Taddy Polishes off Las Vegas opener!
By TMX Archives on 30th Jul 09
IF the opening round of the AMA Endurocross at Las Vegas, staged last weekend, was anything to go by, Sheffield fans are in for something special when the opening round of the Indoor Enduro World Cup kicks off on Saturday, October 31, at Sheffield Arena. Promoter, Future West's John and Jamie Hellam took in the first round of the AMA Endurocross series and left extremely excited about their up coming Sheffield Indoor Enduro World Cup round. What an incredible event, no one is guaranteed to win one of these events, so many things can and do take you out of the equation in an instant. We are so excited to be bring one of these events to the UK.
The crowd at Vegas were on their feet right to the very end and after witnessing this event this weekend and adding
the top British and Europeans riders to the mix, including David Knight and Ivan Cervantes, we are sure Sheffield is going to be an incredible event and every bit as exciting, commented John Hellam.
This weekend's epic three-way battle between KTM teammates Taddy Blazusiak and American MX ace Mike Brown, who's a great favourite with British fans, and Kawasaki's defending series champ Ricky Dietrich, had the crowd on their feet right to the very end with a photo
finish.
Taddy and Ricky blitzed the fast lap time trials in the afternoon and comfortably won their evening qualifiers while Brown blew his fast lap time and first qualifier with a couple of unscheduled rock sampling incidents, leaving him to qualifying through the semis by which time Mike had things under control, if that's possible in one of these events.
In the final, Blazusiak grabbed the holeshot and looked to be in control before getting himself stuck in the infamous Rock Garden.
Enter Brown who had made a bad start due to a poor gate pick. Brown put his Supercross skills to good use and leaped past Blazusiak into the pond area taking the lead from the Polish Prince. The race then banged, crashed and splashed through its closing laps with Browner looking set for a victory before the unpredictable, which seems to be the essence of these events, happened.
The Rock Garden once again claimed Brown, allowing both the Polish Prince and the American Champ Dietrich to squeeze by but not before Taddy had an unexpected dip in the pool and a major get together with Dietrich. Taddy then put his trials skill to work, flipping his bike out of a hopelessly boxed in position in one incredible 180 degree leap. After Dietrich put his jaw back in place after witnessing the maoeuvre, he managed to close up on Blazusiak and both came together once again with Dietrich getting up and going first.
With only two corners to go it looked like Dietrich had it sewn-up until the unpredictability of this sport once again claimed the leader, this time in the form of a log that snagged Dietrich. Blazusiak, not shy when it comes to taking an opportunity, capitalised and again took the lead this time by several bike lengths and less than one straight to the chequered flag.
Blazusiak looked to have it in the bag but Dietrich wasn't finished and made one last ditch effort to pass Taddy by holding the throttle wide open over the treacherous loose log section, crossing the line side by side with Blazusiak claiming the victory by inches. Brown bagged third while fourth was American trials ace Geoff Aaron riding the two-wheel drive Christini KTM.
Britain gets its first taste of Indoor Enduro in Sheffield on October 31 so to witness one of the most exciting Indoor events ever created, call the Sheffield Arena box office now on 0114-2565656. You won't be disappointed! For more info on the Sheffield round of the Indoor Enduro World Cup visit the website www.fwsx.com
AMA ENDUROCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 1 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Overall: 1 Taddy Blazusiak (KTM), 2 Ricky Dietrich (Kawasaki), 3 Mike Brown (KTM), 4 Geoff Aaron (Christini KTM), 5 Colton Haaker (Kawasaki).