Cycle News Staff | May 23, 2023
Manuel Lettenbichler won the opening round of the 2023 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship in Serbia, May 18-21. The Red Bull KTM Team rider topped the four-day Xross Hard Enduro Rally with a 33-minute gap over his nearest river, Sherco’s Mario Roman.
Marking the first race of this year’s seven-round FIM Hard Enduro World Championship, the Xross Hard Enduro Rally got underway with a short Endurocross-style prologue on the streets of Zlatibor. Three full days of challenging racing then followed, held in the region’s mountains with each of the three legs covering 60 miles.
After claiming fourth in the prologue, Lettenbichler made his intentions for victory clear on off-road day one by mastering the wet and demanding conditions to bring his KTM 300 EXC home well over 12 minutes ahead of the rest of the field. A close runner-up result on day two saw “Mani” finish just five seconds behind Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) and, in doing so, the German extended his overall lead to 25 minutes.
Day three dawned with great weather, and, once again, Lettenbichler captured another day win. Topping the timesheets by a further two minutes and 37 seconds, the series defending champ secured the event victory and his place at the top of the FIM Hard Enduro standings.
“It’s been an amazing day for me today,” Lettenbichler said on Sunday. “I’m pretty stoked! I’m a little overwhelmed, but it’s great to get my championship off to a strong start like this. I’m super happy with my riding all weekend—it’s been consistent, and I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit. Obviously, it’s the best start I could make to this year’s series, but it’s only the first race. We’ve still got a long season ahead, and I’ll just take it all race by race, as anything can happen in hard enduro, as we often see.”
Canadian and AMA champ Trystan Hart was fourth overall. After a strong start to the race in the prologue, the FMF KTM Factory Racing Team rider, Hart, endured a day to forget on Thursday, day one, where, after drowning his bike in one of the rivers and losing over 20 minutes, he had to settle for sixth place, over 24 minutes down on Lettenbichler. The Canadian pushed hard on days two and three to ultimately secure fourth overall.
“My last day here in Serbia has been a bit up and down—kind of like the whole race actually,” Hart said. “I have to take a lot of positives away, though, to be fighting for the podium after drowning my bike so early on the first day shows I have the pace to mix it with these guys.” CN
OVERALL
- Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM)
- Mario Roman (She)
- Teodor Kabakchiev (KTM)
- Trystan Hart (KTM)
- Michael Walkner (GG)
Tasmin Jones Receives First Women’s Hard Enduro Performance Award supported by GasGas
This is a press release from WESS…
Zlatibor, Serbia (May 23, 2023) — The opening round of this year’s FIM Hard Enduro World Championship saw Britain’s Tamsin Jones take the all-new Women’s Hard Enduro Performance Award supported by GASGAS. Battling her way through four tough days of Hard Enduro racing in Serbia, Jones placed as the top performing female rider in the Xross Hard Enduro Rally.
Tamsin Jones passion about two wheels began at the age of 24, after 5 years of racing downhill Mountain bikes. She made history as the first Welsh female competitor to finish the Dakar Rally. She also finished Red Bull Romaniacs in 2013. However, a focus on family life put racing on hold for a few years. For Tasmin Jones, competing at round one of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship was an opportunity too good to resist. The chance to come back to Hard Enduro and experience all that the Serbian mountains had to offer was what round one was all about for her.
Hard Enduro is one physically demanding motorcycle sport! Pushing both rider and machine to their absolute limits, it takes no prisoners. But it’s extremely rewarding too. Often people become focused on ‘the result’ when it comes to competition, but outside of the podium contenders there are hundreds of competitors whose goal of completing the event is like a victory in itself.
“Hard Enduro is pretty special,” tells Tasmin. “There’re not many other sports in the world where you can race across the top of a mountain one minute and around city streets the next.
“I didn’t have any expectations coming to Serbia, I just wanted to finish the race. Being able to pick a category that matches my ability is huge too, it makes it enjoyable. There’re tough bits, really tough bits, but lots of awesome riding.”
Commenting on her achievement, Jones expressed her gratitude and shared her vision for the future of women in hard enduro: “I am incredibly honored to receive the Women’s Hard Enduro Award. This recognition is not just for me but for all the incredible women who have defied expectations and embraced the challenges of this sport. I hope this award inspires more women to join the hard enduro community, and together, we can continue to push the boundaries and elevate women’s presence in this exhilarating discipline.”
The FIM Hard Enduro World Championship continues with round two at Austria’s Red Bull Erzbergrodeo on June 8-11.