2006 Red Bull Romaniacs Hard Enduro Race Results Day Six

Day 6: Petrosani - SibiuRed Bull Romaniacs Hard Enduro Rallye, 13.-19. August 2006

The last day of racing was not the easiest for the riders starting from Petrosani and finishing about 160 kilometres later in Sibiu/Hermannstadt, the last big chance to change positions in the overall standings. Exhausted and tired from the last five days of racing, the remaining challenges were that much more difficult. In the professional class Alex Antor from Andorra proved to be not only a fast downhill skier but also a fast hard Enduro racer.

Everybody interested in motor sports knows about the infamous Erzberg Rodeo in Austria, today the participants of the 3rd Red Bull Romaniacs discovered that this event could pass as Erzberg's little brother. The starting point of today's track for three out of four categories (all except for Quad/ATV) was a grassy hill followed by a steep stony passage looking like a smaller and less difficult version of the pay dirt mountain in Austria. However, for today's first challenge some of the riders needed more than one attempt; the record going up to eight attempts before the rider was able to reach the top.

When the pro riders came to the starting point, it was Michel Gau, winner of three legs already, to open the last demanding day. By climbing up the starting hill only on his rear tyre he made spectators and competitors see his riding skills. "Michel Gau is already too far ahead but nevertheless, I will enjoy this last off-road day. Having fun riding is not the worst thing to do," Giovanni Sala (ITA) said and off he went; into the day which would more or less decide the winner of this year's legendary hard Enduro rallye through the Romanian Carpathian Mountains.

All the finishers had a big smile on their faces after six hard days and more than 1.200 km of off-road racing. Taking part in his first rallye, Alex Antor reported: "Six days of racing are quite long and the race was harder than expected, but I am third right now and really happy!"

The Italian Giovanni Sala crossed the finish line with a bloody nose: "One kilometre before the finish I crashed on the slippery grounds. I am tired but happy to finally be here!" Being hungry he let his bike upload to the van and took a ride home to the hotel. Being in fourth and fifth overall position after five days of racing the South African riders Riaan van Niekerk and Darryl Curtis called the Erzberg-like section and the river crossing the most challenging passages of today: "It was a short and easy day. As Darryl got some hurting blisters we were it taking rather easy," said Riaan van Niekerk, "this year the rallye had an extra day, which we really feel and I think everybody is tired after these six days!"

The first riders from the expert class finished together with Michel Gau and Alex Antor. Team Enduro Austria RT, Mathias Weichselmann and Marc Baumgartner (both GER), started their chase for the podium in the last two days. With their good riding performances they passed the mixed expert team Motothek KTM, Lisi Mucha and Thomas Flbl (both AUT), for third place in the overall standings: "In the first two days we lost five hours. The next days racing was getting better and in the last we could overtake Lisi and Thomas in the overall standings. Looking back, the rallye was hard, but not as hard as we had imagined. It was a good feeling to see the finish arch today and we are looking forward to having a cold beer!" Having some problems today, Mucha and Flbl finished their race an hour later than the German team: "We had quite a lot of shifting and dragging today. Passages with high grass and wet tree trunks did not make it an easy day."

"A beautiful and cool tour! As we had an accident yesterday but did not seriously hurt, we were absolutely motivated for today," a sweating but broadly smiling Michael Holtz from the team Enduromania reported. Almost every rider who finished the race today was quite happy to have made it to Sibiu again. The only thing that is still waiting for them is the final showdown tomorrow at 05.00 pm the main boulevard in Sibiu will be the starting point for the famous epilogue, which will be followed by many thousands of spectators and motor sport fans.

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