The third day of Red Bull Romaniacs has been by far the cruelest. However, despite the extreme toughness, Graham Jarvis has once again worn stripes against a combative Lettenbichler.
The third day of the 17th edition of the Red Bull Romaniacs, located in the Cugir-Șugag area, presented the drivers with a very cold and humid morning. The hardest day of this Vertical Madness edition got even tougher after the heavy rains the night before. In order to ensure the safety of the participants, the track managers went into action during the early hours of the morning to eliminate some of the more technical areas that would have become impossible or would have used up every ounce of energy from the competitors. . Despite this, today’s tracks were by far the most difficult of all and left the first swords exhausted at the end of the stage.
Manuel Lettenbichler (DEU / KTM) was the first to start, having won yesterday and being in the first position of the general classification so far, followed by Wade Young (ZAF / Sherco), 3 minutes behind and Graham Jarvis (GBR / Husqvarna) another six minutes from the German; then came Alredo Gómez (ESP / Husqvarna), Billy Bolt (GBR / Husqvarna) and Mario Román (ESP / Sherco).
Letti started the first part of the day well, managing to keep his distance from the rest of the pack during the first two checkpoints. However, Lettenbichler’s pace was less and Jarvis took advantage of it to steal first place and prominence. Jarvis put all his skills on the table. At checkpoint 3 he was only 1 minute behind and at checkpoint 4 the same thing happened yesterday, both riding shoulder to shoulder, but this time keeping a good distance with the rest of their rivals.
Letti started the first part of the day well, managing to keep his distance from the rest of the pack during the first two checkpoints. However, Lettenbichler’s pace was less and Jarvis took advantage of it to steal first place and prominence. Jarvis put all his skills on the table. At checkpoint 3 he was only 1 minute behind and at checkpoint 4 the same thing happened yesterday, both riding shoulder to shoulder, but this time keeping a good distance with the rest of their rivals.
Things didn’t work out so well for Alfredo Gómez, who made some mistakes that cost him valuable minutes. Despite their efforts, neither Young nor Bolt managed to threaten the top two drivers, who today appeared to be in another league. Mani tried to shake off Jarvis and had moments when he chose the best lines and broke away from Husqvarna’s easily, but the veteran’s experience and impeccable technique thwarted all attempts. It was Graham Jarvis who descended the steep slope to the finish line first, followed a few seconds later by Manuel Lettenbichler and then Mario Roman, who regained his confidence and had an excellent race today, starting 6th and finishing 3rd.
Judging from the overall standings, it looks like there will be a Vertical Madness 2020 title match tomorrow. Jarvis and Letti are separated by just 25 seconds in favor of Jarvis, who will also start first tomorrow. It is hard to believe that Wade Young, 13 minutes 56 behind the leader or Alfredo Gómez, 14 minutes and 48 seconds behind, can still get the first place, but in hard enduro there have been miracles, or mistakes, before and the title is in play until the last second.
The fourth and final day of the toughest hard enduro rally in the world will start tomorrow at 07:45 in Sibiu county. The Gold class riders have 107 km of tracks ahead of them and will finish in the Plaza de la Estación, on the top floor of a building under construction. As is tradition, Andy Fazekas, Red Bull Romaniacs course designer, has drawn the final outcome of the final day. The fastest estimated time is 4 hours and 40 minutes. Tomorrow the participants of the Silver class have 108 km, the Bronze class 111 km while in the Iron and Atom classes it will be 87 km and 71 km, respectively.