and gave him overall victory by
2:46.9. Over the week, he was
fourth in Thursday's time trial,
won Friday's 68-mile Big Loop
and was runner-up on the final
day. Consistency paid off for the
Sherco rider.
Behind him, the Roof wit-
nessed one of its most closely
contested finishes. Manuel
Lettenbichler, who began the day
38 seconds behind Wade Young
in overall time, surpassed him
by 38.4 seconds on the Final As-
cent. This victory earned Letten-
bichler second place overall with
a time of 10:02:33.1, narrowly
edging out Young, who finished
in 10:02:33.2—just a tenth of a
second apart.
That means Young will have to
wait for a record-breaking 10th
Roof win. The nine-time win-
ner still finished on the podium,
returning after missing 2025
through injury. Lettenbichler is
still looking for his first win in
Lesotho, but second place adds
to his title bid. Matthew Green
completed a strong week in
fourth.
James Moore delivered the
ride of the day. The current Roof
Champion took the victory in
Thursday's time trial, but a me-
chanical issue on day two cost
him over 44 minutes, dropping
him to 11th overall. On Saturday,
he was unbeatable. His time of
3:39:25.8 was the fastest of the
day by 5:11.1, moving him up
the rankings and into fifth place
overall. The result also gave
Moore the Junior-class win.
Lettenbichler leads the 2026
FIM Hard Enduro Championship
with 177 points, followed by
Mitch Brightmore with 139 and
Kabakchiev with 124.
CN
OVERALL (Top 5)
1. Teodor Kabakchiev (She) 9:59:46.2
2. Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM)
10:02:33.1
3. Wade Young (GG) 10:02:33.2
4. Matthew Green (KTM) 10:34:12.9
5. James Moore (Bet) 10:37:57.7
VOLUME 63 ISSUE 39 SEPTEMBER 29, 2026 P59
(Left) Teodor
Kabakchiev
ran off with the three-
day Roof of Africa
Hard Enduro win.
(Above) Manuel
Lettenbichler was
three minutes
behind in second.
