All Photos Courtesy of Jonty Edmunds / Red Bull Content Pool
The 2023 FIM Hard Enduro Championship got underway with Round 1 in the rugged mountains of Serbia. Red Bull KTM’s Manuel Lettenbichler took the win with Mario Roman in second and Theodor Kabakchiev rounding out the podium. US Hard Enduro Champion Trystan Hart had a rough go of things during the first couple days but recovered to earn a hard fought fourth place finish.
2023 FIM Hard Enduro Xross Results 1. Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM) 2. Mario Roman (Sherco) 3. Theodor Kabakchiev (KTM) 4. Trystan Hart (KTM) 5. Michael Walkner (Gas Gas) 6. Graham Jarvis (Husqvarna) 7. Alfredo Gomez (Reiju) 8. David Cyprian 9. William Hoare 10. Billy Bolt (Husqvarna)
Manuel Lettenbichler: “Taking the overall win for the second time at Xross, I’m overwhelmed. My riding was pretty good all three days and consistent. It’s only the first race and anything can happen, so we keep taking it race by race.”
Mario Roman: Today was an amazing day riding in good conditions. The first two hours were really technical, and it was pretty intense with first Billy and then Teo arrived. In the afternoon, you can see the finish line in sight, so I took it more easy to secure second place. Mani for sure was flying in this GPS-style race but it’s a long season.”Theodor Kabakchiev: “Today was a battle, four guys were really close on time for third place. I gave my best and rode as good as I can and got it done. Overall my race was a little difficult with my bike settings at first but yesterday we made some changes in the service point and since then I felt more comfortable.”Billy Bolt: “I haven’t got too much to say really, what can you say. I started off pretty good and caught Mario and I made a few mistakes but was riding good. Then I noticed the bike was struggling so I had to take it super, super easy to arrive at the service. The team worked hard to get me out and we also lost a bit of time there, but it had to be done, by that point I was so far behind we wanted to make sure I got to the finish. I’ve got a lot of positives to take from the race, I’m really happy with the way I rode and how the bike is working but, in the end, it wasn’t meant to be.”
