In Hard Enduro competition a good start doesn’t guarantee a win, but it can make things easier.
It doesn’t matter if it’s F1, MotoGP, WRC or Hard Enduro… a good start can make all the difference. After the testing, the training, the practicing and the qualifying is done and dusted it all comes down to the start – arguably the most exciting, and important, part of any race.
The ways in which Hard Enduro events start are as varied as the terrain the riders tackle. The Tough One with it’s Le Man style run-to-your-bike start sees riders heart rates go through the roof before any leg is thrown over a motorcycle. At Hell’s Gate in Italy a GP style start grid sees riders set off on Tarmac before taking on the unforgiving the perilous Tuscan mountains.
The Roof of Africa also sees riders doing their fair share of road racing, but at the biggest and baddest Hard Enduro event of them all – the ErzbergRodeo in Austria – it’s dirt all the way. 500 adrenaline fuelled racers set off 50 riders at a time from the floor of the Iron Giant, with most unsure if they’ll make it up the event’s first climb.
But it’s not all bar-banging action on the Hard Enduro circuit. Prologues – the opening act at the ErzbergRodeo – give riders the chance to go one-on-one in order to earn the best possibly starting position for the main Hare Scramble race.
RedBull.com and Throttle Entertainment take a look at the starting shenanigans at some of the world’s toughest Hard Enduro races…