Britain’s Graham Jarvis has claimed victory on Off Road Day One at Red Bull Romaniacs, round five of the World Enduro Super Series.
The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider charged to the top of the standings on the opening full day of competition, finishing ahead of Sherco Factory Racing’s Wade Young (RSA) and Germany’s Manuel Lettenbichler.
With Tuesday’s Prologue in Sibiu soon forgotten, the competitors from 50 nations quickly got down to business on Off Road Day One. Although the shortest track in this year’s race at 102 kilometres in length for the Gold Class riders, it was anything but easy. With a brutal climb directly after the 6.45am start, riders were immediately woken up and put to work.
Tarres Leads Them Out
At the head of the field it was TTR Officine Rigamonti’s Pol Tarres (ESP) who led the riders out, followed by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jonny Walker (GB) and Taddy Blazusiak (KTM – POL) – all separated by three-minute gaps.
Starting seventh on the road, Jarvis quickly went to work and closed in on his rival, using the opening climb to his advantage. But it was clear he wasn’t going to have things all his own way as Lettenbichler, Young, Blazusiak and Alfredo Gomez (Husqvarna – ESP) kept him honest.
Graham Jarvis (Husqvarna – GB): “It was an easier day compared with the Off Road Day 1 I had last year, which I was quite happy about. I didn’t really make any time on the difficult sections, but I kept a good pace throughout the race. Importantly, I didn’t make any serious mistakes and was able to catch the other guys early on. I gained a bit of time then and it’s probably made the difference today for sure. With my time here last year still haunting me I feel I’ve helped put things right on day one. But there’s going to be faster days, so how it will suit me I don’t know. But I need to get on with it and go full throttle.”
Charge To The Finish
During the afternoon the leading group broke up, with Jarvis, Lettenbichler and Young pulling clear. A technical problem saw Blazusiak drop back, losing positions as he fought to overcome his issue, while Walker sat steady in sixth.
On corrected time it was Jarvis who took the opening day win by one minute and 12 seconds from Young, with Lettenbichler only one minute further back in third. With Mario Roman (Sherco -ESP) fourth and Gomez fifth, the top five are separated by less than four minutes.
Cyprian Off To Flying Start
Delivering one of the day’s most impressive rides was JD Gunnex KTM’s David Cyprian (CZ). The young 21-year-old looked confident on the challenging climbs and it showed with the privateer claiming a well-deserved seventh.
Gold Class
1. Graham Jarvis (Husqvarna – GB) 4:27:16;
2. Wade Young (Sherco – RSA) 4:28:31;
3. Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM – GER) 4:29:22;
4. Mario Roman (Sherco – ESP) 4:30:11;
5. Alfredo Gomez (Husqvarna – ESP) 4:31:01;
6. Jonny Walker (KTM – GB) 4:45:13;
7. David Cyprian (KTM – CZ) 4:46:58;
8. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM – POL) 4:48:06;
9. Pol Tarres (Husqvarna – ESP) 4:54:08;
10. Dieter Rudolf (KTM – AUT) 5:08:01…