2018 Red Bull Romaniacs Hard Enduro WESS Final Results

Cycle News Staff | July 28, 2018

“I can’t believe it, I am over the moon to have won.”

Those were the words from South Africa’s Wade Young (Sherco) after securing the Gold-class victory and overall win at the Red Bull Romaniacs Hard Enduro, round four of the 2018 World Enduro Super Series (WESS), July 28. “It’s been such a long race and so tough.”

Wade Young Wins Red Bull Romaniacs Hard Enduro 2018

Wade Young wins Red Bull Romaniacs 2018 — **Wade Young celebrates the win at Off-Road Day 4 at Red Bull Romaniacs in Sibiu, Romania on July 28, 2018.** Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

After Tuesday’s prologue, the race got underway Wednesday and concluded Saturday with Young taking second place to final stage winner, German Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM), who was just under two minutes quicker than Young on the day, but that wasn’t enough to prevent Young from clinching the overall victory with more than two minutes to spar.

Third on the day and third for week was Great Britain’s Jonny Walker (KTM) who finished well ahead of fellow countryman Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) and Spain’s Alfredo Gomez (Husqvarna), who rounded out the top five overall.

“Manni (Lettenbichler) caught me early on today,” Young said. “He would gap me on the hills and then I would have to charge on the fast sections to reel him back in. It went like that for the whole day right until the last couple of checkpoints where I was able to break away from him before the finish. It’s always been my goal to win here and now I’ve managed to tick that box. It’s the toughest race in the world and it feels awesome to have won it.”

“That was so gnarly,” Lettenbichler said. “Wade and myself pushed hard today and rode it like a motocross race—a six-hour motocross! I gave my best to try and keep him behind me, but every time I gapped him, he fought back. My strength this year was on the hills—I think that comes down to training, good bike set up and determination. With a podium result at three rounds of the WESS championship things are starting to look good. Jonny has a bit of an advantage, but the gap is reducing.”

Despite finishing third, Walker still leads the 2018 WESS Championship, followed by Lettenbichler, Bolt and Young.

Red Bull Romaniacs Hard Enduro

RESULTS: July 28, 2018

Gold Class

Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM – GER) 4:58:48; 2. Wade Young (Sherco – RSA) 5:00:37; 3. Jonny Walker (KTM – GB) 5:06:17; 4. Alfredo Gomez (Husqvarna – ESP) 5:19:23; 5. Billy Bolt (Husqvarna – GB) 5:24:48; 6. David Cyprian (KTM – CZE) 5:56:18; 7. Paul Bolton (KTM – GB) 5:56:31; 8. Blake Gutzeit (Yamaha – RSA) 5:56:45; 9. Mario Roman (Sherco – ESP) 6:01:09; 10. Philipp Scholz (KTM – DEU) 6:17:53…

Silver Class

Michael Walkner (AUT) 4:44:27; 2. Josu Artola (ESP) 4:53:10; 3. Dieter Rudolf (AUT) 4:53:48; 4. Dave Wood (GBR) 5:16:54; 5. Stefan Simpson (GBR) 5:18:22…

Bronze Class

Fausto Mota (PRT) 4:13:11; 2. Jean-Michel Vigand (FRA) 4:24:50; 3. Gianino Coscarelli (BRA) 4:34:27; 4. Milos Novakovic (SVN) 4:35:48; 5. Gethin Francombe (GBR) 4:37:18…

Iron Class

Mindaugas Simkevicius (LTU) 4:18:00; 2. Markus Oberndorfer (AUT) 4:20:58; 3. Antanas Lucinskas (LTU) 4:28:04; 4. Timothy Lightfoot (AUS) 4:45:44; 5. Markus Beeler (CHE) 4:46:20…

Provisional Final Overall Classification