Intro:

British rider Jonny Walker leads at halfway stage of Red Bull Romaniacs event in Sibiu, Romania on Friday

Script:

The Red Bull Romaniacs reached the halfway mark in Sibiu, Romania on Friday - with the enduro bikes at full throttle on what was a pivotal day in the race to be crowned champion.

In perfect sync with the sunrise, the first riders took off to tackle day two.

Unfortunately for Chris Birch, his day was cut short following a nasty high speed crash while cruishing in fourth gear.

Luckily, he escaped without injury, but a badly damaged bike.

Jonny Walker, meanwhile, was having much better luck.

After writing off yesterday as an off day, he turned his fortunes around, dominating the race from start to finish.

At the halfway stage, the Briton leads with a time of 11:22.06 - ahead of compatriot Graham Jarvis in second, just two minutes back.

But there's still time for him to catch back up - two more challenging off-road days remain.