Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM) is baffled: “You’re not exactly playing fair!”

Manuel Lettenbichler incurred a ten-minute time penalty at the Forest Race on the second day of the Sea to Sky because his father, Andreas, had poured some water onto the overheated rear brake during a refuelling stop. Mario Román and Thomas Scales were also penalised with ten-minute time penalties for leaving their engines running during the refuelling stop. Furthermore, Teo Kabakchiev was initially given a ten-minute time penalty in the Main Event, the Mountain Race, for receiving outside assistance; however, following a protest by Mitch Brightmore’s X-GRIP team, this was later converted into a disqualification for the Bulgarian rider. SPEEDWEEK.com spoke exclusively to Manuel Lettenbichler.

Manuel, congratulations on another victory in Turkey. A clear lead at the finish, but obviously a hard-fought race too. Thank you ! I didn’t think it would turn out like this. Especially not after the ten-minute time penalty in the Forest Race, which meant I started in 15th place. I got off to a really good start, and I was already in the lead after two minutes. In the first canyon, I had a good battle with Teo, Mitch, Ashton and James. Then I was able to pull away with Teo, and we controlled the race from the front as best we could.

You got off to a great start. Was that the key to victory in the Mountain Race? Yes , you could say that. A good start always helps, and it was particularly important in that situation. Teo really pushed hard and didn’t give me a moment to catch my breath. He was always right behind me – it was an epic battle. Especially above the tree line, he kept closing in on me. Then he had the misfortune of getting a wire caught in his rear wheel. That gave me a bit of breathing space and I was then able to secure the win at the finish. In the end, the wire incident actually led to Teo being disqualified for ‘outside assistance’. I felt that was quite a harsh penalty for him.

How do you rate the time penalty at the Forest Race? For 200 ml of water on the brakes, a ten-minute time penalty was a bit harsh. It’s tricky. I think the FIM needs to take a look at this – particularly when it comes to time penalties – and sort it out. At the moment, ‘outside assistance’ can be penalised with anything from a ten-minute time penalty right up to disqualification. But there’s no gradation in between. I’d expected something like one or three minutes. So when they handed down ten minutes, I thought to myself: you lot aren’t quite playing fair.

The championship is now almost decided. Mitch only has a theoretical chance left. So will we be playing it safe at the Hixpania round in Spain? It’s all about riding cleanly, not making any mistakes and bringing the title home. That’s the plan, of course, and I hope it all works out. Anything is possible, anything can happen, and things can go wrong so quickly. That’s why we’ll drive the final race of the season safely and cleanly.

What changes do you see as absolutely essential for 2027? There are simply a few things that need to be organised in a structured way, from the calendar to the regulations, so that things are handled the same way at every race. At the moment, you have to read the specific rules for every race. In one race it’s one way, in another the mechanic is allowed to do this, but not that. That needs to be standardised. Communication within the World Championship as a whole simply needs to be improved too. Right down to smaller issues such as defined starts, so that they always proceed in the same way. Changes are needed here, and I also hope that cooperation between the promoter and the teams will improve.

2026 Hard Enduro World Championship – Overall standings after Round 7 (Sea to Sky):

Manuel Lettenbichler beim Sea to Sky

Foto: Red Bull