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Red Bull Romaniacs
Alongside its top riders, Touratech Racing also sent an
enduro amateur to race at the Red Bull Romaniacs Hard
Enduro Rally. Alex Schönborn learned that the “hobby”
class at the RBR has nothing to do with enduring
boring dirt roads.
Like all sports, offroad motorbike racing thrives on mass
participation. The stars create the interest, but everyone
wants to take part. Otherwise the sport just degenerates
into a TV event. The structure of the Touratech Racing team
recognises this.
As well as a number of top-class riders whose task is to
achieve top rankings in the international events, the team
also includes experienced endurists who do not have professional
ambitions. These riders take part in all major races
and series in the appropriate classes.
Their experiences with the Touratech products they use accurately
reflect the expectations of “normal” enduro riders. This
allows the development department to gain important insights that
ensure they develop products that meet the market’s needs.
The fact that these insights are gained under extreme physical stress is
something that marketing man Alex Schönborn knows all about. He
has a story to tell about the first time the Touratech Racing team took
part in the Red Bull Romaniacs, allegedly the hardest enduro rally in
the world, in Romania.
“Our top rider and extreme specialist Gerhard Forster starts in the
professional class and has to compete against the entire international
“hard enduro” elite. It’s no easy task! My colleague Ian Rowley starts
the race in the Expert Single class along with his long-standing team
partner Rolf Epting. For my part I’m competing in the hobby class.
At this point I’m still thinking: ‘hobby class – that shouldn’t be too
much of a problem.’
“The format of the rally is straightforward.
The prologue qualifying event is held on Saturday. This decides
the starting lineup for the first off-road day. Four race days
follow, which with one exception start and finish in Sibiu.
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