Manuel Lettenbichler has secured his fifth consecutive FIM Hard Enduro World Championship crown, capping another demanding season with a runner-up finish at Hixpania Hard Enduro in Spain. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider once again proved that championship-winning performance is about more than outright speed. It takes consistency, calculated decisions and the ability to deliver when the terrain and pressure are at their worst.
A Championship Won Before the Final Finish Line
Lettenbichler sealed the 2026 title on Friday evening during Hixpania’s SuperEncierro race in Aguilar de Campoo, Spain. His fifth-place finish was enough to put the championship beyond the reach of his closest challenger, Mitch Brightmore, with two races remaining.
The mathematics were straightforward, but the achievement was anything but ordinary.
Lettenbichler arrived in Spain with a 32-point advantage. With only 30 points available across Saturday’s Campoo Xtreme and Sunday’s Lost Road main race, Brightmore could no longer catch him.
The title was secured without a victory, a reminder that championships are built across an entire season rather than decided by one spectacular result.
“I didn’t believe it at the beginning of the year,”.
Lettenbichler admitted after learning that he had done enough to clinch the crown
The unexpected early celebration caught him off guard, but the significance quickly sank in.
Seven Rounds of Speed, Resilience and Consistency
The German’s route to the championship was defined by an impressive combination of race wins and podium finishes.
He opened his campaign with victory at 24MX Alestrem in France before delivering a maximum 33-point haul at Extreme XL Lagares in Portugal. Brightmore responded with a breakthrough victory at Silver Kings Hard Enduro in the United States, trimming Lettenbichler’s championship advantage to 13 points at the halfway stage.
That challenge did not derail the KTM rider.
Lettenbichler won the inaugural Forza Orza in Sweden and dominated Abestone Hard Enduro in Italy, taking victory by more than six minutes. A second-place finish at Lesotho’s Roof of Africa followed, with Teodor Kabakchiev taking the win.
His performance at Sea to Sky in Türkiye provided another example of his ability to respond under pressure. After receiving a ten-minute penalty in the Forest Race, Lettenbichler started the Mountain Race from 15th on the grid. He fought through the field to claim victory by more than four minutes, extending his remarkable run at the event to three consecutive wins.
Five victories before Hixpania, combined with podium finishes throughout the campaign, laid the foundation for another world championship.
Hixpania Delivers a Final Test
Although the championship was decided on Friday, Lettenbichler continued pushing across the final two days.
He finished second in Saturday’s Campoo Xtreme race, just 3.5 seconds behind Billy Bolt after more than an hour of racing. Sunday’s Lost Road main race brought another demanding battle, this time against Spanish favourite Mario Román.
Román eventually claimed victory in 2:11:18, with Lettenbichler crossing the line second in 2:12:19. Bolt completed the podium, while South African rider James Moore secured an impressive fifth place for Beta.
The result gave Lettenbichler another podium to close out his season, while Moore’s performance offered a strong South African talking point at the final round.
Five Consecutive Crowns, One Growing Challenge
Lettenbichler’s 2026 championship marks his fifth consecutive FIM Hard Enduro World Championship, following his titles in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. He also claimed a fifth consecutive Red Bull Erzbergrodeo victory earlier this year.
Riding the KTM 300 EXC, he finished the 2026 championship on 223 points, ahead of Brightmore on 183. Kabakchiev took third overall with 149 points, followed by Ashton Brightmore on 143. Moore finished fifth with 138 points.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team manager Fabio Farioli credited the collective effort behind the achievement, highlighting the team’s preparation, equipment development and commitment throughout the year.
But Lettenbichler knows the competition is getting stronger.
“I think the young boys are coming, you know, everybody’s hunting me down,”.
he said
That is what makes this latest title particularly significant. Hard Enduro’s unpredictable terrain leaves little room for mistakes, and the next generation is pushing harder with every round.
For now, Lettenbichler can celebrate another season at the summit. Five consecutive world titles and another Erzbergrodeo triumph underline a remarkable period of dominance. The challenge ahead is no longer simply winning a championship. It is finding new ways to stay ahead of riders determined to end his reign.
In Hard Enduro, staying on top means earning it all over again, one brutal race at a time.