VOLUME 56 ISSUE 31 AUGUST 6, 2019 P51
feels amazing. The event is so
long and so hard, and anything
can happen, so I'm so pumped
to take the win. It's been an
incredible five days and so gnarly,
especially with all the rain we've
had. Some of the uphills that
would have been tricky anyway
have become near impossible
today. It's 10 years since my dad
won Red Bull Romaniacs, so
it's great to be able to match his
achievement—the Lettenbichlers
are definitely going to celebrate
tonight!"
For Gomez it was a case of
close, but not close enough. De-
spite giving his best effort on argu-
ably the toughest day of this year's
race, it was not to be, and he had
to settle for the runner-up result.
"It's been an amazing race, I'm
so happy to get on the podium,"
Gomez said. "The first day didn't
go so well for me, but then on
the second day, I had a better
feeling on the bike and was able
to take the win. The last two days
also went well, and it was great
to have such a close fight with
Mani and Graham. Obviously, I'm
disappointed not to have taken
the win, but it still feels great to
come second after such a long
and demanding race. Thank you
to everyone who helped me over
the event—my team and all the
fans—I'll come back even stronger
next year."
Putting hopes of another vic-
tory in this year's championship
on hold, Jarvis ended his week
on the third step of the podium.
"It was definitely the hardest
day today—it was so slippery on
the hills after the rain, and there
was a lot of pushing," said Jarvis.
"I'm happy just to get to the finish
today. I was going well up to the
service point then I had a crash
and lost my GPS. After that, I just
tried to tag onto the other rid-
ers, so I knew where to go. I did
get lost a couple of times, so I'm
really happy to get third. Overall
the event has gone well, it's been
one of the closest, and I'm happy
that I was still in contention right
up to the end."
With the top three proving
themselves the leading con-
tenders, Taddy Blazusiak was
a definite improver as the week
wore on. Hampered by his techni-
cal issue on day one, a strong
ride on the final two days brought
him back up the leaderboard
for fourth. A solid ride by Jonny
Walker for third on off-road day
four, saw him complete the top
five in the final classification.
Behind the top five, drama
struck Sherco Factory Racing's,
Mario Roman. Holding fourth
overall, the Spaniard had a bad
day at the office in seventh.
Despite a strong three days
previous, he slipped to seventh
overall. His loss was Billy Bolt's
gain, with the British rider moving
up to sixth. CN
1. Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM)
2. Alfredo Gomez (Hus)
3. Graham Jarvis (Hus)
4. Taddy Blasuziak (KTM)
5. Jonny Walker (KTM)
6. Billy Bolt (Hus)
7. Mario Roman (Shr)
8. David Cyprian (KTM)
9. Pol Tarres (Hus)
10 Josep Garcia (KTM)
Alfredo Gomez gave
Lettenbichler a fight
for the win.
Jonny Walker finished
third on the final day,
but had to settle for
fifth overall.
