Taddy Blazusiak takes charge in SuperEnduro Round 1
Monday 28 November: Taddy Blazusiak on Saturday night launched his bid to retain the World Indoor Enduro title (now rebranded as SuperEnduro World Championship) in Genoa, Italy coming away with three superb victories in all three finals.
KTM factory teammate Cristobal Guerrero of Spain was on the podium in
third place after
a 1-6-7 result to wrap up a great start to the season
for KTM.
Fresh from his triumph of a season in the US where he not only took
the inaugural X-Games gold medal in August but also coming off a
copybook season in the Endurocross where he won every round, the Polish
rider thrilled a crowd of almost 8000 in the Genoa venue. He now
prepares to face his home crowd in Lodz, Poland in the next round on Dec
10, 2011, a new experience for the rider who has emerged to dominate
the sport along with its fast growing popularity.
Taddy said after the event that his good starts had set him up for a
strong result in Genoa even though he admitted to a small mistake in the
second final when he lost ‘a few’ seconds’ with arm pump.
Taddy Blazusiak: "I think the most important thing tonight was my
starts. They were amazing. I could feel I was on the limit of the grip
and I could push as hard as I wanted to. I could see the point where I
was going to end up. Good starts make my job so much easier. I can pull a
little gap on the other guys and race my own race.” Taddy was also
full of praise for his KTM 350 four stroke describing it after the races
as "amazing”.
It was also a solid start for KTM’s Cristobal Guerrero also from the
KTM Enduro Factory Team who has also come off a strong season, finishing
second overall in the E2 World Championship. He finished in third place
behind Husaberg rider Joakim Ljunggren.
Cristobal Guerrero: I started very well in the first heat and then in
the second I tried to push but it was hard for all the riders because
there was only one line. Then in the last race I tried to do a good
start and finish on the podium.” Cristobal rode a KTM 250 EXC 2-stroke
machine.
It was also a good start to the season for KTM’s supported rider
Johnny Walker of Britain who finished fifth. Johnny made his first big
impression in the international scene at the 2011 Erzberg Rodeo where he
finished third. He was second in the Inaugural Rd Bull Sea to Sky
Enduro in Turkey in late summer and also made an appearance in the final
round of the US Endurocross.
The race format was made up of three qualifying
heats and two last
chance qualifying races. Sixteen riders then went on to contest the
three finals.
Results
- Taddy Blazusiak, Poland, KTM
- Joakim Ljunggren, Sweden, Husaberg
- Gristobal Guerero, Spain, KTM