The event kicked off on Thursday in Erzberg, located in the Austrian region of Styria, where the discipline’s biggest stars, together with a large number of enthusiasts and amateur riders, took on the legendary “Iron Mountain” in one of the most iconic and extreme off-road events in the world.
The RIEJU Factory Racing riders, alongside the Rieju UK/Eurotek team, focused on the Iron Road Prologue aboard their MR300i machines. This qualifying race determines access to the main event, with only the 500 fastest riders earning a place on the starting line.
The Prologue was contested over two sessions, on Friday and Saturday, with more than 1,100 riders tackling the famous Iron Road Prologue, a nearly 15-kilometre course across the Erzberg mining tracks. Recent rainfall left the terrain in almost perfect condition.
British rider Bert Boam was the fastest of the RIEJU contingent, finishing 13th overall after the combined results of both sessions, while Radford Chugg secured 44th place. These performances earned both riders a starting position on the first grid among the top 50 qualifiers. Francesc Moret finished 71st overall and was therefore scheduled to start from the second grid. However, after winning the Extreme Trial Challenge, he earned a place on the front row for the main Hard Enduro race.
On Sunday, during the Red Bull Erzbergrodeo final, held on much drier terrain, Francesc Moret made a strong start and quickly moved into 32nd position. He steadily worked his way through the field and by Checkpoint 11 had climbed to 20th place. Determined to push further, he continued refining his pace and reached 17th position at the following checkpoints. However, through the demanding Carl’s Dinner section and up to CP24 of 27, he dropped back to 21st place. At that point, the official four-hour time limit expired and his race came to an end.
Bert Boam maintained a consistent pace for most of the race, running around 21st position before slipping to 22nd at CP18, eventually ending his challenge in the punishing Carl’s Dinner section.
Radford Chugg also delivered a steady performance, spending much of the race defending 26th position overall before being forced to stop at CP18 in the One Way Train section when the official race time expired.
Francesc Moret – Rieju Factory Racing
“The race went quite well, although this time I wasn’t able to finish within the official time limit, which was our main objective. Throughout the race I improved steadily. The Prologue went well, but I wasn’t fast enough to qualify for the front row, so on Saturday I competed in the Trial events, which earned me a pass to start from the front row of the main race.
On Sunday I got off to a very good start and quickly positioned myself among the top 20 to 30 riders. I maintained a strong pace throughout the race, although in some sections there were traffic bottlenecks and I had to wait for a few minutes. I didn’t experience any mechanical issues and my MR300i performed perfectly. We simply need to keep working, and the results will surely come.
Over the weekend we did an important job together with Rieju and Eurotek, and I’m very pleased about that. In one of the toughest races in the world, I finished just two checkpoints short of the finish. With twenty more minutes I would have completed it, but that’s racing. Next year we’ll come back and fight to finish.”
