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Gau leads Romaniacs after day two.
Michel Gau, (KTM) displayed his prowess on a motorcycle by leading a classy field of riders at the end of day two in the mountains high above Sibiu, the cultural centre of Romania, at the Redbull Romaniacs.
The event known as the hardest enduro in the world saw “ears popping and bikes running out of power” due to the massive hill climbs and extremely treacherous downhills.
New Zealand's professional class entry, Chris Birch had a strong day finishing seventh behind Kyle Red Mont and Frans Verhoeven. Birch started the day after a strong showing in the prologue the day prior, starting from sixth position instead of his number eight.
Birch, fortunate enough to pitting in the same tent as last years winner, Michel Gau and Cyril Despres who both ride for KTM, has one of their top mechanics at his disposal to keep his first Romaniacs campaign alive.
Of the event Birch was relishing the technical style. “They had hills there that you wouldn't see at a national trials champs,” said Birch.
However the multi national Enduro champion was quick to also point out that, “This is some of the best riding in one day that I have experienced in Europe definitely.”
Overall Birch was positive commenting, “there was only one section I would call unrideable. A hill that I along with Kyle Red Mont bulldogged [pulled your bike up by any means possible] up. However, Cyril [Despres] wasn't there when i arrived so...”
Birch said finally, “I think they let us off easy today, a warm up if you like. We'll see what tomorrow has in-store for the Red Bull Romaniacs”
GPS seemed to be the beef of the day with professionals, experts and hobbiests alike. GPS is the main way to navigate the tough trails. Alex Antor (KTM) was running strongly to be second behind the multi Dakar Rallye winner, Despres but A GPS failure nearly saw him drop out of the running.
Birch also struggled with a GPS failure which at day one saw him drop to fifteenth in the results. Birch managed to convince the organisers that he did complete the course and that a penalty for missing a check was a little unfair – he had in fact been less than 150m away from the check according to his mini-tracker. In the morning his points were adjusted to seventh.
The top three were Michel Gau, Cyril Despres and Alex Antor who tied second.
Meanwhile, ex 500cc GP rider Simon Crafar, the other Kiwi entry finished the day second. Crafar is competing as one half of a team in the Expert class on a KTM300EXC which for most of the day had a cracked expansion chamber.
Crafar said of the day, “I enjoyed the day but there are parts I wouldn't want to do again.” The bad news for Crafar is that on day three he is likely to be going back up those same nasty hills.
For results and more pics see www.redbullromaniacs.com
