Erzberg to be Xtreme World Championship
By TMX Archives on 16th Jun 10
Following the 16th edition of the now legendary race on the massive Iron Mountain and in front of 30,000 enthusiastic spectators, the organizers have announced that the next Erzberg Rodeo is to be the location of the Xtreme-Enduro World Championship!
From 2011, the official world champion of this type of sport will be initiated at the same location where the sport was inaugurated in 1995.
Karl Katoch, organizer and event director of the Erzberg Rodeo: It was here 16 years ago that together with Heinz Kinigadner and publisher, Andreas Werth, that a simple idea was realised with support from Red Bull and KTM.
We wanted to bring all the world's best off-road riders from all disciplines and present them with an unsolvable task. After the unique development that has taken place with the Erzberg Rodeo up till now in 2010 we had riders from 35 countries and all continents coming to Styria now, with the strength of the same partners, it is now time to give the riders and the fans their' Xtreme-Enduro World Championship.
KTM Motorsport advisor, Heinz Kinigadner, added: We welcome and 100 percent support the development of the Erzberg Rodeo into an Xtreme-Enduro World Championship. A sport is being born here that is unlike any other format. Riders and fans from all over the world come together for an extreme event. It was here that top riders like Cyril Despres, Chris Pfeiffer, David Knight and not the least Taddy Blazusiak (pictured) became stars of the off-road world.
The field of starters, which on the one hand is extremely high class and on the other very broadly varied, as well as the entire format of the Erzberg Rodeo as an extremely positive sporting event in every way, has already let this race develop into an unofficial world championship.
The special character of the most extreme Enduro race, which is also followed with interest by FIM, will continue in the same format in 2011, despite being declared the world championship. Every rider, from pure fun and amateur riders, right up to the Enduro, Rally or Motocross professional has the chance to qualify for the Red Bull Hare Scramble in both of the prologue races, then to ride on Erzberg and have the chance to be declared the world's best Extreme Enduroist.