Red Bull Romaniacs is for sure one of the toughest hard enduro race in the world. I have been honored to work on this totally amazing event as an official photographer for the past 8 years in a row. Through all these years I witnessed many different participants and track routes, various weather conditions changed, but only one thing remained the same – extremely hard race conditions that are sometimes inhuman and are tough challenge for all riders, organizers, photographers and all those people even with the smallest role of participating in the Red Bull Romaniacs!
Also I am pleased AGAIN to announce that the picture taken last year during the Red Bull Romaniacs, was used for the official promotional poster (above) and media campaign for Red Bull Romaniacs 2015.

From the photographer’s perspective this race represents everything that any photographer would ever wanted. Possibilities of photoshooting this event is so large that sometimes you simply are not sure what to choose or what part of the track to visit. The multitude of potentialy superb photographic spots are pure joy for amateurs and professional photographers. Water, mud, river crossing, narrow passes, uphills and downhills represent a vast range of photographic challenges.

Riders in some places simply remain stuck for a few minutes, which gives you extra time to choose the best position for the image you want to take. Adding to this the unrealistically large number of competitors you have the time to play with your equipment, enjoy yourself and make some amazing photographs.

When you get tired of photoshooting the action you can turn to the beautiful landscape challenges of the Romanian Carpathians. Light conditions are constantly changing so it also allows you to really enjoy the beautiful atmosphere of wild nature in this part of Romania.

If you finally want even more than the aforementioned themes for your images you can also photoshoot portraits and lifestyle photos of competitors at the start, finish, service points or wherever spot you can capture a story and emotions about the tough conditions of this amazing race that reflects on the faces of tired and muddy competitors. Emotions and moments that you can catch during this race are totally amazing. Through the right pick of lenses you can describe certain situations in a completely different way so I recommend that you pack all your equipment and head to one of the upcoming races in the following years.

Red Bull Romaniacs race lasts for 5 days each year. The first day is the Prologue race which announces only a small part of everything that you can expect during the next 4 days of riding in the unreal places of beautiful mountain range in the Carpathians. If you ever get a chance to come to this race don’t miss it. See you at one of the next Red Bull Romaniacs races… I’ll definitely be there!

PAST AND PRESENT OF RED BULL ROMANIACS

Thanks to his adventurous style, Martin Freinademetz, the former multiple World & European snowboard Champ and the organizer of the Red Bull Romaniacs Hard Enduro Rallye”, explored the Carpathians Mountain areas on his own enduro bike for many years, before coming up with this solid and unique hardcore competition in 2004.

Martin figured out that adding a time attack to those tracks would leave him an ideal World Class motorbike enduro rallye event on tracks never crossed or ridden by offroad motorcycles before. Martin Freinademetz brought the concept, but a huge amount of help was necessary to make that idea become reality. There was the need for experienced bikers to mark the track and assure safety during the rally.

On “Bulevardul Coposu” in the very heart of Sibiuís Town Centre the World famous enduro rallye presents the “Prolog” of Red Bull Romaniacs, where competitors have to prove their endurance, riding skills and experience in front of thousands of fans, television crews, internet watchers, journalists and media.

The stars of this sport stand out in this extreme race within Sibiuís town center where artificial obstacles produce an amazing motorcycle show. In other words, the Prolog of the Red Bull Romaniacs is the sum of all the ideas, experiences and the philosophies of this competition ñ a difficult contest, where only the best competitors can win, but everyone has a challenge trying to win.

All four offroad days are based and centered around Sibiu, the home of the Red Bull Romaniacs. The tracks are mainly situated in the mountains south of Sibiu with a travel distance from Sibiu to the offroad-start-finish between 15-50km, depending on the days.

The riders are divided in 4 classes: Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron. Total altitude meters covered during the race: Gold class 60k, Silver & Bronze class 50k, Iron Class 40k. There were more than 300 people at work during the 12th Hard Enduro Rallye 2015 which attracted the riders from 40 countries. The breathtaking wilderness, the Romanian hospitality and the unbelievable challenges make the 600km race an unforgetable, livelong memory for all participants.

ROMANIA & SIBIU

Placed in the central south-eastern area of Europe, Romania is a wonderful country that shows diversity through its marvelous landscapes and its friendly inhabitants. Romania is divided in six main geographical and historical areas: Transilvania, Moldov, Banat, Dobrogea, Muntenia and Oletenia.

Romania is home to a lot of medieval towns and fortresses (Brasov ñ Kronstadt; Fagaras, Sighisoara), and Sibiu (Hermannstadt) is also one of them. Sibiu was the European Capital of Culture 2007, alongside Luxembourg.