Here's Jonny
By TMX Archives on 14th Feb 14
Jonny Walker continued his good form in the World SuperEnduro Championship with a well-deserved runner-up result to team-mate Taddy Blazusiak in Barcelona, Spain.
Despite switching to two-stroke machinery in the hope of closing in on the series lead, an under-the-weather David Knight missed out on a podium result in fourth.
As the SuperEnduro series nears its close, KTM's Taddy Blazusiak delivered his best performance of the year, claiming three race wins inside the Palau Sant Jordi Stadium in Barcelona, Spain.
With only the final round in France now remaining, the Polish star is all but assured of yet another SuperEnduro world title.
Despite Blazusiak's dominance the penultimate round of the series was a good one for Britain's Jonny Walker. Third overall at the Mexican round in January, Walker quickly showed that he was focused on another overall top-three result by topping the night's qualifying SuperPole session.
Boosted by his fastest lap, Jonny's night went from good to bad at the start of the evening's first final as he got boxed in at the first corner and hit the ground.
Dead last, and with serious ground to make up, the KTM racer got his head down and steadily worked his way forward.
Despite the one-lined nature of the track Jonny battled his way up to fifth.
Needing just one lap to work his way past local favourite Alfredo Gomez, Blazusiak started his night in impressive form, delivering a controlled display of SuperEnduro racing.
Looking noticeably smoother than at previous rounds of the series, Taddy took the win while Gomez and Knight battled for second place.
Despite moving ahead of the Spaniard on lap four, Knight was unable to stay ahead of Gomez and ended the race third.
Riding a two-stroke for the first time in the 2014 series, David's decision to step away from a four-stroke on the most slippery track of the series certainly didn't disadvantage the Manxman.
Considering how his race started Walker delivered the stand-out performance of the first final. "For the second time in a row I posted the fastest time in SuperPole, which was great and a real boost before the first final,” he said.
"Unfortunately, I messed up the start and hit the dirt in the first corner. That was annoying because I knew my speed was good. But I just put my head down and charged my way back to fifth.”
The second final was a demonstration race by Blazusiak. Close to 15 seconds clear of his nearest rival at the chequered flag, the Pole once again left others to fight for the remaining podium positions.
With the second final adopting a reversed start order it didn't take long before the fastest riders were at the front.
With Blazusiak leading from lap one, Walker eventually claimed the runner-up position, having worked his way forward from sixth.
Second on laps three and four, despite dropping behind fast-starting Hungarian Kornel Nemeth as the race neared its close, Walker moved back into the runner-up position with Knight following him home in third.
Blazusiak put the finishing touches to what was a near-perfect night in the last final.
Once again quick to hit the front, he again opened up a lead and finished close to 12 seconds ahead of team-mate Walker.
" "What I can I say! It's been a fantastic event for me. Winning all three races was exactly what I was hoping to do. The track here in Barcelona was incredibly slippery. It was hard to find a good feeling with the dirt – you needed to be so precise in your throttle control because one small mistake could result in a crash.
"Even with the reversed start for the second final my starts were great and that made a huge difference. I was able to get to the front of the field pretty quickly and once there I could ride at a comfortable pace.
"With just one round remaining things are getting serious. I feel like I'm in a really good position and even though there are still 63-points up for grabs in France I'm confident that I can bring home the title.
"My riding is as good as it has ever been and right now I'm ready to end this series on a high.”
Second to Taddy, Jonny Walker's 5-2-2 result ensured he finished on the podium, and one place higher than he had in Mexico.
Leading for the first three laps of the night's last race, Walker, despite being unable to stay ahead of Blazusiak, ended on a high and on the second step of the overall podium.
"I really feel like I've turned a corner during the second half of this series, as far as my performances go,” said Jonny after the race.
"In final two I put myself on the back foot when I hit the rear wheel of another rider. I was pretty much last in the first corner but found a few gaps and got back through to second.
"In the last race once I got into the lead I pushed hard but Taddy caught up and was pushing for the win.
"I got too tense and arm pump kicked in, so second was the best I could do. But to finish as runner-up is brilliant – hopefully I can get the win I'm after next time out in France.”
While the penultimate round of the series ended well for Walker, for David Knight it was somewhat of a disappointing final result.
Missing out on a top-three result by one point, Knighter delivered two strong performances in the opening two races but in finishing fifth in the last final, he ended up off the podium for the first time in the series.
Despite this Knight was pleased enough with his debut two-stroke outing on his Sherco.
"I knew it was a little early to race with a two-stroke simply because I haven't had much time on the bike at all – hours rather than days.
"But I needed to try something in the hope that I could get back some points on Taddy in the series.
"The biggest problem was that the track was incredibly slippery – it was almost impossible to pass anyone. The motor was great but I just need time to get the chassis set-up well now, which I'll do before the final in France.
"The first two races went pretty well, and in the last race I was just making sure I didn't make any big mistakes.”
One of the most impressive performances came from Alfredo Gomez, who wasn't sure if he'd be able to compete due to a recent appendix operation.
"I came here not knowing if I would be able to race so to come away with a podium result is amazing for me,” he said.
"My objective was to take it one race at a time and see how I progressed.
"Starts were very important and I got a great one in the first final. I led for a bit but slipped back to third. Somehow I found a better rhythm and got back up to second. Overall it's an incredible feeling to finish third – I'm so happy.”
Alongside Walker and Knight, Danny McCanney returned to the series in Barcelona, making his first outing on his Boano Motorsport Beta.
Racing aboard the team's bike for the first time, Danny finished seventh overall, getting some valuable track time in on his new machine.
"Being the first race with my new team there was a lot to get used to, but I enjoyed the racing,” said Danny.
"Being on a new bike on a track that was incredibly slippery was tough in places, but I just wanted to get some good time on the bike really – I wasn't expecting too much.
"You needed a bike that was set-up perfectly and I knew I didn't have that.
"I was on the second row for the first race, which made things hard, but apart from a few falls in the rocks I felt like I rode okay.
"I made more mistakes in the second race, even though I was on the front row for the start. In places it was hard to just stay upright.
"The third final started really well, but again I made a big mistake and all the hard work I'd put in passing people was undone straight away. Not great results, but valuable time on a bike, so I'm happy enough.”
In the Junior class Jamie McCanney was, like Knighter in the Prestige division, feeling anything but 100 per cent, yet still managed to end the evening third overall having secured two runner-up results.
Despite seeing the Junior title go to Italian Giacomo Redondi, Jamie was pleased with his performances.
"I've been struggling a bit not feeling great, so to come away with a top-three result is rewarding.
"Throughout the event I rode well – I found a better line in the rocks and was very fast there, but for some reason I just wasn't able to make it count and finish second.
"I'll take third though – I'm pleased with that.”
Joining Jamie in the Junior class were Rob Johnson and Gethin Humphreys, who both finished inside the top ten.
Humphreys got the better result with seventh overall and after sixth in the first final, the Sherco rider looked to be heading for a top-three result in the second final before he was barged off track by Redondi.
Losing time and places Gethin eventually placed seventh.
Johnson carded tenth and ninth finished to place ninth overall.
