The 21st running of the Red Bull Hare Scramble at the Erzberg Rodeo saw a historic four-way tie for the win between (L-R) Alfredo Gomez, Jonny Walker, Graham Jarvis and Andreas Lettenbichler. Photography by Red Bull Content Pool
The infamous Iron Giant in the Austrian Alps set the scene once again for the Erzberg Rodeo, and true to form, the hard enduro saw some of the world’s best compete for top honors in the Red Bull Hare Scrambles, but surprisingly, the 21st edition of the event saw teamwork prevail as four riders were jointly crowned winners, and even more surprisingly, five-time Erzberg champion Taddy Blazusiak was not one of them. Jonny Walker, Graham Jarvis, Andreas Lettenbichler and Alfredo Gomez jointly shared the victory and each took their turn hoisting the famed trophy at the finish line.
Karl Katoch, the man behind the concept of the Erzberg Rodeo, promised riders they would see the toughest course ever in the 2015 running of the event, and he made good on his word. The course included a new section dubbed “Downtown” which proved to be unridable. As the four-rider train bottlenecked at the daunting uphill section, they decided the only way through would be to pool their resources. After taking more than an hour to reach the top, the organizers decided to remove the last checkpoint near the end. The four riders rode together to the finish in just under the four-hour time limit.
“It was a really tough one,” Lettenbichler said. “This is my 10th edition and today was the hardest. This one ‘Downtown’ section was impossible to ride and we had to help each other. Everyone was completely exhausted after this section and it was too dangerous to have a restart. It was an incredible race – difficult, but I’m happy.”
Walker was the original race leader, and started out by pulling a gap on the field aboard his Factory KTM. A hang-up on one of the hills allowed the Husqvarna duo of Graham Jarvis and Alfredo Gomez to get by, but they only got as far as the dreaded Downtown section before meeting again.
“We talked and decided to pull each other up and ride to the finish,” Walker explained. “It was by far the hardest Erzberg I have done.”
Only one other rider to record a finish was Mario Roman Serrano; the Spaniard crossed the finish line with 32 seconds to spare.
KTM’s hard enduro ace Taddy Blazusiak had a rough day after a hard crash near the start of the race. As they raced up the steep gravel slopes from the floor of the iron mine, Blazusiak and Walker made contact, which sent Blazusiak down hard. Walker made it away unscathed, but Taddy was struck on the head by his bike and was taken to the hospital with a concussion.
“It’s too bad it didn’t come to a duel with Taddy,” commented KTM Factory Racing’s Heinz Kinigadner. “But except for a headache and neck pain he is okay.”
