Graham Jarvis has worked his way into the lead after Day 2 of Red Bull Romaniacs.
The drop-out of Walker (GBR), Bolton (GBR) and Hemingway (GBR) during Day 1 left a gap in the dominating Brit-force of Extreme Enduro riders. Red Bull Romaniacs newcomer Billy Bolt (GBR), still shaken up by his first excursion into the Romanian wilderness, was not able to fill in. He showed some seriously fast riding but could not keep up with the top guns. Graham Jarvis (GBR) stepped up to the challenge.
Having kept a low profile during the prologue and Offroad Day 1, he switched to combat mode this morning and took off 4th after Young, Gomez and Teasdale. Jarvis soon caught up with Young and passed him in “Bermuda Triangle”, moving on to “Viagra falls” where he started to gain serious time. He dominated the race throughout the day and finished with more than 15 minutes lead over the runner-ups. Jarvis: “I enjoyed today a lot more than yesterday, it was more my type of riding with some really gnarly bits and some flowing tracks as well. I managed to catch some time up, it’s all about trying to get vital seconds now, trying to claw something up. Hopefully the same again tomorrow. I’ll be starting off first, it seems whoever gets off first gets caught, so I have to make sure that no one catches me”
Wade Young, yesterday`s winner, came blazing out of the gates first at 06.30am. He had a good pace through the first section “X-files”, but was passed by Jarvis and Gomez in the “Bermuda Triangle”. In “Viagra falls” Young seemed to have lost his drive and started to slow down. It was at the Service Point, that Young reported clutch problems. He was able to get back in the game and joined Gomez for a high speed chase after Jarvis for the rest of the day. He finished 3rd, before Gomez and kept his 3rd position in the overall ranking of the race. Wade Young: “Half way through this morning I lost my clutch, it’s frustrating when you want to go but can`t. I really did lose a lot of time, it’s gonna be hard to catch up but I’m gonna try”.
Alfredo Gomez rode fast during the day but had lost precious time in a series of crashes and by collecting firewood! Gomez: “It was a tough day for me today. I got a log stuck in my front wheel in the morning and then a big one in my rear wheel in the afternoon, I also crashed a few times, I just made too many mistakes” Gomez finished 4th for the day and had to give up his overall lead of the race to Jarvis.
ADB’s Rob Nowak is hanging inside the top 40 after the second day of competition. The KTM rider is 29 minutes off the pace of race leader Graham Jarvis.