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IN THE WIND P50 Lettenbichler Wins GetzenRodeo, WESS Championship G erman rider Manuel Lettenbi- chler thrilled the home crowd after dominating the GetzenRo- deo and taking with it the 2019 World Enduro Super Series Championship (soon to be called WESS World Enduro Champion- ship), November 3. The KTM rider, Lettenbichler, could do no wrong in what was the eighth and final round of the 2019 WESS Championship. The GetzenRodeo uses a hare scramble-like format that utilizes two featured races (for the pros), the first called the GetzenRace, a two-hour "main" race that whittles the 60-rider field down to 20 riders, who move on to the 80-minute-plus-one-lap Getzen- Champ race. The winner of this ultra-technical race is declared the overall winner. Lettenbichler took control of the two-hour GetzenRace on the first lap and never looked back, taking the win over Red Bull KTM riders Taddy Blazusiak and Jonny Walker. Other notable quali- fiers including Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's Graham Jarvis, Alfredo Gomez, Billy Bolt and Sherco's Mario Roman. Lettenbichler wasted no time in establishing himself at the front and took the lead early on lap one. Behind him, Gomez, Blazu- siak, Walker and Jarvis all fought for position. As the laps continued, Lettenbi- chler appeared to pull clear of the field, but not from Blazusiak, with the Polish star picking up his pace during the final 30 minutes. Riding right up to Lettenbichler's rear wheel entering the last lap, it set up a showstopper of an ending. Going for gold, Blazusiak brief- ly took the lead but then crashed, giving Lettenbichler the breath- ing room he needed entering the final Red Bull X-Loop. With Lettenbichler riding clear to claim victory and become world cham- pion, drama then struck Blazusiak when his bike stopped. Capitalizing on Blazusiak's misfortune, Gomez worked his way past and into second—a move which ultimately saw him jump to second in the championship. With the top three decided, it was Bolt, who ended his day in fourth, with TTR Officine Rigamonti Husqvar- na's Pol Tarres claiming his best result of the 2019 series with fifth. With Walker unable to break in- side the top-five with a sixth-place result, and with Gomez placing second, it meant the Brit would slip to third overall in the final standings. Jarvis pushed on to take seventh, with Roman eighth. Sweden's Eddie Karlsson impressed by bringing his Sherco home in ninth, while Norway's Ib Anderson completed the top-10 for GasGas. "I'm over the moon, I can't describe it," Lettenbichler said. "To be honest, I nearly cried on German Manuel Lettenbichler won the GetzenRodeo and the 2019 WESS Championship. PHOTOS: FUTURE7MEDIA