How do you make Hard Enduro even harder? By not doing it with an enduro bike! And, that’s exactly what Pol Tarres, Yamaha’s new Tame In-House Racer is about to do with the company’s Tenere 700 adventure bike. In a move that is bound to create lots of hot press and perhaps highlight reel material (or maybe blooper reel material?), Tarres is taking his modified T7 to the Erzbergrodeo.
In case you’ve missed the last decade’s worth of highlight reels from sponsor Red Bull (see above), the Erzbergrodeo (part of the FIM’s Hard Enduro series) is one of the toughest races in the world. It runs through the Erzberg Mine area, in Austria. Riders will bash their way through boulder gardens, over rock piles, through tight forest tracks and impossible hill climbs just to qualify for the event’s final day, where a harescramble-style event pits 500 riders against each other, as well as seemingly impossible terrain.
Typically, the most successful riders at this event are former trials stars, who use their superior balance and bike positioning skills to navigate the hazards. And typically, they ride lightweight enduro bikes, not heavy ADV machines.
But Tarres has been flogging Yamaha’s Tenere 700 through inappropriate situations and generally riding the wheels off the thing for years now, happily sharing his adventures via YouTube:
Of course, he’s still subject to the laws of physics, like all of us, but if anyone can pull off a T7 at Erzberg, it’s Tarres, because nobody else is riding this machine this hard. Tarres is currently part of Yamaha’s new rally raid racing team that’s taking the T7 to the Africa Eco race this year, so he’s certainly putting the seat time in … even if that means racing at Erzberg.
This year’s Erzbergrodeo runs June 16-19, and Red Bull will provide coverage, as always.
