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Red Bull Romaniacs 2015 - All new but not different Tougher than ever on the riders - easier on service crews and spectators All of them are going to be facing one of the tougher editions of the Red Bull Romaniacs, a race that is already considered one of the world`s most brutal Enduro tests. For most of the starters, getting through one of the four Offroad Days will be a somewhat manageable task. But getting up early the next morning and getting back on the bike to complete the 600km race track, is a different story… With increased difficulty levels for the different classes and especially the Gold class, getting through the sections will be even harder in 2015. The team around track director Klaus Sorensen kept themselves busy all year long to scout and puzzle-together trails, that “normal” people would refuse to walk. As usual, they contain everything from hidden, old Roman roads, wood-pulling lines, goat trails, unforgiving rivers and straight vertical lines through forests and across mountain ranges. At the same time, the organizers invested significant effort into making the race more fluent and increase the separation of the field of riders: The tracks of the different classes are more widely spread out and will be better isolated from each other. At the same time, the starts of the Gold and Bronze class have been put together to allow longer starting intervals - which will further separate the individual riders. Out there, on the track, in sections that face a certain potential to cause bottlenecks, alternative lines have been prepared for the riders with the best terrain-reading skills. For those with less good eyes some alternative lines will even be marked… Additional efforts were also invested into cleaning trails: increasing visibility, rideability and removing (unwanted…) obstacles. Two crews were deployed for 30 working days to clean 100km of trails. The 2015 track team, managed by track director Klaus Sorensen (DK): Eric Themel (AT), Donato Gomez Jarque (ES), Magnus Grönberg (SE), Andras Elek "Bondi" (HU), Radu Zicu (RO), Harry Neumayr (AT), Radu Brumar (RO), Adi Mihu (RO), Mike Skinner (NZ). Prologue: Andy Fazekas (RO). The race management around Martin Frein Freinademetz decided to keep the 2015 Red Bull Romaniacs 100% based in Sibiu. There will be no out of town overnight bivouacs - in favor of making general logistics easier. This will be a significant relief for the riders, the service crews, spectators and media. Especially spectators and media will enjoy the much better access to watch the performance of the riders. The spectator points will be released two weeks prior the event on www.redbullromaniacs.com . The “ones to watch”: The Red Bull Romaniacs is a race for extreme Enduro riders of all levels and the organizers take pride in pushing each of them beyond their known limits. Each of the classes have their heroes - but the top guns of the Gold glass will again set the bar of what is possible in extreme Enduro. They will be confronted with new levels of “impossible” - sections that even the organizers consider hard to pass without help. And there are some scores to settle: Former “King of the Carpathians” and four times Red Bull Romaniacs winner Graham Jarvis was kicked off his throne by youngster Jonny Walker in 2014 - after dueling with him over the whole race distance. He is going to want to make a point that this was an exception, and that his days as “No. 1” are far from over. As youngest rider ever, Wade Young made it onto the podium in 2014, finishing overall third before Paul Bolton and Andreas Lettenbichler - both will be quite committed to correct their position in the food chain of extreme Enduro. They might get their plan spoiled by Alfredo Gomez, who finished 2nd in 2013 - as Red Bull Romaniacs-rookie and one of the biggest “podium surprises” in the history of the event. He will come well prepared and itching to reclaim a place on the podium - after he missed out in 2014 because of an accident briefly before the race. Data / Riders / Countries / Track Details: Offroad Day One: |
