First tidbit for hard Enduro riders
Day 3: Sibiu - Petrosani
3. Red Bull Romaniacs Hard Enduro Rallye, 13.-19. August 2006




Third day. Third new winner in the pro class. Michel Gau is a winner, which seems to ride in another Frenchman’s track, two times Romaniacs winner Cyril Despres. Closely followed by the top riders Giovanni Sala, Alex Antor and the South Africans Darryl Curtis and Riaan van Niekerk. In the former mining center Petrosani a challenging and long day of offroad riding ended for riders in all four categories.

The third leg at the legendary Red Bull Romaniacs fulfilled anything a hard core Enduro racer wishes for - technical climbs and descents right from the start, terrific forest sections and crossings over ridges with marvelous scenery. For most of the riders, riding alone or in pairs, a good start into this day; however, a few teams – like the Romanian-French Moto Verde I experts team with Romeo Dunca and Francois Vulliet (second position after two days) – had to fight with cooling problems right after the start: “We have for sure lost more than 40 minutes due to the repairing, but until the finish we were 15 minutes ahead!”

Like the day before, a fight between the first five top riders in the professionals’ class seemed to continue: Giovanni Sala, Michel Gau, Alex Antor, the South Africans Curtis and van Niekerk. After two thirds of the 200 kilometre ride from Sibiu to Petrosani the second from the day before, Michel Gau (FRA), was already ahead of the Italian Sala and the Andorran Alex Antor – a famous alpine skier and 36th in this year’s Olympic downhill in Turin.

On the roads close to the ridge of the Surean Mountains the Frenchman had no eyes for the wast and beautiful landscape, but rode rapidly and did not lose any time even on the last uphill ride to the 1550m high Parang. He crowned himself third winner within this 3rd edition of the Romaniacs rallye. His comments after crossing the finish line: “A hard day’s work is fulfilled: in the morning I lost about 30 minutes because my GPS did not work properly and I

could not find the way. Only after I recognized how much time I lost, I accelerated. This day was especially exhausting for my mind. I am happy to be here and I think many riders will sleep quite well tonight!“

Closely following the first three, Darryl Curtis and Riaan van Niekerk had problems with getting van Niekerk’s KTM 250 XCW startet again after the descent from the Parang and the crossing of a river. They lost important minutes to the riders at the top. A few riders, among them Giovanni Sala (ITA) and the Austrian hobby team Motothek KTM with Lisi Mucha and Thomas Fälbl, encountered upset farmers and their running qualities when they were in fear of their horses due to the noise of the motorbikes.

After three days and three legs some riders have had really long working days including over time; in the hobby class the teams have been on the track for more than ten hours a day and when they have crossed the finish line late at night they still have to repair their bikes. In this category the motivation is especially high, as the only ladies’ team – Christina Meier (GER) and Liz Millet (GBR), having problems with their starters, an upset stomach and rides until midnight – impressively proves.

Result, Day 3
Profi
1. Michel Gau (FRA) 06:47
2. Giovanni Sala (ITA) 07:07
3. Alex Antor (AND) 07:22
4. Darryl Curtis (RSA) 08:01
5. Riaan van Niekerk (RSA) 08:03