Pol Tarrés takes the Yamaha Ténéré 700 further than any big bike before at Red Bull Erzbergrodeo
Pol Tarrés rode the Yamaha Ténéré 700 to a new big-bike benchmark at the notorious Red Bull Erzbergrodeo hard enduro event.
The Yamaha Ténéré 700 has once again shown that it's far more than a road-biased adventure bike, with Pol Tarrés setting a new benchmark for large-capacity motorcycles at the 2026 Red Bull Erzbergrodeo.
Competing at the 30th running of the notoriously brutal Austrian hard enduro event, Tarrés piloted his Ténéré 700 to Checkpoint 19 in Sunday's Hare Scramble, achieving what Yamaha says is a new record for a twin-cylinder machine and finishing an incredible 77th overall from a field of 500 riders – many of whom would have been riding lighter and more focused traditional enduro bikes.
For anyone unfamiliar with Erzbergrodeo, that's no small feat. It is widely regarded as one of the toughest off-road races on the planet, with hundreds of riders tackling the vast Austrian iron ore quarry known as the Iron Giant. Over four hours, competitors attempt to reach 27 checkpoints spread across loose shale climbs, boulder fields and steep rocky gullies. Most never see the finish.
Before Sunday's main event, Tarrés and fellow Yamaha rider Kevin Gallas had already impressed aboard their Ténéré 700s. During Thursday's Remus Rocket Ride hillclimb, Gallas made it all the way to the final and finished fifth overall, remarkably as the only large-capacity motorcycle left in the field. Tarrés narrowly missed out on the final after finishing fifth in his semi-final.
The pair then backed that up during Friday and Saturday's Prologue sessions, which determine starting positions for the Hare Scramble. Tarrés and Gallas finished second and third respectively in the twin-cylinder category, securing favourable grid positions for the main race.
While Tarrés pushed on to rewrite the big-bike record books, Gallas opted to bring his race to an early end after Checkpoint 1. Having already achieved his primary goals during the Rocket Ride and Prologue, the German rider chose not to risk injury ahead of the remainder of his racing campaign and instead supported Tarrés from the sidelines.
Perhaps just as impressive as the result itself was the fact that the Ténéré 700 completed the event without suffering any mechanical issues, despite four hours of punishment in conditions designed to expose any weakness.
Both riders are now set to line up at Red Bull Romaniacs in Romania next month, where they'll compete in the Adventure category.
Elsewhere at Erzbergrodeo, Yamaha USA ambassador Cody Webb rode his WR250F to 13th place overall in the Hare Scramble.
Speaking about the result, Tarrés said:
“You never know what can happen in this race because you don’t know if it will rain or not, but luckily this year it was good weather for us and we decided to push as much as we can and make a strong strategy. Kevin decided to stop on Checkpoint 1 just to support me and be on my side. He was showing me better lines and was overall a big help for me.
“I started really well, and one of the most important things in Erzberg is the start. I tried to manage the race in a good way, not to push too hard too early to save some energy for the end. I got to Checkpoint 16 and realised I was really close to the big bike record, so once I got there, I said okay, now we have to go for more. I don’t know how I fought until the end, but we arrived at Checkpoint 19. It’s impossible to describe how proud I am of that and for all of the hard work of the Trece Racing Society team. The bike was also incredible. We pushed it to its limits all the time, and what it was able to do throughout the race was amazing.”
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
