4 Musketeers win the 2015 Erzbergrodeo

The 2015 Erzbergrodeo exploded onto the Iron Mountain, Austria on Sunday 7th June.

Excitement grew over the 4 days of the festival beginning with the Rocket Ride Extreme Hillclimb. Ossi Reisinger was the winner and 17 year old Welsh Redneck Brad Williams was the runner up. Jimmy Verburgh was 3rd. 4th Michael Salbrechter, 5th Martin Ortner and 6th Nico Schwingenschlögl.

The 1500 entry was reduced to 500 starters over the 2 day Prologue. Jonny Walker set the fastest time in Friday's heat. Ossi Reisinger was runner up and Taddy Blazusiak was 3rd. Graham Jarvis was 11th, Andy Noakley 14th, en Hemingwat 27th, Aled Price 35th, Jonathan Richardson 47th, Dan Hemingway 52nd, Daryl Bolter 57th, Mark Jackson 58th, Gary Daniels 59th, Brad Williams 60th, Jack Lee 70th, Richard Ely 73rd, Jack Cadwallader 99th. On Saturday the riders had a 2nd chance to improve. Results 

The weather on Race Day was too good with temperatures in the will sapping 30s and the dust was brutal. With 31 finishers in 2014 the race director had added extra sections that made the 2015 36km course was a lot tougher.

The tension grew as the starters were buzzed by a RedBull fly past. The race was started by MX legend Hienz Kinigadner. 5 times winner Taddy Blazusiak took the holeshot but he collided with Jonny Walker on the first hill and looped out. Taddy was still carrying the cracked ribs he picked up at the EWC in Jerez and when the bike fell on his neck so he had to retire.

As the dust settled Jonny Walker had taken the lead. German rider Phillip Scholz was 2nd. Joakim Ljunggren was 3rd and Graham Jarvis 4th, Mario Roman did amazingly well to be in 5th with a heavily braced knee that he injured in the GP of Portugal. Dan Hemingway made his way up to 22nd from the 2nd row. Last year Dan was hit by a rolling rock and broke his leg.

30 minutes into the race Jonny Walker was on the Machine at the start of the No Help Zone. The obstacles were everywhere. The RedBull arch at the top of Wasserlietung was blocked with spectators offering extra grip. Philip Scholz dropped out the top 5 to 7th and 40 year old Graham Jarvis was in 2nd while 17 year old Manuel Lettenbichler was working his way into the top ten.

At the 45 minutes marker Jonny Walker led from Graham Jarvis by 4 minutes. Andreas Lettenbichler was 3rd and Alfredo Gomez was 4th in a reprise of the 2014 finishing order. Wade Young was 5th. Lars Enockl 6th and Mario Roman was putting his best foot forward in 7th.

In Carl's Diner the heat was radiating off the rocks. One of the Erzberg myths is that the section was named when Erbergrodeo founder Carl Katoch handed out bananas to keep riders going on the first running of the event - won by Alfie Cox. The entry to Carl's Diner was one of the steepest parts of the course. Jonny Walker and Graham Jarvis rode down the precipitous drop in a breathtaking demonstration of balance and braking. Andreas Lettenbichler was 3rd. He got off to walk his bike down. Alfredo Gomez in 4th went to walk his bike down but the crowd got behind him and he went down feet up to take 3rd until Letti responded by shifting from walking to sliding to re-take 3rd.

This year the rock garden was looped twice and effectively had to be ridden 3 times. Gomez moved up into 3rd. Ominously Jonny Walker's KTM began to steam. 3 riders - Lars Enockl, Phillip Scholz and Manuel Lettenbichler - were disqualified for removing their helmets while sitting on thsir bikes.

After one and half hours only 3 minutes separated the top 3 of Walker. Jarvis and Gomez. After 2 hours 32 riders had entered Karl's Diner. 

At the Cuckoos Nest hillclimb all the bikes were launched in the air in the traditional Hail Mary but Jonny Walker fell backwards and he lost time. Graham Jarvis made the most of the opportunity and he passed Walker on the climb to checkpoint 18 when Jonny dropped his bike and punctured his radiator. The checkpoint marshal did his best to hide in the trees but with his history Graham Jarvis sought him out. Alfredo Gomez moved up into 2nd.

At the Killing Leap the 2 Husqvarna riders struggled in a wet stream called Downtown and Gomez threatened to take the lead but in a sport with a capital "S" the 2 riders decided to team up and help each other. Jonny Walker arrived and the 3 riders plus a rope worked together. After 20 minutes the trio decided to sit down and have a picnic.

With the 3 top riders taking 50 minutes to move one bike 20 feet the excitement had peaked. Andreas Lettenbichler and Wade Young arrived and joined the party. Unfortunately Young had missed a check. After an hour and 20 minutes the riders found some rideable going but clearly the race was over as the 5  cruised to the finish.. 

When Mario Roman got to the Killing Leap he was Billy No Mates until retired rider Aled Price stepped forward with a rope and some Welsh muscle. With time running out Checkpoint 22 Lazy Noon was scrapped. 

Behind the leaders Joakin Ljunggren. the Hemingway brothers were making progress in 6th 7th and 8th. Young Brit Jonathan Richardson was 9th and Scott Bouverie was 10th. Andy Noakley was 32nd, Gary Daniels 47th, Chris Windle 56th. Daryl Bolter (58th) was riding in his first Erzbergrodeo. Keelan Hancock was 64th and Ian Martin was 82nd. Brad Williams was inside the top 20 at one point but he got stuck in Carl's Diner and finished 83rd alongside Ross Hancock 84th. David Dudley was 104th, Jack Cadwallader 131st, Anton Ferris 163rd, Richard Ely 174th, Mike Pye 190th, Sam Skyrme 193rd, Alex Owen 229th, Gethin Francombe 229th, Mark Kirby 241st, Gary McCoy 255th, Phillip Wiffen 258th, Colin Blunt 268th, Dean Johnson 269th, Chris Kelly 296th, Matthew Davies 298th, Matthew Coles 345th, Mark Jackson finished in 236th and then went spotting for Jonny Walker in Carl's Diner. Jack Lee was 347th. Luke Thomas 384th, Tommy Cadwallader 409th, James Hitchcox 410th,  Harry Eccles 418th and Aled Price was 447th

Alfredo Gomez was the first to tackle Dynamite. Graham Jarvis made the top at his second attempt as Mario Roman arrived. Six riders crossed the finish line within the 4 hour limit. Graham Jarvis, Alfredo Gomez, Jonny Walker and Andreas Lettenbichler were all declared winners. Mario Roman finished runner up and 5th.

Graham Jarvis: “It’s been a bit of a strange Red Bull Hare Scramble. What can I say really – four winners. I finally got a decent start and was riding well. I knew Jonny would charge in the early sections so I didn’t panic, as I knew the race was going to be a hard one. He had a problem and when we got to Carl’s Diner the gap was two minutes. I could see him. I took another few seconds from him there and shortly after Carl’s Diner he had stopped to fix his radiator and I got into the lead. But then we arrived to this secret new section called Downtown. It was an impossible hill climb with virgin terrain. I tried 10 times to get up it but it was impossible. Alfredo arrived second and we talked about what to do, we decided to team up but ended up needing Jonny, Letti and Wade Young to get up the hill. For me the race ended there as we all rode together back to the finish. It’s an odd way to win a race but I’m happy to make it back to the finish in one piece.”

Alfredo Gomez: “Days don’t come much harder than this. It’s nice to win but of course I’d prefer to win on my own. Overall I can take away the fact that I was riding well despite some early mistakes. My start wasn’t great and I really had to play catch up because of it. I didn’t make it up the first climb and needed a second try. And the final quarry climb also took two goes so I lost a lot of time early on. I thought to myself I’ve got to push hard. Up until Carl’s Diner I was riding well and making the time back. As I dropped into it I could see Graham wasn’t too far ahead and when we exited it, I closed up a little bit more. Afterwards I saw Jonny stopped and I’m thinking I can win. But Downtown killed the race for me. Graham was there and there was no way up alone. We talked about what to do, so Graham, Jonny, Letti and myself all teamed up and got through it. After that we rode to the finish as four winners. I’m happy to win, pleased with how I rode, but disappointed with how the race changed at the end.”

Jonny Walker said: “ I made a good start and early on I pushed really hard. I got a five-minute lead then I made a stupid mistake on one of the hills and I lost maybe 3-4 minutes. That allowed Graham (Jarvis) to catch me. I tried to push but I had a small crash and dented the radiator and it was letting water out. Graham and Gomez passed me, and then we all got stuck on this hill. We talked and decided to pull each other up and ride to the finish. It was by far the hardest Erzberg I have ever done.”

Andreas Lettenbichler agreed. “ It was a really tough one. This is my tenth edition and today was the hardest. This one “Downtown’ section was impossible to ride and we had to help each other. Everyone was completely exhausted after this section and it was too dangerous to have a restart. It was an incredible race, difficult but I’m happy.”

KTM Factory Team Manager Alex Doringer: “Sunday’s race was very special and it was more difficult with this extreme temperature. I didn’t see it, but I heard that Taddy and Jonny came together on the first uphill and I am sorry about what happened to Taddy when he crashed. This is racing and it happens, but he’s a five-time winner and he’s the king here at this event. The last part where they got stuck was really difficult but I am happy that we made an agreement with our riders that they would help each other to finish. I also want to give a big thanks to Carl (Katoch), his wife, Martin Kettner and everyone involved. The organization was fantastic.”

Heinz Kinigadner, (KTM Factory Racing Motorsport consultant) said Erzberg had once again lived up to its reputation as the toughest extreme enduro. He added that it was on also good to see that fairness emerged above sporting ambition and that four winners were declared. “ Too bad it didn’t come to a duel with Taddy,” he added. “But except for headache and neck pain he is okay and is already on his way to Munich for the flight back home to Spain. I am especially happy for Letti (Lettenbichler), who has his long deserved victory after many podiums.”

Results pending