{mosimage}Nú er þessari snilldarkeppni lokið með sigri Frakkans Cyril Despres á KTM. Á síðasta degi keppninar þurftu menn meðal annars að keyra stiga upp á aðra hæð gamallar verksmiðju og hoppa út um gluggann. Sjáið myndirnar og fréttatilkynninguna frá þeim á ensku.

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CYRIL DESPRES WINS THE RED BULL ROMANIACS 2005
The last day of the Red Bull Romaniacs 2005 was dawning and clouds covered the sky above Sibiu (ROM). The riders could finally stay in their beds longer, regenerate their bruised bodies and prepare for the final showdown race through downtown Sibiu and a spectacolous special stage outside the town. Shortly before the start at 15:00, hard rain started to fall upon the riders once again.

Although the rain continousely poured down on the big place in front of Hotel Bulevard, 18-years old Romanian stuntrider Mihai Stoichescu kept the crowd on their feet with his amazing tricks.

 And then the Pro-Class hit the spectacolous obstacle track. Erich Brandauer (AUT) took the lead immediately after the start, but it didn’t last for a long time. On the second lap, it was once again Cyril Despres (FRA) who dived in first under the Red Bull arch in front of Hotel Bulevard.

One more lap and the riders had to follow the track outside of downtown Sibiu alongside the river Cibin to reach the restart in front of the old factory building at Gusterita. Martin Freinademetz and his crew worked their fingers to the bone to present a special stage of it’s own! The riders headed first into the dirt section outside the factory and had to face slippery uphills and soaked up ruts before they entered the factory yard to challenge the man made obstacles.

Imagine jumping from 15 meters high concrete reservoirs and then going up to second floor of an old factory building and jumping out of the window – it was insane action provided by Martin Freinademetz and his crew, even though the rain still poured down on the riders consistently.

Cyril Despres was the first rider to hit the factory yard with his KTM and he was also the only one to clear all obstacles. Martin Freinademetz included a so called "chicken line" for every rider, who would be afraid to go over the thrilling obstacles, and many of the competitors were appreciating the offer due to the heavy rain. Except for Cyril Despres, the French superstar even added some extra laps for the spectators and proved once again that he really loves his job being a professional dirt rider.

Cyril won the showdown race, he scored first overall at the Red Bull Romaniacs 2005 but most of all he won the hearts of all the thousands spectators who witnessed these six days of breathtaking Enduro action in the Romanian Karpates.
Second to Cyril it was Riaan Van Niekerk who entered the special stage and the sympathic South African was cheered by the fans along the track. The KTM mounted Riaan took the "chicken line" around the reservoir but then decided to take the fast way out of the factory building by jumping down to the ramp from about 10 meters. A solid performance for Riaan, who took home second place overall and 2.400,- Euros price money from his first visit at the Red Bull Romaniacs.
Third place on the podium went to South Africa as well – Darryl Curtis delivered a solid performance throughout the whole race and proved his enourmous determination and speed to everyone during these six hard days.

Final results Pro-Class, August 5th 2005
1. Cyril Despres (FRA, KTM)
2. Riaan Van Niekerk (RSA, KTM)
3. Darryl Curtis (RSA, KTM)
4. Erich Brandauer (AUT, Husaberg)
5. Thomas Günther (GER, Husaberg)
6. Peter Katai (HUN, KTM)
7. Dieter Happ (AUT, KTM)
8. Matthias Weichselmann (AUT, KTM)
9. Stefan Müller (AUT, KTM)
10. Tristan Sol (RSA, KTM)

THRILLING ACTION UP TO THE VERY LAST MINUTE –  ROMANIA WINS THE TEAM CLASS!
For the Pro-Class, the showdown race would not make any major changes to the final results, but that didn’t count for the teams. After five tough days of racing, it was only 23 minutes between the leading Team Egly Racing (ROM) and the Austrian Team Kornspitz. It was a blazingly fast Hannes Blauensteiner (AUT) of Team Kornspitz who hammered his KTM first into the factory yard, and he attacked the tricky and soaking wet track as if he would ride a perfectly prepped MX-track. You have to give respect for that guy, as he rode every centimeter of the special stage with incredibly determination.

You could feel the excitement of all spectators as Emanuel Gyenes of Team Egly was the next competitor to reach the finish line. Now it was all up to their teammates to decide upon defeat or glory. Lisi Mucha (AUT), the dirt girl from Vienna, was the next to cross the finish line and now it was all eyes on the stopwatches to see if the Austrians could turn the decision to their favour. Minute after minute was passing by and there was still no sight of Laszlo Olah (ROM), the second rider of Team Egly. Thrilling moments, and finally you could hear Laszlo hammering his KTM towards the finish line, securing the win of the team class.

Third place went to Team Flatout Fightclub, the Tyrolean brothers Erik and Oliver Mocker (AUT) couldn’t repeat their prestigious win of last year but once again showed determined racing and a solid performance throughout the whole event.

Final results Team-Class, August 5th 2005
1. Team Egly Racing 1
Emanuel Gyenes (ROM), Laszlo Olah (ROM)
2. Team Kornspitz
Lisi Mucha (AUT), Johannes Blauensteiner (AUT)
3. Team Flatout Fightclub
Erik Mocker (AUT), Oliver Mocker (AUT)
4. Team Duts’N Dirt
Hannes Schurich (GER), Marc Baumgartner (GER)
5. Team Egly Racing 2 / Smart BV
Patrick Boissy (ROM), Frederic Sagnard (FRA)

SIX DAYS OF BREATHTAKING ACTION – THE RED BULL ROMANIACS 2005
Riders from 10 nations and 3 continents, hundreds of kilometers through the tough and unforgiving Romanian wilderness, thousands of spectators and many hundred cans of Red Bull – it will take hours to put all the thrilling moments of this outstanding event into words. Martin Freinademetz and his crew worked around the clock for months to make one of the toughest Hardenduro races on this planet happen and the riders appreciated every stage. Be sure that there will be a Red Bull Romaniacs 2006, and be sure that Martin will once again come up with even tougher tracks and new ideas for a thrilling race.
It’s tougher than the rest – it’s the RED BULL ROMANIACS!

The full story about the Red Bull Romaniacs with even more thrilling moments will be available within the next few days. If we can support you with any further detailled information please do not hesitate to contact us.

Best Greetings from Sibiu (ROM),
Martin Kettner
Red Bull Romaniacs Press/Media Services