Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Manuel Lettenbichler has made it four wins out of four races in this year’s FIM Hard Enduro World Championship with a dominant victory at Red Bull Outliers in Canada. Claiming victory in the prologue, followed by a storming ride to the top step of the podium in the main race, Mani further increased his lead in the 2023 series standings. FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Trystan Hart delivered a strong performance on home soil to secure third.
Saturday at Red Bull Outliers saw the intense and spectacular endurocross-style prologue in downtown Calgary. Working his way through the heats and semi-finals, Mani stayed smooth and consistent on the tricky obstacles of the course. Ultimately, that strategy paid off for the young German as he put in a cool, calm ride in the final to take the win and with it, the valuable three championship points.
Starting from pole on Sunday’s main race, held in the Canadian Badlands, Mani got off to a great start and along with championship rival Billy Bolt, began to gap the rest of the field. Three laps in and Mani had also gained a sizeable advantage on Bolt, again staying smooth on the steep, slippery hill climbs and making the very minimum of errors.
Cresting the final climb to the finish line, Mani took the win by an impressive 41 seconds from Bolt to keep his 100 percent win record intact. The reigning champion now looks ahead to the fifth and penultimate round of the series – the Hixpania Hard Enduro in mid-October.
Manuel Lettenbichler: “I’m so happy to take the win here in Canada, it feels awesome! I managed to get up most of the hills without any problem and that helped me to conserve as much energy as possible. I bent my handlebars pretty good on one of the last uphills so that was a bit of a worry. Being the first to reach some of the sections was a bit of a disadvantage, because it was so slippery. Four wins in a row now, I’m speechless.”
After claiming a solid third in the prologue, FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Trystan Hart headed to the main race aiming to repeat his performance of 2022 and take the fight for victory right to the final hill. A tough start to the enduro however meant the KTM 300 XC-W racer got caught up early on, forcing him to push harder than ever and make his way through the pack. At the final hill, Trystan was able to ultimately move into third place and secure a home podium. The Canadian now lies third overall in the HEWC standings.
Trystan Hart: “Not the result I wanted to get here at my home race, but I have to be happy with a podium. The prologue didn’t go my way – I made a few too many mistakes there, and today was the same. I got caught up in the mayhem early on and was chasing the whole way after that and it really took everything out of me. It’s great to get onto the podium in front of all my home fans, I just wish it was a couple of steps higher.”
Provisional Results: Round 4 Red Bull Outliers
1. Manuel Lettenbichler (GER), KTM
2. Billy Bolt (GBR), Husqvarna
3. Trystan Hart (CAN), KTM
4. Mario Roman (ESP), Sherco
5. Wade Young (RSA), Sherco
Provisional Championship Standings (After round 4)
1. Manuel Lettenbichler (GER), KTM, 86 points
2. Billy Bolt (GBR), Husqvarna, 63 pts
3. Trystan Hart (CAN), KTM, 62 pts
- From KTM Factory Racing
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