DIRT NEWS

Austria ’ s infamous Erzbergrodeo to claim his second victory in a row in the race . The defending champion powered to victory up the ‘ Iron Giant ’ ahead of Husqvarna ’ s Billy Bolt and fellow KTM rider Trystan Hart . Of 500 starters , just 17 managed to finish the gruelling course containing 27 checkpoints across varied terrain within the four-hour race time limit . With his second Red Bull Erzbergrodeo win in a row , Lettenbichler became the seventh person in 27 editions of the race to etch his name on the face of the mountain more than once . The 25-year-old trailed Great Britain ’ s Billy Bolt for much of the race before a decisive pass in the latter stages sealed victory for the German . Canadian Trystan Hart rode home in third for the second successive year . It was Trystan Hart who moved into an early lead with Mani right behind his KTM teammate , but at around 20 minutes into the race Lettenbichler pushed back in front , only to then lose his advantage to long-standing rival Billy Bolt . As the race entered the woods , Lettenbichler came into his own and put in a masterclass of hard enduro skill , strength , and technique to retake the lead and open up a sizeable gap to the chasing pack .

Riding smoothly and without incident , Lettenbichler completed the remaining kilometres of the course , including the tricky signature sections , to ultimately take the win by an impressive 11 minutes over the second-placed rider . Manuel Lettenbichler now has two wins from two starts in his 2023 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship campaign and is well on the way to successfully defending his 2022 title . “ I can ’ t believe it ! After the start , I was following Trystan , just conserving my energy a little , but then Billy passed me and looked really strong ,” explained Lettenbichler . “ He opened up a bit of a gap , but I knew I had to stay focused and ride my own race . When we got into the dirt of the hills , I knew I ’ d be able to make up some time , and thankfully it all came good . I was able to get back into the lead . After that , I just continued to maintain that solid pace and brought it home at the end . The new bike was incredible . We worked a lot over the winter , and it seems to have paid off as it felt perfect out there today .” In what proved a career-best result at the Red Bull Erzbergrodeo , Husqvarna Factory Racing ’ s Billy Bolt finished in second place behind fierce

KIWI RIDER 21