Team Husqvarna Monster Energy speedbrain News Release
March 13, 2011 – Tough One, Whitworth, UK – Husqvarna Monster Energy Speedbrain rider Andreas “Letti” Lettenbichler scored an astonishing 3rd place at the seventh edition of the Tough One extreme Enduro race just a couple of miles of Manchester.
Steve Ireland, the Tough One mastermind, had moved his 3 hours race to a different venue, a large quarry with quite a number of faster and only few technically demanding sections including a small MX track and a lap length of about four miles (roughly 6.3km). Therefore, Letti riding on his Husqvarna WR 300, had decided to change the transmission settings to achieve a slightly higher speed. It appeared to be the right decision since he was able to keep up with the Graham Jarvis’ remarkable speed who took over the lead in the first lap.
In a field of primarily British riders Andreas unfortunately hit a rock while passing a rider of the expert class in the second lap and lost the foot break handle. Changing the broken part would have cost too much time so it was down to Letti’s exceptional technical skills to continue the demanding race without the rear break – a true challenge considering especially the high number of steep downhill sections. Once again proving his “never-give-up” mentality Lettenbichler took a lot of risk to keep as close as possible to Jarvis who was once again showing an exceptional performance in his home country.
But it was only the British rider Paul Bolton, a good friend of Letti, who was able to catch him on the last of the 12 laps. Bolton’s speed on this track didn’t come as a surprise since he lives close to the Tough One venue and it’s his training ground so he knows every stone. Due to the missing rear break the 2009 Red Bull Romaniacs winner Lettenbichler had a little crash while pushing as hard as possible to maintain the second place:
“While I am very happy having secured a podium finish at the Tough One I am also a bit disappointed since I had this early technical problem. But this is offroad racing, I guess, these things can happen and you have to make the best out of it. I’ve had a very good start and felt comfortable on the bike on this pretty fast track. Passing an expert class rider in the second lap I suddenly had to change the line to avoid a collision, hit a rock and recognized I had lost the handle of the rear break. The track was basically a continuous up and down and without the rear brake it was hard and pretty much impossible to go at the same speed as Jarvis. But I did my best and there were some scary moments in some downhill sections since I had to stall the engine to achieve some break effect. Paul was getting closer and it was a real challenge to push even harder in the last laps. While rushing into a corner, the front wheel blocked and I had a little crash so Paul passed me. Considering the loss of the rear brake and two instead of one pit stops I am happy with the result.
Now the team and I will concentrate on the preparations for the Erzbergrodeo. We will optimize the bike for the biggest and most prestigious event in our calendar and I will train very hard to finally make it to the top of the podium at the Hare Scramble!”
Results, 7th Tough One
1. Graham Jarvis (Husaberg, UK), 12 Laps
2. Paul Bolton (KTM, UK), (+10 minutes)
3. Andreas Lettenbichler (Husqvarna, D), (+11 minutes)
4. Xavier Galindo Arbones (Husaberg, SP)
5. Ben Hemingway (KTM, UK)
6. Andy Cripps (GASGAS, UK)
7. Gavin Houson (Husaberg, UK)
8.Michael Vukcevic (Sherco, BE)
9. Richard Ellwod (KTM, UK)
10. Gerhard Forster (Husqvarna, D) all -1 lap behind
Team Husqvarna Monster Energy speedbrain is supported by Monster Energy and several technical partners as listed.
