Manuel Lettenbichler

Manuel Lettenbichler won the Red Bull Erzbergrodeo for the fifth year in a row in June 2026, which equals the event record [2]. The Red Bull Romaniacs followed, and his win there was his seventh, which ties the all-time record [4]. He is also leading the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship after four of its eight rounds [5].

Born in southern Germany, son of a hard-enduro rider

KTM's rider profile gives his date of birth as 30 April 1998 and his nationality as German [1]. It describes him as "born and bred in the rugged landscapes of southern Germany" [1]. None of the sources I opened names the town where he was born, so this article does not give one.

The same profile names his father, Andreas Lettenbichler, as a hard-enduro rider and a former KTM Factory Racing rider [1].

The early titles

KTM's profile lists three championships before his hard-enduro run. He was the junior-class FIM SuperEnduro World Champion in 2016 and the WESS Enduro World Champion in 2019 [1]. The profile gives the years only, not the dates of the finals [1]. KTM's race reports also use the name "Mani", which is how the team headlines his results [2].

Four straight hard-enduro titles

The title that defines his record is the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship. KTM lists him as champion in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 [1]. The profile calls him "the only rider in history to claim four consecutive Hard Enduro World Championships" [1].

The 2026 series has eight rounds. After four of them, KTM's provisional standings show him on 117 points, with Mitch Brightmore of Great Britain on 102 [5]. Motorcycle.com put his lead at 15 points at the halfway stage of the season [6].

Romaniacs: six wins, then seven

The Red Bull Romaniacs is a multi-day rally held in Romania. In 2025 Lettenbichler won it for his sixth career victory, riding a KTM 300 EXC [3]. He placed third in the prologue in Sibiu, won the first offroad day by close to seven minutes, then won the second offroad day too [3].

He finished the 2025 event in 21:41:45 on provisional results. Billy Bolt was second on a time of 22:14:56, and Mario Roman was third [3]. Lettenbichler won the final stage on the Saturday, which settled the overall result [3]. The race report labels him "(GER)" in its results and calls him the German, which matches his KTM profile [3] [1].

The 2026 edition gave him the seventh title. KTM's provisional time for his win is 22:14:41 [4]. The report says "the German controlled the race from the opening offroad stage to the finish" [4]. He said: "To win Red Bull Romaniacs for the seventh time is something I never expected, and it's an unreal feeling" [4].

Erzbergrodeo: five in a row

The 2026 Erzbergrodeo was run on Sunday 7 June [2]. Lettenbichler crossed the line first in 3:05:39.953 on provisional results, ahead of Trystan Hart of Canada, who also rode for KTM [2]. The five straight wins equal the event record rather than beat it, and KTM's wording makes that distinction [2]. KTM's report says that once he was in front, he "steadily increased his pace and control over the race" [2].

His reaction was short. "Five wins at Erzberg, I have no words!" he said, and then: "It feels incredible to make it five in a row and equal the record" [2].

Forza Orza and the rest of 2026

Forza Orza, held in Orsa, Sweden, was round four of eight in the 2026 championship [5] [6]. KTM's headline says the win was used to strengthen his Hard Enduro championship lead [5]. Lettenbichler won in 2:20:41. Mitch Brightmore finished second, 3:36 back, and Ashton Brightmore third, 7:16 back [6].

The race was not clean for him. "I felt good throughout the race, but then on the second-to-last lap I had a huge crash in the traffic," he said [5]. He added: "I think I did exactly what I had to do, and it's great to come away with the win" [5].

With four rounds still to come in 2026, the standings can still change. Several results in this article are KTM's provisional figures, so final results may differ from the times quoted here.