Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Manuel Lettenbichler has secured his first overall podium finish of the year at round three of the 2024 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship. Mani pulled out his best performance of the indoor enduro season yet at his home race in Riesa, Germany, to maintain fourth position in the series standings.
Making a strong start in front of his home crowd, Lettenbichler stormed the one-lap Superpole to place fourth and secure an advantageous gate pick for the first Prestige final. The German had a rollercoaster first race after coming out of the gate in sixth and slipping down to eighth by the end of the first lap. However, Mani put his head down and got his elbows out, chasing down his competitors to work his way up the field and finish in fourth place.
Race two’s reverse grid didn’t stop Mani from dominating the beginning of the race on his KTM 300 EXC as he made his way up to third place by the first corner. Showcasing his experience and skill on the fast and technical track at the WT Energiesysteme Arena, Lettenbichler put up a fierce fight for third place for most of the race. Ultimately, Mani started pulling ahead in the final few laps to secure a podium finish by nearly 20 seconds.
At the start of the third and final Prestige race of the evening, Mani suffered a crash which frustratingly put him at the back of the field with a lot of work to do. Determined to clinch his first overall podium finish of the 2024 SuperEnduro season, the German, spurred on by his home crowd, fought his way through the pack to finish the race in fifth place. His resilient performance was enough to ensure his spot on the third step of the overall podium, marking Lettenbichler’s best performance of the indoor season this year.
Manuel Lettenbichler: “I’m happy to finally be on the podium, especially at home here in Germany! I feel a lot better on the two stroke, I feel like I can push a lot more even after just two days of testing. It’s hard to make big improvements when races are so close together, but we are going to try our best and see what we can do. I tried to manage my crash on the start in the last race so I was quite happy to have got a good finish out of it. It sure sucks when you have a crash, especially at the start. Overall it’s not too bad, but let’s see what the next round in Romania brings.”
The city of Cluj in Romania will host the fourth round of the 2024 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship in just two weeks’ time on January 20.
Results – 2024 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship – Round 3, Germany
Prestige Overall
1. Billy Bolt (GBR), Husqvarna, 59 points
2. Jonny Walker (GBR), Beta, 57 pts
3. Manuel Lettenbichler (GER), KTM, 39 pts
4. Mitchell Brightmore (GBR), GASGAS, 37 pts
5. Will Hoare (GBR), Beta, 35 pts
Prestige Race 1
1. Billy Bolt (GBR), Husqvarna, 10 laps, 7:13.164
2. Jonny Walker (GBR), Beta, 10 laps, 7:20.391
3. Mitchell Brightmore (GBR), GASGAS, 10 laps, 7:33.261
4. Manuel Lettenbichler (GER), KTM, 10 laps, 7:37.913
5. Eddie Karlsson (SWE), Husqvarna, 10 laps, 7:47.609
Prestige Race 2
1. Billy Bolt (GBR), Husqvarna, 10 laps, 7:15.77
2. Jonny Walker (GBR), Beta, 10 laps, 7:27.188
3. Manuel Lettenbichler (GER), KTM, 10 laps, 7:30.345
4. Tim Apolle (GER), Beta, 10 laps, 7:47.952
5. Will Hoare (GBR), Beta, 10 laps, 7:49.247
Prestige Race 3
1. Jonny Walker (GBR), Beta, 10 laps, 7:09.279
2. Billy Bolt (GBR), Husqvarna, 10 laps, 7:20.705
3. Will Hoare (GBR), Beta, 10 laps, 7:35.862
4. Mitchell Brightmore (GBR), GASGAS, 10 laps, 7:39.008
5. Manuel Lettenbichler (GER), KTM, 10 laps, 7:42.658
Championship Standings (After Round 3)
1. Billy Bolt (GBR), Husqvarna, 182 points
2. Jonny Walker (GBR), Beta, 166 pts
3. Will Hoare (GBR), Beta, 117 pts
4. Manuel Lettenbichler (GER), KTM, 110 pts
5. Dominik Olszowy (POL), Rieju, 95 pts