Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Manuel Lettenbichler claimed victory at the fourth round of the 2026 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship, dominating the inaugural Forza Orza in Orsa, Sweden, August 20-22. Fresh from his record-equaling seventh Red Bull Romaniacs victory, the German continued his winning momentum aboard his KTM 300 EXC to secure another valuable haul of championship points.
Photos by Future7Media
The Forza Orza began with Thursday’s Prologue, where Lettenbichler recorded the fifth-fastest time in the short-format opener. Friday’s one-hour sprint race then saw “Mani” fight his way to second place, behind Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Billy Bolt, setting himself up strongly for Saturday’s two-hour main race.
Lettenbichler delivered a dominant performance in Saturday’s main race, immediately establishing himself at the front and steadily building his advantage throughout the race. By lap eight, Mani had opened up a commanding six-and-a-half-minute lead, but a crash caused a small technical issue with his bike.
Refusing to give up the advantage he had built, Lettenbichler rejoined the race. Despite the setback, the German held his nerve to cross the finish line first with a three-and-a-half-minute advantage over GasGas rider Mitch Brightmore of Great Britain, securing his third FIM Hard Enduro World Championship victory of the season. Ashton Brightmore (GasGas) was third.
Stark’s Eddie Karlsson was fourth, and Bolt rounded out the top five after suffering a big crash on the second lap. Mario Roman (Husqvarna) was sixth and the last racer to complete all 10 laps.
“Yeah, it was a crazy race, honestly,” Mani said. “The weather changed the track quite a lot, and I didn’t expect it to be so slippery, so we had to push hard to get the win. I’m really happy with the result, especially because it’s good for the championship and we were able to gain some points on Mitch [Brightmore], who is riding really well at the moment. I felt good throughout the race, but then on the second-to-last lap I had a huge crash in the traffic. It was a bit of a mess, and unfortunately the crash caused me some problems. I was pretty nervous that Mitch might catch me, but I kept pushing and we still finished first.”
The result sees Lettenbichler extend his lead in the championship standings to 15 points at the halfway stage of the season. With four rounds remaining, the reigning champion is ideally placed to continue his title defense, with the next round taking place at the Abestone Hard Enduro in Italy on September 4-6.CN
2026 FIM Hard Enduro Round 4 Results
OVERALL (Top 10)
- Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM)
- Mitch Brightmore (GG)
- Ashton Brightmore (GG)
- Eddie Karlsson (Sta)
- Billy Bolt (Hus)
- Mario Roman (Hus)
- James Moore (Bet)
- Lorenzo Gandola (She)
- Matthew Green (KTM)
- Thomas Scales (Bet)
