Lettenbichler Rolls On
R
ed Bull KTM Factory Racing's
Manuel Lettenbichler extend-
ed his lead in the 2026 FIM Hard
Enduro World Championship
with a dominant victory at round
five, the Abestone Hard Enduro,
in Italy, September 5-6. Aboard
his KTM 300 EXC, the reigning
champion earned maximum
points in Saturday's Prologue
and Sprint race, then won Sun-
day's main race by six minutes.
Lettenbichler began the week-
end in perfect fashion, topping
Saturday morning's Prologue
to claim three championship
points. The German then car-
ried that pace into the one-hour
Sprint race, leading the Gold
class from start to finish and
securing another 10 points. With
Lettenbichler taking the full haul
of championship points avail-
able on Saturday, he headed into
Sunday's Gold Final in a strong
position.
Starting Sunday's two-hour
main race at the front, "Mani"
immediately established himself
as the rider to beat. The KTM
rider controlled the race from
the opening lap, maintaining a
relentless pace as he steadily
increased his advantage over
the chasing field. Continuing to
push throughout the full race
distance, Lettenbichler crossed
the finish line way out in front to
claim his fourth HEWC victory of
the season so far.
"It was tough on the body, but
I think we managed the weekend
really well," Lettenbichler said.
"It's pretty insane to take another
win here, especially with such a
strong gap at the finish. I had a
small crash in the river towards
the end when I was pushing a lit-
tle too hard and trying to extend
the gap to Mitch [Brightmore],
but thankfully it didn't cost us."
The Brit, Brightmore, took
second in the feature race, six
minutes and seven seconds
behind Lettenbichler.
There was quite the battle
for the last spot on the podium.
WIND
IN THE
P60
Manuel Lettenbichler
and crew celebrate
winning the Abestone
Hard Enduro in Italy.
