Without question, there are certainly numerous offroad race on the planet, including difficult, brutal races. But there are not many hard-core offroad events of the calibre of the Roof of Africa Rally, the mother of all real hard Enduro events.
KTM rider Chris Birch of New Zealand wound up the 2008 Red Bull Romaniacs Hard Enduro Rally with a stage victory and overall third in an event that plunged riders into challenging situations so only the fittest and the fastest were at the finish.
Frenchman Cyril Despres was the ultimate winner of the 2007 Red Bull Romaniacs Hard Enduro Rally, his third victory in this tough event in Romania's Carpathian Mountains. Despres, well-known for his legendary victories, won the event in 2004 and 2005 and came home in front in the final special over 190km ahead of New Zealander Chris Birch and privateer Gerhard Forster. Birch finished second overall and the German Forster was third in the final rankings.