Source: Red Bull.

After narrowly missing out on a podium finish in 2013, Britain’s Jonny Walker rode the race of his life at the 2014 edition of the super-tough enduro race to crown himself the new ‘King of the Carpathians’ in the most suspense-packed Red Bull Romaniacs ever.

“For me these were the toughest days ever on a motorbike,” commented a dejected Walker back in 2013 after failing to make the podium at his first Red Bull Romaniacs. In 2014, just weeks after having nailed the Erzberg Rodeo, Walker returned to Romania well-prepared and raring to go.

“I have put in a lot of effort into preparing for this race and my focus is different from last year,” explained Walker ahead of the event.

It certainly paid off for the young British rider. After winning two of the four Offroad Days and finishing third in the Prologue, Walker claimed an impressive overall victory at the 2014 Red Bull Romaniacs.

The day of racing started damp and foggy after some heavy thunderstorms the night before. Walker was first onto the course, with his closest rivals – Graham Jarvis and Wade Young – following him in five-minute intervals.

Despite tricky conditions on the many energy-sapping sections, there was no catching Walker, who continued to increase his advantage over Jarvis step by step during the day – he led by three minutes at ‘Sigi Zig Zag’, five minutes at the Service Point and seven minutes at Checkpoint 7, just before the fearsome ‘Black Mamba’.

While Jarvis kept working on catching up with Walker, he was himself starting to be chased. Paul Bolton, who had left 11 minutes after him in the morning, showed up hot on his heels and eventually passed Jarvis.

“I gave everything and rode a good race to try and win the Red Bull Romaniacs for a fifth time. But Jonny was simply too hard to beat and his victory is well earned. The many fast sections were in his favour – I was often far out of my comfort zone trying to match his speed there,” commented Jarvis, who still managed to claim second overall ahead of South Africa’s Wade Young in third.

2014 Red Bull Romaniacs
Sibiu, Romania

Overall results:
1. Jonny Walker
2. Graham Jarvis
3. Wade Young
4. Paul Bolton
5. Andreas Lettenbichler

Click here for detailed results