Red Bull Hard Enduro 2016

Meet this season’s Hard Enduro contenders

Can Jonny Walker repeat last year’s heroics or will he be reeled in by a young and hungry pack?

Jonny Walker became the man to beat last year © Future7Media

By Robert Lynn on 17 March 2016

With the winter break all but over, the Red Bull Hard Enduro Series gears up for a new season of action-packed competition. Six races await the world’s best enduro riders, taking them across Europe, South Africa and into South America.

In 2015, Jonny Walker was the man to beat with a near flawless performance. While Walker looks to repeat that form this year, he’ll have his work cut out as Graham Jarvis, Wade Young, Spain’s duo of Alfredo Gómez and Mario Román, along with rising youngster Manuel Lettenbichler, look to grab their fair share of the limelight.

Jonny Walker

2015 was the year of Jonny Walker. Winning all bar one of the Red Bull Hard Enduro events, Walker recorded the best year of his career so far. Stepping out of his SuperEnduro schedule to tackle the French AlesTrem classic in January, Walker proved he’s ready for the 2016 challenge by claiming the win. After an early battle with Wade Young, Walker kicked things up a gear as the difficulty level increased and pulled clear to secure a seven-minute margin of victory. If that was a sign of things to come, the young Brit may well remain a familiar sight on the top step of the podium.

Lettenbichler Junior

Following in his father’s footsteps, Manuel Lettenbichler will take in a full season of Red Bull Hard Enduro in 2016. Clear favourite to win the SuperEnduro Junior World Championship, Lettenbichler has been on top form this winter and is looking to step it up outdoors. Almost claiming a podium result at last year’s Red Bull 111 Megawatt, Lettenbichler has what it takes to get the job done. Expect him to hit the podium at least once this year.

Wade Young

Since joining Sherco as a factory rider, Wade Young has been enjoying an incredible start to the year. He kept Jonny Walker honest at the AlesTrem and then remarkably took on and beat non other than Graham Jarvis at the Hell’s Gate classic. With his eyes firmly fixed on the prize and Sherco backing him all the way, 2016 could be the year of Wade Young.

The Spanish Armada

The Spanish Armada strengthens for 2016 with both Alfredo Gómez and Mario Román running factory-backed machinery. With a change of colours this year, Gómez moves from Husqvarna to KTM, joining Walker as a team-mate. Runner-up at the 2015 Hell’s Gate, Román was one of the season’s surprise performers until a knee injury cut short his campaign. But his results didn’t go unnoticed and Husqvarna were quick to sign him up as a team-mate to Graham Jarvis.

South America Kick Off

Red Bull Minas Riders is a new race on the calendar for 2016. Marking the very first time the Hard Enduro series ventures to South America. The race in Brazil signals a step into the unknown and, most importantly, makes for a level playing field. Following a similar format to the Red Bull Romaniacs, the Minas Riders four-day event will feature a city prologue in Belo Horizonte before three tough days of riding in the surrounding mountains.

The 2016 Red Bull Hard Enduro series takes place in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on April 17-20.