Almost at the finish line
Day 6: Petrosani - Sibiu
3. Red Bull Romaniacs Hard Enduro Rallye, 13.-19. August 2006



The last offroad day should not be 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 days, the remaining challenges had to be taken. In the professional class Alex Antor from Andorra proved to be not only a fast downhill skier but also a fast hard Enduro racer.

As everybody interested in motor sports knows the infamous Erzberg Rodeo in Austria – today the participants of the 3rd Red Bull Romaniacs discovered a place that could pass as Erzberg’s little brother. The starting point of today’s track for three out of four categories (except 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 three legs winner Michel Gau 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 offroad 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 upon the winner of this year’s legendary hard Enduro rallye through the Romanian Carpathian Mountains.

It was the Quads that should arrive first at the finish this afternoon. All three teams – among them two German and one Greek team - came in together. Almost one and a have hour later Michel Gau and Alex Antor came to the finish together, making the Andorran the third winner

of a stage. As all the finishers had a big smile on their faces, it is their statements that express their feelings and thoughts after six hard days and more than 1.200 km of offroad racing best:

Taking part in his first rallye, Alex Antor reports: “Six days of racing are quite long and the race was harder than expected, but I am third right now and really happy!”
The man likely to follow his friend and training partner Cyril Despres on top of the podium is the 30 year old Michel Gau, who called today “a tiring day, but everything was alright and I did not have any problems. The big part of the rallye has passed but there is still a day tomorrow and let’s talk tomorrow again.”
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,” says 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 performance they could pass the mixed expert team Motothek KTM – Lisi Mucha and Thomas Fälbl (both AUT) – from their 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 Fälbl 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 reports. Almost every rider who finished the race today was quite happy to have made it to Sibiu again. 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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