain’s Jonny Walker won the prologue on a Triumph ahead of his compatriot Mitch Brightmore (GASGAS) and Canada’s Trystan Hart (KTM). However, as neither Walker nor Hart are competing in the World Championship standings, three World Championship points went to Mitch Brightmore, two to his brother Ashton and one to the Swede Eddie Karlsson (Stark).

In the ‘Big Mountain Race’, in which Sprint Race points for the World Championship standings were awarded, the riders had to complete a 20-mile lap, which, with a total elevation gain of over 3,700 metres, was thoroughly challenging. Hart won the race, with Lettenbichler and Mitch Brightmore finishing in second and third place respectively. As Hart is not competing in the World Championship standings, the 10 World Championship points went to Lettenbichler and 9 to Brightmore.

To round things off, the infamous King Slayer hill climb

Saturday’s ‘Thunder Bowl’ final was the main event. After two hours of racing, the infamous ‘King Slayer’ hill climb provided a gruelling finale. Manuel Lettenbichler, the KTM works rider from Kiefersfelden, had flown to the US feeling extremely relaxed following his fifth victory at the Erzbergrodeo two weeks earlier. He also enjoyed a comfortable lead in the World Championship standings, so he may have been lacking that final bit of motivation at the Silver Kings.

The 23-year-old Mitch Brightmore was locked in a thrilling battle at the front with Trystan Hart, with the lead changing hands several times. Mitch capped off his brilliant form with his first victory in a World Championship round. When Lettenbichler, who finished third behind Hart, congratulated Mitch at the finish line, he said to him: “You’ll be next!” A huge endorsement from the star for the young Brit, who took a whopping 32 points from the Silver Kings in the World Championship standings and now lies in second place, just 13 points behind Lettenbichler. Ashton Brightmore, Mitch’s 19-year-old brother, finished fifth and moved up to fourth place in the World Championship standings.

The 21-year-old German Lenny Geretzky from Thuringia secured an excellent 11th place and even finished second in the junior standings. In the Junior World Championship standings, the ambitious rider – who competes for the SorryBro74 junior team led by former champion Mario Roman – currently sits in fifth place.

The next race in the Hard Enduro World Championship is the Forza Orza, taking place from 20 to 22 August in Sweden.

WM-Leader Manuel Lettenbichler

Foto: KTM

Reactions from the top three:

Mitch Brightmore: “Oh my God, that feels good. My first victory in the World Championship. What more can I say? After a zigzag section, I managed to overtake Trystan, but then I made a mistake, allowing him to get past me again. But he then made a mistake of his own, so I was able to overtake him once more and hold on to that narrow lead right to the finish line.”

Trystan Hart: “It was a really cool race and a brilliant battle throughout the whole weekend. The three of us battled at the front for almost the entire race, swapping positions and pushing each other on the whole time. I felt strong all day and managed to stay in the race right until the end. Coming away with a win on Off-road Day 1 and second place in the final is something I can be proud of. Of course, it’s a bit disappointing to have missed out on victory by such a narrow margin, but it was a great race and really good fun. We’ll take the positives with us and look forward to the next race.”

Manuel Lettenbichler: “Trystan, Mitch and I had an incredible race – we swapped positions several times. In the end, I finished third and I’m happy with that. I’m proud of myself and how I rode. I’m absolutely thrilled to see the next generation stepping into the spotlight like this. Mitch put in an incredible performance.”

Results: Hard Enduro World Championship, Silver Kings/USA

Standings after 3 of 8 races: