Germany’s Mani Lettenbichler topped the 2023 Red Bull Erzberg Rodeo results for the second year in a row. The Red Bull KTM rider finished with a time of two hours and 31 minutes. The UK’s Billy Bolt came back from a crash on the first hill climb to take second place, eleven minutes back. Despite the early crash, Bolt was able to catch Lettenbichler and Trystan Hart twenty minutes into the race to join the battle for the win. Bolt kept Lettenbichler honest but could not match his rival at the end. Hart rounded out the podium for the second year in a row. The Canadian led much of the race on his FMF KTM but a few mistakes burned some energy and allowed Lettenbichler and Bolt to get away from him. Hart finished in a time of two hours and fifty-seven minutes.
Lettenbichler said of his second consecutive Erzberg win. “I don’t believe it. I had a really good start and then Billy caught up to me and he passed me and I thought he is riding good today. He was really strong in Carl’s Dinner and then I think he lost a lot of energy and then we got into more dirt than proper rocks and I had a little advantage there and pushed to the finish.”
Bolt said of his second-place finish. “Worst ever start. The next ten minutes was a bit of a blur. I bent my front disc in that crash and was pumping my brake the whole time. At Motorex highway, I took an extra switchback and he (Lettenbichler) went straight. I took a look at my tire and the dent in my pipe and thought that I don’t have much left. I focused on SuperEnduro and got a late start in testing the new bike so I am really really happy”.
Hart had a strong day for third. “Back to back podiums lots of people would be happy. To be honest, I am really not happy with this year. I put myself in a good place and to be honest, I made a lot of mistakes in that first hour. I burned a lot of matches early so after Carls Diner I didn’t have much energy left.”
Just off the podium was two-time Erzberg winner Jonny Walker. The Beta rider was just over two minutes behind Hart. A mediocre start hurt Walker’s chances for a win but he finished strong. South Africa’s Wade Young rounded out the top five on his Factory Sherco. Young’s finishing time was three hours and four minutes.
Five-time Erzberg winner Graham Jarvis finished sixth overall despite starting on the second row after a slow qualifying time on the ultra-fast prologue. The forty-eight-year-old British rider finished with a time of three hours and thirteen minutes.
Austrian Michael Walkner finished seventh on his GasGas in a time of three hours and twenty-two minutes. Alfredo Gomez was eighth on a Rieju with a time of three hours and twenty-four minutes. Bulgaria’s Teodor Kabakchiev finished ninth in a time of three hours and twenty-five minutes on a KTM. American Cody Webb rounded out the top ten on his FactoryOne Sherco with a time of three hours and twenty-nine minutes. Webb was the only American rider to finish the full course in the time limit.
Just seventeen of the five hundred riders that started the Sunday main race finished within the four-hour time limit.
2023 Erzberg Rodeo Hard Enduro Results
| 1. | Manuel Lettenbichler | (KTM) | 02:31:15 |
| 2. | Billy Bolt | (Hus) | 02:42:15 |
| 3. | Trystan Hart | (KTM) | 02:57:09 |
| 4. | Jonny Walker | (Bet) | 02:59:30 |
| 5. | Wade Young | (She) | 03:04:21 |
| 6. | Graham Jarvis | (Hus) | 03:13:55 |
| 7. | Michael Walkner | (Gas) | 03:22:18 |
| 8. | Alfredo Gomez | (Rie) | 03:24:30 |
| 9. | Teodor Kabakchiev | (KTM) | 03:25:00 |
| 10. | Cody Webb | (She) | 03:31:45 |
| 11. | Matthew Green | (KTM) | 03:31:45 |
| 12. | Sonny Goggia | (KTM) | 03:49:21 |
| 13. | Dominik Olszowy | (Gas) | 03:51:59 |
| 14. | Jack Price | (Gas) | 03:52:08 |
| 15. | Dan Peace | (She) | 03:55:58 |
| 16. | Mitch Brightmore | (Gas) | 03:58:59 |
| 17. | Will Hoare | (Gas) | 03:59:13 |
You can watch the event on Red Bull TV. https://www.redbull.com/us-en/live/fim-hard-enduro-world-championship-2023-red-bull-erzbergrodeo-main-race
2023 Iron Road Prologue Results
The 2023 Erzberg Rodeo Hard Enduro kicked off with the traditional Iron Road Prologue on Friday and Saturday with over 1000 riders aiming for a top 500 time to get into Sunday’s final. The relatively smooth and high-speed course is not usually a good indication of who will win the Erzberg Rodeo but it is important to put in a top fifty time to earn a front row start in Sunday’s main race.
Italy’s Andrea Verona set the fastest time of ten minutes and six seconds. The GasGas Factory rider is a top FIM Enduro World Championship competitor. Australian Will Riordan, the RPM KTM rider that lives in the US and competes in the US Hard Enduro Championship finished second with a time of ten minutes and twenty seconds. Sonny Goggia rounded out the top three with a time of ten minutes and twenty-two seconds.
Sherco Factory Racing’s Wade Young finished fourth with a time of ten minutes and twenty-five seconds and Husqvarna Factory Racing backed Billy Bolt set the fifth fastest time of ten minutes and twenty-five seconds (just a few thousands slower than Young).
Defending Erzberg Rodeo champion Mani Lettenbichler set the seventh fastest time on his Red Bull KTM to earn a critical front row start with Beta’s Jonny Walker next with a seventh-place finish.
Other notable riders included Canadian Trystan Hart (a podium finisher at Erzberg last year) in thirteenth on his FMF KTM, Colton Haaker fifteenth and top American on his Rockstar Husqvarna, Mario Roman eighteenth on a Sherco and five-time Erzberg winner Taddy Blazusiak twenty-second on the factory GasGas. American Sherco USA backed Cody Webb finished thirty-ninth and Cooper Abbott was forty-eighth to earn a front row spot.
Top American hard enduro rider Ryder LeBlond just missed the front row with a fifty-first-place finish in the Iron Road Prologue and will be joined on row two by Graham Jarvis, the five-time Erzberg Rodeo winner. One of those five wins came from a row two start but it will be more difficult to work through the pack.
2023 Erzberg Rodeo Hard Enduro Prologue Results
| 1. | Andrea Verona | (Gas) | 10:06,266 |
| 2. | Will Riordan | (KTM) | 10:20,890 |
| 3. | Sonny Goggia | (KTM) | 10:22,033 |
| 4. | Wade Young | (She) | 10:25,095 |
| 5. | Billy Bolt | (Hus) | 10:25,204 |
| 6. | Matthias Walkner | (KTM) | 10:25,292 |
| 7. | Manuel Lettenbichler | (KTM) | 10:26,891 |
| 8. | Jonny Walker | (Bet) | 10:27,236 |
| 9. | Dominik Olszowy | (Gas) | 10:29,680 |
| 10. | Teodor Kabakchiev | (KTM) | 10:33,810 |
Get the complete 2023 Erzberg Rodeo Prologue Results here. http://ebrtiming.motorradreporter.com/checkpoint/3
The Sunday Erzberg Rodeo final will start at noon local time in Austria on Sunday, June 11. You can watch the event live on Red Bull TV. https://www.redbull.com/us-en/events/fim-hard-enduro-world-championship-red-bull-erzbergrodeo
Get all the latest off-road motorcycle racing news and results here.