2025 Valleys Hard Enduro - Hard Enduro World Championship Rd 1
By Team TMX on 10th May 25
Red Bull KTM’s Mani Lettenbichler dominated the 2025 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship season opener winning the Valley’s Hard Enduro ahead of Brit Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) and Bulgaria’s Teodor Kabakchiev (Sherco).
Staged over two days, the prologue for the Valleys Hard Enduro in South Wales was won by Bolt who picked up three championship points while Lettenbichler placed second. The evening’s Knock Out style races saw Lettenbichler advance through his heats with ease to reach the final. He went on to claim victory in the fast-paced, three-lap sprint.
For Sunday’s main event, Mani knew it was time to get down to business. The super-dry conditions meant dust clouds would be a major factor during the early part of the race. Claiming the holeshot would be key to controlling the pace on lap one.
As the only rider to dip under 30 minutes for the lap, he charged his way around lap one to open an advantage of around one minute on his rivals. Another strong push during lap two saw him increase it to two minutes. Responding to any threats from behind, he maintained a consistent pace to secure a dominant and well-deserved victory.
“It’s been a great race,” enthused Mani after. “My focus was on getting the holeshot for the main event. I knew that would be key today. I managed to do that and was able to pull a good gap of maybe one minute by the end of lap one. During the second lap, I was a little unsure of where everyone else was. I felt like they were closing, so I pushed harder again. The team told me I was over two minutes clear at the end of lap two, so that was both a nice surprise and a good cushion to have. I was happy with my pace and could maintain that until the finish. Coming into a new season is always difficult to judge where things are at, so it’s quite cool to win like this. For sure, I have things I want to work on to improve, but for now I’ll enjoy this moment.”
The hard enduro elite shift focus to the iconic Red Bull Erzbergrodeo on May 29 - June 1, before picking up round two of the FIM HEWC at Silver Kings, USA, on June 12-14.
