Manuel Lettenbichler won the prologue, the sprint, and the main race at Abestone this weekend, which is the hard enduro equivalent of winning qualifying, the warm-up lap, and the actual race – and at this point in the season I’m not sure what else the rest of the field is supposed to do about it.

The result: a clean sweep, and a 24-point championship lead

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Manuel Lettenbichler won every points-paying segment of Round 5 of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship at Abestone, Italy: Saturday’s prologue, Saturday’s Gold sprint race, and Sunday’s Gold Final main race in 2:07:12.9 over six laps. Mitch Brightmore (GASGAS) finished 2nd at +6:07, and Teodor Kabakchiev (Sherco) 3rd at +7:41. James Moore (Beta) and Mario Román (Husqvarna) rounded out the top five. It’s Lettenbichler’s maximum haul from the round – 33 points available, 33 taken – and it extends his championship lead to 24 points over Brightmore, 150 to 126, with three rounds left in an eight-round season.

“What a great championship round. The crowd here in Italy was amazing… the track was actually really raceable,” Lettenbichler said afterward.

Where the championship stands with three rounds to go

Pos Rider Points Gap to leader
1 Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM) 150 –
2 Mitch Brightmore (GASGAS) 126 -24
3 Teodor Kabakchiev (Sherco) 94 -56
4 Ashton Brightmore (GASGAS) 91 -59
5 Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) 77 -73

With a maximum of 99 points still on the table across the remaining three rounds, Brightmore’s 24-point deficit is recoverable on paper, but Lettenbichler hasn’t finished off the podium all season and has now won three of the last five rounds outright. Billy Bolt, still working back from injury and admittedly “struggling quite a lot with the speed” by his own account after Abestone, remains mathematically alive at 5th but needs a dramatic form reversal to factor into the title fight.

This is Lettenbichler’s second dominant result in as many outings I’ve covered this month – he’d already crashed and still won Forza Orza’s debut hard enduro earlier in the championship, so a clean sweep with no drama at all is almost a step down in excitement, if you can believe that. If you’re newer to the sport and want the format explained properly rather than just the results, our breakdown of how Red Bull Romaniacs actually works covers the class structure and scoring logic that applies across hard enduro generally, Abestone included.

Who won the 2026 Abestone Hard Enduro?

Manuel Lettenbichler (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), who swept the prologue, sprint, and main race for the maximum 33 championship points.

How big is Lettenbichler’s championship lead now?

24 points, 150 to Mitch Brightmore’s 126, with three rounds remaining in the eight-round 2026 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship.

Can Mitch Brightmore still win the title?

Mathematically yes – up to 99 points remain across three rounds, more than the 24-point gap. Realistically, he’d need Lettenbichler to have his first off-weekend of the season.

What’s next on the Hard Enduro World Championship calendar?

Three rounds remain after Abestone; specific venues and dates hadn’t been confirmed in the reporting available at the time of writing.

Reporting via: mcnews.com.au, mxvice.com, redbull.com