Pol Tarres lit up the hard enduro stage when he tackled the Red Bull Romaniacs on his Yamaha T7, and it made me wonder why more brands weren't sending their middleweight adventure bikes to hard enduro events. That is, until I learned KTM—a main sponsor—was holding back an adventure bike class because it didn't have a rider that the executives thought would be competitive, but that's changing.
Last year, it was announced that, for the first time, Red Bull Romaniacs would have an Adventure Lite and Adventure Ultimate class. Now, Triumph is making the most of this opportunity to show what it has to offer in the middleweight ADV niche. The Hinckley brand is sending two off-road legends to Red Bull Romaniacs, which takes place on July 22-26, aboard the OEM's Tiger 900 Rally Pro bikes, and it's not messing about when it comes to who's riding them.
Triumph has recruited Dakar legend Sam Sunderland, who'll pilot the Tiger 900 Rally Pro in the new Adventure Lite class and mark his first competitive debut for Triumph. Those of you who know of Sunderland probably know he officially retired from two-wheeled racing after the 2024 Dakar. Well, the two-time Dakar Rally winner and former FIM World Rally-Raid Champion is back, and that in and of itself is newsworthy.
“It’s super exciting to be taking on such an iconic hard enduro race,” said Sunderland. “The adventure classes are a great way to get involved, and I can’t wait to get out to Romania to get stuck in. It’s more similar to what I have done in rally-raid in the past, especially with the five-day format, and I’m looking forward to getting into race mode again. My Triumph Tiger 900 will be pretty much standard, so it’s going to be cool to put it to the test.”
Joining Sunderland for team Triumph is the manufacturer's Enduro racer, Jonny Walker, who's a legend in his own right and just finished sixth at the 2025 Red Bull Erzbergrodeo. Walker will be aboard the same Tiger 900 Rally Pro, but racing in the new Adventure Ultimate class.
Speaking about the race, Walker said, "I’ve raced Romaniacs plenty of times, so it’s cool to be going back in a completely different way, racing the Tiger 900, which I’m really excited about. I’m pretty confident, I think it will be fun, and of course the main goal is to win the Adventure Ultimate class. It’s going to be totally different to anything I’ve done before, and probably a bit more enjoyable on the big bike!”
Probably the most interesting aspect of Triumph racing at Romaniacs is that both the Tiger 900 Rally Pro bikes will be mostly stock, receiving just a small number of racing parts. The idea behind this is to showcase how capable the bike is in real-world enduro/adventure conditions, but, of course, having Walker and Sunderland behind the bars won't hurt Triumph's chances of taking home a medal.
