Taddy tops US opener
By TMX Archives on 22nd Jul 10
Taddy Blazusiak claimed victory at the opening round of the US Endurocross Series, making the perfect start to his title defence at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Putting his factory KTM on the top step of the podium ahead of Christini KTM rider, Geoff Aaron and Husqvarna's Cory Graffunder, Taddy dominated the ten-lap main event to claim a comfortable win.
Blazusiak earned the $750 holeshot award but was quickly passed by Geoff Aaron. The two riders swapped the lead several times during the first half of the race until Aaron made a small mistake and fell over in the Rock Garden.
That gave Blazusiak a small lead that he managed hold for the remainder of the race.
Returning to the US following several hugely successful months racing in Europe, Taddy was unable to top the hot-lap qualifying session due to one small mistake. Stuck in a corner losing a hand full of seconds Blazusiak placed fourth.
Winning his heat race he passed into the Main without problems.
Rounding the first corner of the main event out front, Taddy made the perfect start. He battling with Aaron the first half, but once Aaron bobbled and lost some time, Blazusiak began to edge away from his rivals.
Consistently working his way around each challenging lap Taddy claimed the chequered flag ahead of Aaron and Graffunder to take a well-deserved lead in the series.
Taddy Blazusiak: "Of course I'm pleased to have won the first race of the new Endurocross championship, but I'm most pleased with the fact that I didn't make any mistakes at all during the main event. The only thing that could have gone better was the qualifying hot lap session. I stopped in a corner and lost three or four seconds, but that was pretty much my only mistake.
"The main event was great. I got the start, which I knew was going to be really important, and had a good little battle with Geoff Aaron.
"Nine of my ten laps were the same time, so my consistency was good. My shoulder hurt like hell the whole night, but the strength was OK. It feels like I've been waiting for Endurocross to start for month and months, so now that it finally has, it's great that I'm leading the championship.”
US Endurocross Series
Rd 1 – Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Overall: 1 Taddy Blazusiak (KTM Enduro Factory Team), 2 Geoff Aaron (Christini KTM), 3 Cory Graffunder (Husqvarna), 4 Mike Brown (KTM), 5 Justin Soule (Kawasaki), 6 Gary Sutherlin (Kawasaki).
NEXT ROUND: August 14 – Guthrie, Oklahoma.