Kabakchiev takes the Gold, Roman storms the Adventure Ultimate
Sibiu, Romania, 28 July 2026 – Red Bull Romaniacs “UNSTOPPABLE” Edition 23 launched into action today with the In – City Prolog. Hundreds of Hard Enduro bikes joined by Adventure bikes and eMoto’s generated a whole next level of energy on a mammoth scale. The energy ignited a chain reaction, surging from the competitors through the many thousands of spectators lining the course. The atmosphere was absolutely electric.
Mani Lettenbichler (DEU, KTM) flew off the start line on a mission, ahead of Teo Kabakchiev (BGR, Sherco) who was on fire, the Brightmore brothers in tandem behind. Lettenbichler, who is a master of managing pace, dominated most of the race, rolling over the obstacles with smooth efficiency, but Kabakchiev was tailing him consistently. Lettenbichler made a questionable line choice not taking the “flow line” which then gave Kabakchiev a chance to close the gap. Just before the final lap flag Kabakchiev seized his opportunity and passed Lettenbichler and took away the lead he held from the start, followed stealthily by Mitch Brightmore (GBR) who had crept his way forward through the last laps. With one lap remaining Kabakchiev and Brightmore were able to keep a faster pace and steal the win and second place. Lettenbichler brought home the third position.
Teo Kabakchiev: “I’m happy. I don’t train as much as the others for Super Enduro. The rhythm was the most challenging, staying consistent throughout. I’m really excited to start the event with winning the Prolog. I’m happy to have so many fans here, they really help to bring my energy up”
Mitch Brightmore: “I managed to maintain the same pace throughout the Prolog. It did get quite slippery after the water, but it was ok. I’m looking forward to the new area on the Offroad Days, I’ve never seen the area so it’ll be totally new to me”.
The intensity of the race also stood out in the Silver Class where the speed and rhythm of the competitors was a definite step up from the Bronze Class. Jiawei Sun (CHN) absolutely dominated the entire race riding with skill and precision, making it look easy. Sandra Gomez (ESP) made light work of the Prolog placing in P5. Remy Gardner (AUS), World Superbike Championship rider, former MotoGP rider and Moto2 World Champion in 2021, placed in P16.
Bronze Class was also on fire with a strong line up of competitors revved up and ready to hit the Prolog. The race was dominated by the father and son team going back and forth for the win. The father Jesús Zavala (MEX) held the lead until he went over the handle bars on the wet Milwaukee tool box obstacle and his son, Stanislas Zavala (MEX) was able to pass him. Having held the lead for a while, the stamina and experience of his father gained him a pass which he then maintained the lead and took the win, leaving a disappointed son to come in second place. The family team were the only two to complete six laps followed by Sébastien Garreau (FRA) completing five laps finishing in third place.
ADVENTURE BIKE CATEGORY
Red Bull Romaniacs is the first ever event to have multi-cylinder motorbikes head to head on a man made Prolog, representing the birth of a new format of “HARD” Adventure Bike racing. Pol Tarrés (AND, Yamaha), who has shown the world the potential and the levels of extreme that these bikes can be pushed to, was the favourite for today. But the start line was packed with fierce competition; Kevin Gallas (DEU), Mario Roman (ESP, CFMoto), Dieter Rudlof (AUT) Jonny Walker (GBR, Triumph) and more. The atmosphere was intense, with qualifying times very close in the morning; this was anyone’s race.
Tarrés and Gallas were back and forth in the first couple of laps with Roman close behind. Tarrés made a couple of mistakes but it was a fall that gave Roman the chance to take the lead and pull away into the front. Mario, having crossed over from competing for ten years in the Gold Class on his enduro bike, with his efficient style of riding, helped reduce fatigue which is critical on his bigger bike. Mario showed that he was able to convert his smooth consistent riding style into the Adventure Bike category and pushed until the finish, scoring the victory in the Adventure Ultimate Class. It is his first ever win at Red Bull Romaniacs, despite five podiums. Tarrés finished just behind in P2 and Dieter Rudolf (AUT) in P3, also freshly converted to the Adventure Bike category from the Gold Class.
Roman: “It feels amazing, it’s my first win here in ten years. I enjoyed the Prolog, I found my rhythm, didn’t make any mistakes, the water was the most challenging because it made the obstacles slippery. I maintained my focus and am proud of my CFMoto 450. It’s going to be a long week, it’s an amazing week and I’ll do my best”
eMOTO CLASS
There were six eMoto competitors who competed in the Prolog, they demonstrated very competitive times comparable to both Silver Class and Adventure Ultimate Class. With Graham Jarvis competing in Gold Class on his eMoto this year it will inspire a growing number of eMoto competitors to take on the Red Bull Romaniacs challenge.
Andy Fazekas: “I slightly reduced the difficulty of each individual obstacle without compromising the spectacle. Instead, I increased the physical and technical demand by leaving virtually no recovery time between obstacles. This allowed us to create a course where the Ultimate, Bronze, Silver, and Gold classes can all race in the final with only minimal adjustments between them.
The course has an exceptional flow, especially for the faster riders. I’m very happy with this course, and the feedback from the riders has been fantastic”
The mastermind behind the Red Bull Romaniacs Prolog, Andy Fazekas, did not disappoint. The task of designing a Prolog course to suit all nine classes on a single track only 6 meters wide, incorporating the Enduro, Adventure and eMoto classes all with enormous differences in skill levels is no easy feat.
Wednesday 29 July is the first of the four Offroad Days.
Full results are availble on the rally’s website: www.redbullromaniacs.com
Red Bull Romaniacs 2026: Hard Enduro’s toughest rallye opens in Sibiu with In-City Prolog
Yesterday, in its 23rd edition, the world’s toughest hard enduro rallye, the Red Bull Romaniacs kicked off with the In-City Prolog in Sibiu. The man-made Prolog course was relentless, showing no mercy between obstacles, it is one after another which was a tough challenge for competitors. The 35 fastest competitors from the qualifications competed in multi lap races to become the Romaniacs Prolog champion. Hundreds of Hard Enduro bikes joined by Adventure bikes and eMoto’s generated a whole next level of energy on a mammoth scale. The energy ignited a chain reaction, surging from the competitors through the many thousands of spectators lining the course. The atmosphere was absolutely electric.
The In-City Prolog Best of Clip of the RB Romaniacs 2026 is available now – free of charge to embed and download. Attached, you’ll find the English press release and some fresh still images from the event.
Germany’s Manuel Lettenbichler, as the defending champion, is a man on a mission. His goal is to become to catch up with the most successful Red Bull Romaniacs rider, Graham Jarvis (GBR) by winning his 7th title. Lettenbichler made a questionable line choice in the Final and finished third, second place went to Mitch Brightmore (GBR) and the Prolog winner was Teodor Kabakchiev from Bulgaria.
At today’s offroad day 1 all the competitors from over 58 nations will be challenged in the Romanian Carpathian Mountains.
Results Red Bull Romaniacs “In-City Prolog” 2026 – Gold-Class
| Top 3 |
| 1| Teodor Kabakchiev (BUL) |
| 2| Mitch Brightmore (GBR) |
| 3| Manuel Lettenbichler (GER) |