Hard enduro: It’s like regular enduro, but harder. Hence the name! And in 2023’s FIM-sanctioned international hard enduro series, one rider is proving he’s the hardest of them all. Manuel Lettenbichler is now four-for-four on the season, undefeated so far.
His latest victory comes at the Red Bull Outliers showdown in Alberta, Canada. It’s a newish event that kicks off on an endurocross-style outdoor circuitin downtown Calgary, then moves out to the Badlands for the true challenge. It’s certainly nowhere near the notoriety of Romaniacs or the Erzbergrodeo, but it’s so rare to have any international FIM-sanctioned racing events in Canada that the locals are not complaining. Plus, it’s pretty cool to be riding out in dinosaur bone country, and the Badlands certainly have their own visual appeal!
Lettenbichler rode his KTM to the win with a 41-second lead over Billy Bolt (Husqvarna). Third place went to Trystan Hart, a familiar name from the AMA off-road competition, and particularly familiar for Canadians, as Mister Hart is from Canuckistan. He was disappointed to not bag the win; he’d challenged Lettenbichler for the victory in Alberta in 2022, but the German prevailed in the close battle, which came down to the very end of the race. This year, the competition was nowhere near as close.
Outliers doesn’t have the reputation that Erzbergrodeo or Romaniacs has, but it’s an epic place to race nevertheless. Photo: Future 7 Media/Red Bull Content Pool
At this point, things would have to go very wrong for Lettenbichler, as he sits on 86 points in the standings, while Bolt has 63 points and Hart has 62 points. But the next event (Hixpania Hard Enduroin the town of Aguilar de Campoo, in northern Spain, on October 13-15) should at least see a heated battle for second in the series.
