Red Bull Romaniacs 2022 Final Report, Results, Points

news7g07/31/2022

19 7 minutes read

Red Bull Romaniacs 2022

Off-Road Day Four Report/Results

Proving yet again that there is no telling what he’s capable of, Graham Jarvis has won the fifth round of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship, while also claiming a record-breaking seventh Red Bull Romaniacs victory. Five years since his previous win (and 14 years since his first!) Graham was back on the top step of the world’s toughest Hard Enduro Rallye podium.

Graham Jarvis won his seventh Red Bull Romaniacs race at the age of 47 - Red Bull Romaniacs 2022 — Graham Jarvis won his seventh Red Bull Romaniacs race at the age of 47

In what’s been a stellar week for the Jarvis Racing Team privateer, Graham arrived at the final Offroad Day knowing that he had a comfortable lead over Teodor Kabakchiev in second. Later admitting to feeling fatigued, the 47-year-old played his cards just right. Finding a comfortable, but competitive pace, he quietly went about his business.

Red Bull Romaniacs 2022 — Graham Jarvis suffered a serious knee injury in this race last year, but was on incredible form all week to win. The Husqvarna rider led home Bulgarian Teodor Kabakchiev and new FIM Hard Enduro World Championship leader Roman to complete the podium.

Ticking off checkpoint after checkpoint without trouble, he moved himself closer to that elusive seventh win. Arriving at the finishing arena in Gusterita with time to spare, he calmly scaled the infamous final climb to cross the finish line as the overall winner. One year since he exited the race with a badly injured knee, Graham has firmly put that memory behind him. He also proves himself as a serious contender in this year’s championship fight.

For Teodor Kabakchiev, the final day of racing in Romania delivered him his debut Red Bull Romaniacs podium and second top-three FIM Hard Enduro result of 2022. However, the young Bulgarian was not settling for second and hit the ground running this morning to try and pull time back on Jarvis. Four minutes quicker than Graham during the early sections, Teodor impressed. But in the end, Graham’s advantage would be too much and he had to settle for the runner-up position.

Signing off on an incredibly solid week of riding, Sherco Factory Racing’s Mario Roman completed the top three overall at round five. The Spaniard was riding strong today, picking up two checkpoint wins for second place on Offroad Day 4. Now, more importantly, third overall moves him back into the overall lead in this year’s title fight.

Behind the top three, the fight for fourth and fifth was set to go down to the wire between GASGAS’ Michael Walkner and FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Trystan Hart. Walkner had jumped ahead of the Canadian on Offroad Day 3, but Hart was not ready to give up the fight. A strong start this morning saw him place second fastest at the first checkpoint, before going on to top checkpoint eight and 10 in the afternoon. Walkner was giving chase to Hart, but then injured his foot before the service point and started to lose ground. Seeing his advantage slip, Walkner ultimately gave way to Hart and the KTM racer took fourth overall.

On the day it was Manuel Lettenbichler who won the fourth and final Offroad Day. Eager to end round five on a high, Mani blitzed the middle part of the day to open up a two-minute winning margin. Still reeling from his two-hour penalty sustained on Offroad Day 1, the German ended his race just outside the top five in sixth.

Lettenbichler started the race in the perfect way by winning the prologue stage in downtown Sibiu, but trouble struck on the first off-road day when his KTM’s clutch developed a problem that he needed outside assistance to fix. As a result, he was handed a two-hour time penalty for the help he received.

Graham Jarvis (Husqvarna) – P1

“It’s such an incredible feeling to win Red Bull Romaniacs again. I’ve done it seven times now, I don’t know what to say! In a race like this it takes a lot of effort all week to be there every day and I managed that. After last year’s knee injury I wasn’t sure how well I’d come back and if I’d be competitive again. It’s been a full year’s work, but I’ve done it. Not just getting back on the podium, but the top step too. Jarvis Racing Team is a full privateer effort, the guys around me are doing it because they love Hard Enduro as much as I do, so this win is for them as much as it is mine!”

Taking the win in Romania for an incredible seventh time was Graham Jarvis.

Teodor Kabakchiev (KTM) – P2

“To get my first Red Bull Romaniacs podium is something special for sure. I’ve followed this race and these Hard Enduro legends since I was a kid, so being on the podium is amazing. The gap to Graham was big, but you never know what can happen in Hard Enduro, so I raced hard on the final day.”

Mario Roman (Sherco) – P3

“I’m super happy with third overall and finishing on the podium. Today was probably the hardest day of the week, the uphill sections just kept coming one after the other. All week my pace was pretty solid, but hats off to Teodor he was riding well. And Graham, well he’s just as amazing as ever. Overall it’s been a good result for the championship too. I’m now leading. Let’s hope I can build on that in the USA.”

31-year-old Spaniard Mario Roman is the new FIM Hard Enduro World Championship championship leader after round five with pre-event title leader Billy Bolt missing due to injury

Trystan Hart (KTM) – P4

“It’s been a heck of a week, so to come away with fourth overall in my second attempt at Red Bull Romaniacs is incredible. A definite highlight for sure was finishing Offroad Day 1 in third, that was a real surprise. I had some ups and downs along the way. I feel like I’m still figuring out some stuff. I’m comfortable on the technical climbs, but need more work on the high speed stuff. It’s crazy how hard the top guys are pushing on that terrain. I’ve got two home rounds coming up now in the USA and Canada, so I’m definitely excited for those.”

Completing his second appearance at Red Bull Romaniacs in an excellent fourth place, FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Trystan Hart built his pace as the event continued. Lying fifth at the close of day three, the young Canadian made the best use of his technical abilities over the rugged Romanian terrain and conserved his energy to move up one place overall on day four. In finishing the final day less than four minutes down on winner Lettenbichler, Hart was able to claim fourth overall at the checkered flag and secure his best result in the world’s toughest hard enduro rallye.

Michael Walkner (GASGAS) – P5

“It’s been a big week at Red Bull Romaniacs, but one of my best yet. I felt good all week and I feel like I’ve been able to step things up again in my riding. I was fighting hard all the way, never too far from the podium. After yesterday’s strong ride I was pushing as hard as I could today and unfortunately paid the price a little. I think I might have broken my foot as it’s hurting a lot! But I was able to ride on and knew the finish line wasn’t too far away, so I didn’t stop. Overall, I’m proud of my result, fifth overall is my best ever finish at Romaniacs.”

24-year-old Michael Walkner gave it everything he had, but unfortunately injured his foot. Knowing the checkered flag wasn’t far away, he focused on finishing and did so with a strong sixth place. Dropping to fifth overall was unfortunate but nevertheless, it was another impressive showing for the rising star.

Manuel Lettenbichler – P6

“I’m stoked with how I rode here at Romaniacs, it’s such a cool event and so good to see riders from so many nationalities competing. Obviously, it was tough to have the issue on day one and get the penalty so early on, but if nothing else it just motivated me to push hard throughout the rest of the race. The final day was tough, we hit a massive uphill early on and after that there were a few really technical sections. Thankfully, it’s been dry and so there was plenty of grip out there, if it had been wet if could have been a lot different. I’m second in the championship and there are only a few points in it. We head to TKO next, which I really enjoyed last year, so I’ll give it my best there again and keep fighting to the end of the year.”