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The second edition of the Red Bull 1000trails snowmobile rally, the only rally of this type organised in Romania, has reached its finish line. After three extreme days in which the competitors had to cover a 150 km-average distance following an exhausting route, the Polish teams obtained all three places in the Professional category, while the Romanian teams were granted only the titles in the Amateur category.

During the first day of the rally, the qualification stage took place and the 110 competitors on the starting grid delivered a magnificent show to the public present on the Comanda Path in Paltinis just 25 km away from Sibiu, last years European Cultural Capital. On Saturday the competitors were seriously put to the test, as the route was strewn with difficult technical sections and with areas in which they could keep advancing only with the help of the GPS because of the thick fog blanketing the region and strong winds that made moving forward almost impossible. For many of them, the rally reached its finish line at 40 km from the start. At the foot of a steep slope, 40 competitors returned, weary or without fuel, admitting they had been defeated by the "Red Bull 1000Trails" competition. This section has been used also in last years competition and all competitors could manage it that time. This year the snow conditions have been different. Due to the continuously cold temperature this winter the snow stayed crystallized and even after riding that section several times before the race the snow did not get compressed enough to make passing possible for all kind of riding levels. In some parts, the 1,5 m of snow was digged down to the ground from spinning snowmobile tracks

As many participants did not understand the necessarily of the required safety equipment such as biwak-bag, lighter and flashlight as well as 2 GPS and spare batteries some of them had made the experience of being very close to their personal limits. Also the importance of staying close to each other in the team was learned by some riders the hard way as they lost each other in the fog. Stories got reported from racers crying and praying for help out there in the middle of nowhere. Marcel Butuza, a Dakar competitor stated that the snowstorm had the same intensity of Sahara's sandstorm and is very painful on every not protected part of your skin, like in the face. What makes the situation worse than in a sandstorm is the way lower winter temperature.

While the first race day had one of the toughest weather conditions ever, the second day was nice and sunny. Also concerning the different kind of snowmobile there was a big difference in those 2 race days. While on the first day the riders of big mountain sleds with long powder belts had an advantage, on the second day the riders of race sleds with short tracks could go much faster over the bumps and the wide open fields. Also the navigation worked better for those riders on the second day that has never used a GPS before. The handling of the device is usually quite easy and after one day of using it everybody could stay to the given racetrack.

As far as the professional category is concerned, in which 27 teams were originally entered, the Polish teams won the two legs. The first to finish the competition were the Szczyrk Extreme competitors, registering a 20-hour total time; they were followed by their Polish fellows from Snowmobile AQQ, who got the second place, and by the Xtreme Team, who was ranked third, by a few minute margin. The Amateur category winners were the Odorheiu 2 competitors, who registered a very good time amounting to ten hours; they were followed by Costel Casuneanu and Bogdan Preda from Xriders, with a three-hour margin and by the team made up of Iulius Miklos and Irimie Andreea from UNU. The prize award festivities was held on the platform of the Casa Turistilor Hotel in Paltinis, and all those who climbed the podium received trophies and diplomas in order to remind them of the adventure enjoyed in the mountains around Sibiu.

The favourite of the competition for the Professional category, the Romanian Romeo Dunca, could no longer be a starter on the last day of the competition on account of some technical problems impairing the operation of the snowmobile belonging to his team partner, the Polish Cighy. They finished the Saturday leg with one snowmobile, but the regulations of the competition do not allow for two competitors to begin a new leg with only one sleigh, thus being forced to abandon the race. His son, Cristian Dunca, the youngest competitor, succeeded in being a last-place finisher after having been confronted with a host of technical problems.

"We expected the rally to be a success already some weeks before the start, as we had over 100 riders inscribed and still more who wanted to come, five times the number of last year's competitors. The competition got a good reception from the participants, in spite of dissatisfaction regarding the difficulty of the route covered during the first leg. "This year we have managed to raise the stake, bringing the competition to a European level, consequently next year's competition is not going to be easier. " stated Martin Freinademetz, the organiser and coordinator of the "Red Bull 1000Trails rally. Martin and his crew has realized, that 100 participants is a maximum to keep the trails in nice shape and considers to shrink the number of competitors in future or find creative ideas to keep the racetrack in nice shape.

Official partners of the competition include Red Bull Romania, the company producing the energizing drink which is best sold on the local market, and Euronautica Motors, sole distributor of Bombardier equipment. Media partners include: Motociclismo, Zile si Nopti (Days and Nights), Kiss Fm, Sibiu Standard and Antena 1 Sibiu. "Red Bull 1000Trails" was organised with the help of the National Forest Administration, of the Romanian Police Force and of Salvamont Sibiu and Alba.