Red Bull Romaniacs 2018 Day 1 | Lettenbichler wins stage

Red Bull Romaniacs 2018 Day One

Lettenbichler wins off-road day one

Wade Young takes overall lead

Memories of the 2010 edition of Red Bull Romaniacs came to the forefront of veteran competitors minds overnight as heavy overnight rain saw the first main off-road day of competition get underway in slippery and muddy conditions that quickly turned in to a quagmire. Organisers had their own problems today and all the following results should be treated as provisional at this stage.

Red Bull Romaniacs Day Pol Tarres — Pol Tarres

The starting order for the day was defined by the opening prologue stage the day before.

Taddy Blazusiak would go first, followed by Wade Young, Billy Bolt, Manuel Lettenbichler (Mini Letti) and Jonny Walker.

Red Bull Romaniacs Day Manuel Lettenbichler — Manuel Lettenbichler

Gold class competitors were first away along with Bronze class while the Silver category competitors were flagged awat 30 minutes later followed by Iron.

Competitors, all too aware that weather is a key factor in enduro, set out into the wilderness in wet and foggy conditions, heading into an old, dark forest right after the start.

Red Bull Romaniacs Day Various — Red Bull Romaniacs

Motivation was high and the best times after the start (reported from “The frog valley”) came in from Wade Young, Jonny Walker and Travis Teasdale.

Red Bull Romaniacs Day Taddy Blazusiak — Taddy Blazusiak

Later in the morning, Jonny Walker started pulling some of the best times, followed by Travis, Mario Roman and David Cyprian.

Red Bull Romaniacs Day David Cyprian — David Cyprian

After the Service Point and all the way to the finish, the “Young Guns” Mini Letti and Wade Young dominated the day and battled it out like Jarvis and Walker the years before.

Red Bull Romaniacs Day Wade Young — Wade Young

Both (Mini and Wade) are known for loving the fast sections and for “pinning it”. They were rewarded with a first place (Mini) and a second (Young).

Jonny Walker was hot on their heels throughout the day, not letting them out of his reach. Even though Jonny considered himself having made too many mistakes during the day, he finished a strong 3rd and appears to be quite charged for the next three days of the usual Red Bull Romaniacs “Enduro mayhem”.

The “King” Graham Jarvis, started from 7th position and was seen slightly caught aback by the cold weather during the first liaison. Once he had ploughed through that sector, feeling cold was not a problem anymore… He started increasing his rhythm in the 2nd half of the day, building the foundation for his strategy to win the race. Jarvis finished fourth but reported some fatigue issues.

Red Bull Romaniacs Day Graham Jarvis — Graham Jarvis

The leading Australian remains Tim Coleman who is now 26th overall while countryman Grady Byrne moved up to 30th place.

In the silver category Adam Giles is 4th while Robert Nowak slipped to 10th after some sort of infection sapped his energy levels, countryman Jason Dwyer is 11th in the silver category.

Glenn Edwards is the leading Australian in the Bronze class while Robert Kingston is eighth in the Iron category.

Red Bull Romaniacs Day Paul Bolton — Paul Bolton

The top riders didn’t seem to be fazed by the slippery ups and downs, they rode the sections such as “600cc”, “Better stay dry” and “Forgotten trail” without any problems. The same could not be said for the Silver Class who were finding it difficult to negotiate their bikes in a straight line without them sliding out sideways down the steep hills.

The Bronze class riders were in for a bit of a “massacre” due to the weather conditions and had their proper Red Bull Romaniacs treatment all day long. They still managed to bravely make it through the day despite being caked in mud from head to toe.

The numerous fans on site were offering much appreciated helping hands, themselves braving the weather to get stuck in.