Red Bull Romaniacs, Day 2: Manuel Lettenbichler crushes Teo Kabakchiev

KTM works rider Manuel Lettenbichler once again treated spectators to a masterclass in hard enduro, particularly during the second half of the second day of off-road racing at the Red Bull Romaniacs. Teo Kabakchiev made life difficult for the rider from Kiefersfelden in the first half of the race up to the service point, with the pair separated by just seconds. At the finish, however, the Bulgarian on his Sherco was a full 12:19 min behind. In the overall standings, Kabakchiev now trails Lettenbichler by just under 20 min. Behind them, the top six remain unchanged from the first day of racing in Romania; Matthew Green, the third-fastest rider of the day, has overtaken Sonny Goggia once again and is now in 7th place. The battle for 4th and 5th places remains tight between Mitch Brightmore and James Moore, separated by 35 seconds.

In the LIVEmaniacs section – which bore similarities to ‘Carl’s Dinner’ at the Erzbergrodeo but was shorter and featured some challenging ascents and descents – it was once again evident just how fast the Bavarian’s seemingly calm and measured riding style really is. Kabakchiev lost a huge amount of time to Lettenbichler there due to mistakes. The young riders James Moore and the Brightmore brothers fared much better.

In the day’s rankings, the Italian Sherco rider Lorenzo Gandola made a strong move up the order (7th), whilst Moore this time left the two GASGAS riders, Ashton and Mitch Brightmore, behind him — the latter two just 14 seconds apart.

Manuel Lettenbichler: “It was incredibly fast again. Teo rode incredibly well at the start. The pace was insanely high, especially at the beginning. I’m glad to have that behind me now, because it was very tiring due to all the bumps at high speed.”

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