HUSQVARNA MOTORCYCLES EXTENDS CONTRACT WITH GRAHAM JARVIS
EXTREME ENDURO STAR TO STAY WITH HUSQVARNA FOR AN ADDITIONAL TWO YEARS

Husqvarna Motorcycles is pleased to announce the renewal of their contract with Graham Jarvis – an agreement that will see the British rider continue to lead the efforts of the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing extreme enduro team during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

Remaining on top of his game, the 41-year-old Brit is currently enjoying one of the most successful seasons of his extreme enduro career. Starting 2016 with a runner-up result at Minas Riders in Brazil, Graham put in two dominant performances to secure a third win at Erzberg and a record-breaking fifth career victory at Romaniacs.

Following a tight race schedule Graham is now set to fight for victory at The Battle of Vikings, in Sweden, before heading to the States for the 2016 Tennessee Knock Out extreme enduro event.

Andreas Hölzl – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Team Manager: “We’re excited to renew our contract with Graham for another two seasons. He will continue racing our team’s TE 300 in the biggest extreme enduro events worldwide. Carrying a huge amount of experience in extreme enduro racing, Graham is still very fast compared to many of the younger riders, which he proved that this year at both Erzberg and Romaniacs. With Graham age really is just a number. I think Graham has a lot more to give and will continue to surprise us with his performances in the future.”

Graham Jarvis: “It’s fantastic that I’m going to race with Husqvarna for another two years. The new TE 300 is an amazing machine. I’ve been racing it for a few months and already I’ve earned two major wins on it – Erzberg and Romaniacs. Within Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing I feel like I’m part of a global team. My focus is on the big outdoor extreme enduro events, while I’ll also be trying to squeeze in as many other races as possible. I feel like I’m in the best place right now and I’m looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead.”

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The performance turned in by Rockstar Energy Husqvarna factory extreme enduro rider at last week’s Red Bull Romaniacs extreme enduro in the mountains of Romania cannot be overstated.

At 41, the former trials star-turned-extreme enduro legend proved once again that he hasn’t lost a step as he recorded a record-breaking fifth victory in the notoriously difficult Red Bull Romaniacs event. Jarvis came into Day 4 of the event with a huge lead over his closest rival, Alfredo Gomez of Spain, but the grueling race is anything but predictable. Seemingly huge time advantages can vanish in an instant if a rider should run into trouble in any one of the ridiculously technical sections that the race organizers lay out, sections that are essentially designed to eliminate competitors from the event.

As the video shows, Jarvis’ pursuers never gave up hope for a victory, but the old master did what he does best, ride smoothly and with careful calculation to claim the overall win by an amazing 35-minute winning margin of victory. South Africa’s Wade Young won the day and finished third overall, showing that he has the potential to score a Red Bull Romaniacs win in the future. Likewise, Gomez put together an extremely consistent week, finishing second overall. Even with the early exit of defending Red Bull Romaniacs Champion Jonny Walker due to a leg injury sustained early in the week, the Red Bull Romaniacs lived up to its billing as an exciting event in which the creme of the extreme enduro genre rises to the top.

For now, Graham Jarvis is still “la creme de la creme.”

“It’s a magical feeling to take my fifth Red Bull Romaniacs title,” Jarvis said. “It’s been eight years since I got my first win, so a total of five in this amount of time is pretty special.”

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Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Graham Jarvis had just the kind of week at the 2016 Red Bull Romaniacs in Sibiu, Romania, that he had been hoping for in 2015 as the 41-year-old British rider walked away with a record-breaking fifth win in the brutally tough extreme endure event today.

“It is incredible to get a fifth win,” Jarvis said. “The last couple of years I’ve been a bit unlucky so I’m just happy to get another win, can’t believe I can still do it—even at 41! I struggled a bit with concentration being the last day and worrying about things going wrong but I tried to stay positive and focused on the track.”

Heavy rain on Friday had turned Saturday’s “Grand Finale” into a quagmire for the 17 remaining Gold class riders who left the starting line. The only British rider left in the Top 10, Jarvis started the day with a comfortable 30-minute lead, and he was content to let his closest competitors in the overall standing, Spain’s Alfredo Gomez and South Africa’s Wade Young, run ahead of him on the trail. Young was the fastest of the three in the early going followed by Gomez. Young would win the day while Jarvis played it safe and rode to his fifth Red Bull Romaniacs victory.

“Wade [Young] was flying,” Jarvis said. “He caught me early and brought Gomez with him, so we were riding together for a bit. I managed to get a bit of a gap again on the hard bits but then made mistakes after the service point, and Wade got by me. It’s good to see the young riders coming up, they’re so fast, some of them, but at the Red Bull Romaniacs, experience counts. They will be more Jonny’s problem than mine!”

Gomez, who finished the day third, held on to finish second overall after five consistent days. When Gomez met a Red Bull Romaniacs track manager at the service point, he was reportedly furious. “You can’t throw this kind of stuff at us on the fourth day!” he yelled.

“The rain last night was impressive, and we did not know what to expect from the track today,” Gomez said. “The first 30 kilometers were fast and fluent riding, but the Gold loop before the service point was probably the hardest one of the race.”

Young finished the day ahead of Gomez, and that was good enough to nail down third overall ahead of Mario Roman of Spain.

“I got off to a good start and just pushed hard through the day,” Young said. “I had a collapsed mousse [tube] just before the end, but I was happy with the day. It was a very tough race, but I enjoyed it. It’s good to be at the finish line, and I’m really happy with my finish today.”

Red Bull Romaniacs rookie Roman was impressive in the event even though a crash in the “Grand Finale” ended his podium hopes.

“Today was not so good for me,” Roman said. “I had a huge crash [while] looking at my GPS and hitting a hole. I tried hard after that, but it wasn’t possible to overtake Wade [Young] today. I’m happy with my first Red Bull Romaniacs, but a little sad for today’s mistakes because I was riding well the other days.”

KTM rider Keith Curtis put up a solid result for American off-road fans. The former AMA Endurocross Amateur Champion and ISDE competitor finished seventh overall, finishing 5 hours, 42 minutes and 15 seconds off the lead.

2016 Red Bull Romaniacs
Sibiu, Romania
Overall Results: July 16, 2016
1. Graham Jarvis (GBR)-Hus
2. Alfredo Gomez (ESP)-KTM/+00:35:28
3. Wade Young (ZAF)-She/+00:40:34
4. Mario Roman (ESP)-Hus/+01:02:53
5. Scott Bouverie (ZAF)-KTM/+03:37:50
6. David Cyprián (CZE)-KTM/+04:32:33
7. Travis Teasdale (ZAF)-KTM/+05:42:15
8. Keith Curtis (USA)-KTM/+06:44:09
9. Xavi Leon Sole (ESP)-Hus/+07:42:28
10. Ervin Kovacs (ROU)-KTM/+20:54:16

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After a brutal day two that wiped out nearly 50 percent of the field, today’s penultimate run at the 2016 Red Bull Romaniacs was relatively mild, but the racing in Sibiu, Romania was still wild as overall leader Graham Jarvis came out on top of a thrilling battle with the man he deposed, Alfredo Gomez, to collect a second consecutive day win.

Jarvis opened up the day in the lead, but that forced him to cut the trail for his pursuers, and a couple of them, Spanish riders Mario Roman and Alfredo Gomez, caught the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider before the “10A” section on the course. Roman then took the physical lead over Jarvis before the trio hit the matrix that was “Black Slope”, “English Farmer” and the new “CDI.” Then Gomez found his rhythm and made his way past both Jarvis and Roman However, Jarvis once again showed just how good he really is by retaking the lead just before the service area. From there, Jarvis held the lead through the second half of the day by picking unorthodox lines and surviving the near-vertical downhills to take the day’s win by 13 minutes.

“It was another really long day,” Jarvis said. “I can’t afford to back off with these guys pushing so hard. The competition is at a really high level. Whatever lead I have, I just have to keep going and push hard. Right from the start, there were some really gnarly hill climbs. I was off my bike five or six times, pushing. It’s been tough. It was cold at the top–all kinds of weather rain and fog. I had wet gloves, making my hands cold, and it was hard to ride.”

Gomez finished second.

“I did my best all day,” Gomez said. “It was a good day for me. I did crash twice in the wet grass, going too fast. The problem is Graham [Jarvis] is flying, and he can go straight when other people can’t! I need to go home and practice!”

After a very consistent day, Roman finished third, 25 minutes behind Jarvis, and is now third overall.

“It was a tough day, 7.5 hours,” Roman said. “I expected it to be less, and the level today was pretty high. I rode well [but] made a few GPS errors. The trails were marked well, but it was quite foggy up there. I still managed to arrive third. Overall I am very happy, and we’ll see what happens on the final day”

South Africa’s Wade Young, who won the opening off-road day, stayed close to the front runners all day, finishing 30 minutes behind Jarvis to net fourth place and is still fourth overall. Great Britain’s Billy Boldt finished fifth after struggling in the “10A” section, where he lost over an hour.

Silver class leader Andy Noakley of Great Britain managed to pick up another class win despite suffering a potential disaster.

“I was slightly off track and hit a steel cable that secured some driftwood in the water,” Noakley said. “It chopped my front brake line, and I had to kamikaze down some hills to the service point!”

The Bronze class faced challenges as well after rain turned the grassy single tracks slippery and fog made visibility an issue Czech Republic’s Miroslav Culka took the win for the third consecutive day, leading Toomas Triisa of Estonia and Matthias Saric of Germany. Oscar Hernandez Panos of Spain and Marcel Vogel of Switzerland landed first and second respectively in the Iron class.

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Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Graham Jarvis may be one of the more veteran riders in the 2016 Red Bull Romaniacs field, but his substantial skill allowed him to turn back time in more ways than one during off-road day two in Sibiu, Romania, Thursday.

The 41-year-old Jarvis had bided his time during Tuesday’s prologue and Wednesday’s opening off-road day, but on Thursday the Brit stepped up his game considerably. Starting fourth, behind Wednesday winner Wade Young, overall event leader Alfredo Gomez and Travis Teasdale, Jarvis took day’s win in such dominant fashion that he now has a commanding 15-minute lead over the rest of the field.

“I enjoyed today a lot more than yesterday,” Jarvis said afterward. “It was more my type of riding, with some really gnarly bits and some flowing tracks as well. I managed to catch some time up, it’s all about trying to get vital seconds now, trying to claw something up. “Hopefully the same again tomorrow. I’ll be starting off first. It seems whoever gets off first gets caught, so I have to make sure that no one catches me.”

Young started off well but was hampered as he reached the “Viagra Falls” obstacle as his bike began to suffer with clutch problems. Young was able to hand tough and manage a third-place finish behind Mario Serrano to remain third overall, behind Gomez.

“Halfway through this morning I lost my clutch,” Young said. “It’s frustrating when you want to go but can’t. I really did lose a lot of time. It’s gonna be hard to catch up, but I’m gonna try”.

Gomez was fast during Thursday’s stage, but he a lot of time due to crashes. The Spaniard finished the day fourth, losing the overall lead to Jarvis.

“It was a tough day for me today,” Gomez said. “I got a log stuck in my front wheel in the morning and then a big one in my rear wheel in the afternoon, I also crashed a few times, I just made too many mistakes.”

The Gold class has another tough day in store for it on day three, starting off with a steep hillclimb followed by the classic “10A” section. Other signature obstacles will include “Black Slope”, “English Farmer” and the new “CDI”.

The Silver class will face similar conditions to Thursday. The highlight will be the monstrous 1000-meter uphill called “The Beast.” Meanwhile, Bronze and Iron class riders will be on separate single-track trails, but all classes will share some parts of the track, creating potential traffic conditions among the Gold riders and the lower classes.

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The obstacles already sound tough enough, with names such as “The Impossible”, “The Appetiser”, “The Sherwood Forest” and “125 Killer.” And one thing is certain, at the Red Bull Romaniacs, the obstacles are always tougher than they sound.

But South African Wade Young was up to the task during the brutally tough extreme enduro held in the mountains of Romania, Wednesday, to win the first of four mountain stages today, a day in which KTM’s Alfredo Gomez retain the overall event lead while two-time and defending Red Bull Romaniacs Champion Jonny Walker saw his hopes for a third consecutive title come to an end.

“I was riding through long grass in third or fourth gear, so quite fast, and I clipped my toe on a hidden tree stump which pulled my leg off the bike,” Walker said. “When I got up, my leg was killing so I rode all the way on my left leg, which is also in pain now.”

Young posted the best Gold class time while Walker aggravated a precious fibula injury and had to pull out of the event. After finishing fifth in yesterday’s prologue, Paul Bolton also had to end his rung due to a strained neck.

Young mastered “The Appetiser” section of the course to Young mastered ‘The Appetiser’ section of the course to take the day’s win and vault from eighth to second overall behind today’s runner-up, Gomez. Walker now sits 4 minutes and 35 seconds behind Gomez.

“I tried to push hard at the beginning before everyone started to spread out,” Walker said. “It’s going to be a long race. Today was meant to be one of the easier days!”

Gomez said that he tried to push hard but could not find his rhythm, and it forced him to take more risks.

“I was riding in groups with Graham [Jarvis] and Wade [Young] until one hour before the finish. After passing them on a downhill, I just went for it and rode by myself until the finish.”

Jarvis negotiated the tricky and perilous course to finish third overall with South Africa’s Travis Teasdale fourth.

“Lots of long grass for me today, being the first out on the trails,” Jarvis said. “‘The Appetiser’ was probably the hardest section. After the SP the riding was slow and went on forever, with loose rocks and scattered trees, where you just had to keep picking your line. I really regret that [Jonny] Walker and [Paul] Bolton are out. It is always sad because whoever wins, wants to say they beat everyone—and not because of DNF. I’m glad to just still be in the race.”

Andrew Noakley still leads the Silver class by 18 seconds over New Zealand’s Angus Macdonald with Miroslav Culka topping the Bronze standings and Oscar Hernandez Panos leading the Iron class.

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Alfredo Gomez of Spain got his quest for his first Red Bull Romaniacs Extreme Enduro crown off to a good start by winning the prologue on the technical course set in the city of Sibiu, Romania, today.

Gomez, 27, posted an impressive time of 17 minutes and 53 seconds to outrun rivals and Romaniacs favorites such as Jonny Walker and Graham Jarvis on a course that race organizers admitted was not as technical as in years past. Walker put himself in decent shape to seek a third consecutive Red Bull Romaniacs title by finishing ahead of four-time winner Jarvis. Fellow Brits Billy Bolt fourth and Paul Bolton finished fourth and fifth respectively.

Gomez’s prologue gives him first pick of starting positions as the event heads into four days of bone-jarring extreme technical terrain in the mountains around Sibiu.

Congested rider traffic on the course left Walker thinking that he had actually won the prologue.

“It was a fumble, a mess of riders and I didn’t see what was going on with who,” Walker said. “I didn’t see Gomez pass me.”

Jarvis, meanwhile played the prologue like the verteran he was, passing Bolt and Bolton to snag third place at the finish, more than dispelling any notions about his capabilities at 41 years of age.

“I plan to just keep going until I drop, and if I didn’t think I had a chance at winning I wouldn’t be here,” Jarvis said. “They added the water this year, which made it slippery, and there was some queueing at the difficult stuff. Otherwise it was smooth.”

Australia’s Chris Perry finished first in the Silver class with Kiwi Angus MacDonald second and Briton Andrew Noakley third, while Estonian Toomas Triisa topped the Bronze class over Czech rider Miroslav Culka. Estonia’s Tonu Kallast was third. Great Britain’s Richard Main led the Iron class standings with Dutchman Marco Smits and German Phil Gilges second and third respectively.

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Red Bull KTM’s Johnny Walker successfully defended his Red Bull Romaniacs crown at the brutally tough Hard Enduro in Sibiu, Romania, today.

Walker faced heavy pressure from four-time Red Bull Romaniacs winner Graham Jarvis throughout the four-day event, and Jarvis fought right to the end by stealing the Day 4 win from Walker just yards from the finish line, but Walker never buckled, and he was able to land his second consecutive Red Bull Romaniacs title with a four-day overall time of 23 hours, 49 minutes and 42 seconds. After all of the grueling stages were complete, Jarvis finished second, just 1 minute and 40 seconds off of Walker’s time.

“It feels awesome to win again,” Walker said. “It was a lot tougher than last year, and I am looking forward to going home!”

The final stage became particularly tense for Walker when he arrived at the infamous “Gusterita” uphill. The already challenging uphill was made even more difficult after prolog master Andy Fazekas added new sections just before the finish arch, wreaking havoc for the competitors who faced the final obstacle in front of a cheering crowd. The Bronze class riders, who had arrived earlier, made it even more difficult by carrying mud and water from the pond onto the structures. Walker was first Gold rider to arrive there, and he lost precious time in the mudhole. Jarvis was able to get through the section cleaner, and he stole the day’s win, but Walker was able to recover in enough time to keep Jarvis from landing a much-coveted fifth overall win.

“It’s been an unbelievable race–I think that’s the closest and most competitive one I’ve ever done,” Jarvis said afterward. “It literally went down to the final 50 meters for the win. Of course I’m disappointed that the victory didn’t fall my way, but I gave it everything I had. I rode a good week – only had a couple of mishaps – but overall it was a solid ride.”

Jarvis’ Bel-Ray Husqvarna teammate, Alfredo Gomez, finished third, making a fine comeback to the event after missing last year’s Red Bull Romaniacs due to an injury. Gomez initially struggled to find his rhythm during the first two day before putting forth his best performance on Day 3 when he finished. It put him back into contention for a podium finish, and Gomez rode well again on the final day to clinch third overall.

“Finishing on the podium in third is fantastic for me,” Gomez said. “Honestly, I didn’t know if it would be possible this year. Having missed last year’s race and with only one-year of experience here, I knew it would be a tough week. The first two days in the mountains were not the best I’ve ever ridden. I definitely made it hard on myself. But I turned things around with second place [on Day 3], and I sort of found my Romaniacs rhythm. Starting day four I knew third could be a possibility so I pushed hard and got it. I’m super happy with this result. Also congratulations to both Graham and Jonny – they rode incredibly this week.”

2015 Red Bull Romaniacs
Sibiu, Romania
Overall Results, July 14-18

Overall
1. Jonny Walker-KTM/23 hours, 49 minutes, 42 seconds
2. Graham Jarvis-Hus/23:51:22
3. Alfredo Gomez-Hus/24:48:03
4. Paul Bolton-KTM/25:00:10
5. Wade Young-KTM/25:10:39
6. Andreas Lettenbichler-KTM/25:44:50
7. Philipp Scholz-KTM/26:2:37
8. Blake Gutzeit-Hus/26:26:59
9. Lars Enockl-KTM/26:39:38
10. Brett Swanepoel-Yam/26:44:01

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Bel-Ray Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Graham Jarvis and Alfredo Gomez are all set to tackle the Red Bull Romaniacs in Sibiu, Romania, July 14-18, and both men are considered to be contenders for the win.

The Red Bull Romaniacs is regarded by many off-road enthusiasts as the hardest of the hard enduros, but Jarvis has the credentials to claim the win. He is the winningest rider in the event’s history with four victories, and he will be seeking a fifth win at the event in Sibiu. Jarvis was disappointed to net a runner-up finish to Red Bull KTM’s Jonny Walker in 2014, but he is feeling confident that he can put his TE 300 on the top step of the podium again.

“The Red Bull Romaniacs is a race I look forward to the most every year,” Jarvis said. “It’s my favorite event on the calendar and one that’s been very good to me in the past. I’m proud to have the most number of wins in the history of the race, but I’m not done yet and really want to add to that tally. Finishing second last year was tough, but I feel like I rode a great race. Going to Sibiu this year I know the level of competition is even higher than before, but I’m confident I can put my Husqvarna at the sharp end of the results.”

“It’s great to be back at Red Bull Romaniacs,” Gomez said. “Missing it last year due to an unfortunate injury was very difficult for me. I made my debut ride there in 2013 and was able to finish as the runner-up. For my first effort it was a great result, and having missed a year I feel like I need to try and prove myself all over again. The race is difficult and there’s a lot to learn, so I’m trying to keep an open mind about my result. Obviously I want to return to the podium. I feel like my riding is about as good as it’s ever been [and] my performance at Erzberg showed that. Hopefully with a little luck things will work out, and I can make amends for missing the race last year.”

The Red Bull Romaniacs gets underway today with the notoriously difficult prologue and finishes on Saturday.

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Red Bull KTM’s Jonny Walker stopped Graham Jarvis’ quest for a record-setting fifth victory by winning the 11th running of the Red Bull Romaniacs, Saturday, after five days of intense riding in the Carpathian Mountains near Sibiu, Romania.

The 23-year-old British Red Bull-sponsored KTM factory rider backed up his win at the 2014 Red Bull Hare Scramble at Austria’s Erzbergrodeo by defeating the always-strong Jarvis, who has been Walker’s idol as well as his rival. KTM also enjoyed a second spot on the podium, thanks to the inspiring performance of 18-year-old South African Wade Young. Romaniac veterans, Paul Bolton (KTM UK) and KTM factory rider Andreas Lettenbichler completed the top five.

Walker set the pace by winning Day One of the brutal Hard Enduro competition. Walker’s margin of victory gave him a Day Two starting advantage of around five minutes, but he would lose that advantage after crashing his KTM 300 EXC in a river crossing. Jarvis won the day.

That left the outcome very much in doubt at the start of Day Three. Walker kept the pressure on Jarvis, and by the halfway mark he had neutralized Jarvis’ five-minute lead in the morning. The afternoon portion of the event would feature a new section, as riders competed on the roof of an abandoned coal mine. Jarvis crossed the finish line first, but Walker won the day on adjusted time, setting up an all-or-nothing battle for the overall win on Day Four.

Walker and Jarvis battled hammer and tongs for almost the entire 180 kilometers on Day Four, with both men handling the infamous and near vertical Gusterita Hillclimb at the end of the day, only to have to wait to have their GPS times verified before it was learned that Walker was still 5 minutes ahead of Jarvis, heading into Day Five.

Jarvis left first on the final day, but Walker would overtake him and pull away, building his lead. Things almost went awry for Walker on the rain-slickened final hill, but with a little help from spectators–well within Hard Enduro rules–Walker crested the summit and went on to cross the finish line, securing the Red Bull Romaniacs win by 13 minutes and 26 seconds. While Walker and Jarvis battled for the overall win, Young ran third over the last three days to earn a surprise podium finish that thrust him into the limelight.

KTM UK’s Paul Bolton finished fourth overall, making a great recovery over the final two days after a hard crash on Day Two. Bolton might have been out of the running altogether if not for KTM’s Lars Enoeckl of Austria, who generously loaned Bolton some GPS equipment to finish the race. Romaniacs veteran and KTM factory rider Andreas Lettenbichler of Germany finished fifth despite being plagued by a recent neck injury.

2014 Red Bull Romaniacs
Sibiu, Romania
Final Results: July 19, 2014

Overall
1. Jonny Walker (GBR)-KTM/20 hours, 53minutes, 23 seconds
2. Graham Jarvis (GBR)-Hus/21:06:49
3. Wade Young (RSA)-KTM/21:47:31
4. Paul Bolton (GBR)-KTM/22:01:33
5. Andreas Lettenbichler (GER)-KTM/22:47:00

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