Ready, Taddy, GO!
By TMX Archives on 2nd Dec 11
The 2012 FIM World SuperEnduro Championship fired into action last weekend where the first event of the three-round series took place inside the Palasport Fiera, Genoa, Italy, where as expected Polands Taddy Blazusiak dominated the nights racing
.Taddy was unchallenged as he topped all three finals, to relegate Joakim Ljunggren and Cristobal Guerrero into second and third overall.
With nearly all the riders taking an instant liking to the fast and flowing track, it was soon obvious that Blazusiak was going to be a hard man to beat. Riding off the back of a full season of US Endurocross events, the Pole looked much more in control than in previous years, when his inability to settle into a consistent rhythm often cost him dearly.
Making light work of the track that featured the usual array of log, rock, water and sand obstacles, Taddy topped his qualifying heat with a best lap five-seconds faster than second-placed rider Cristobal Guerrero. But the big question remained – would the KTM star be able to keep his composure and remain upright throughout each of the three finals?
Crashing heavily in the opening final 12-months ago and lucky to escape serious injury, Blazusiak rocketed into an instant lead and quickly started to pull away from the rest of the field. He completed the six-lap opening final in eight-minutes 30-seconds – around 30-seconds ahead of Guerrero who finished second, such was his dominance.
Behind Blazusiak the usual banging and barging took place, with Britain's Dougie Lampkin running near the front during the opening laps.
With a number of the top names getting caught up with one another, many of the expected front runners failed to break into the top five.
Jonny Walker was one rider who managed to work his way forward from a mediocre start, looking much more relaxed and aggressive than in his qualifying race. Closing in on second-placed Guerrero, Jonny managed to get himself into second only to get he wrong side of a lapped rider just a few metres before the finish flag and ended up back in third.
Despite his promising start, the opening final didn't end well for Lampkin. Steadily falling backwards the Gas Gas rider simply found things too painful having injured chest muscles in his qualifying race.
Dougie took no further part in the proceedings.
For the night's second final the riders lined-up in reverse qualifying order, which had little effect on Blazusiak. Exiting the first corner in the lead, he again quickly set about leaving the chaos behind him.
As one of the fastest riders on track the opening final hadn't been kind to
Italian Husqvarna rider Alex Salvini.
But second time out he more than made up for things by running at the front of the race for the full six laps.
Swedish Husaberg rider Joakim Ljunggren tried to stay with Taddy from the start, but on the last lap he momentarily messed up to let Salvini nip ahead to snatch the runner-up spot.
Behind Ljunggren in third Junior Trials World Champion Alfredo Gomez secured fourth, one position and three seconds ahead of Jonny Walker.
Not able to work his way forward quite as effectively as he had in the opening final, Jonny nevertheless again showed himself to be one of the fastest and most consistent riders.
In claiming another 30-second winning advantage at the end of the third and last final Blazusiak ended his night with three wins from three starts.
Never once looking like doing anything other than dominating the night's proceedings, the Pole – who topped every main event on the way to the 2011 AMA Endurocross title – showed it certainly won't be a surprise if he does the same in the 2012 SuperEnduro series.
"The night couldn't have gone any better at all,” said Taddy from the podium.
"Tonight my starts were perfect and that helped make my results possible.
"Getting out front straight away I was able to control my own race, avoid any trouble, and just ride comfortably.
"By winning all three races I couldn't have asked for any more and with my home race in Poland in a couple of weeks it gives me a lot of motivation to continue working hard.”
Saving his best until the last race of the night Ljunggren claimed the runner-up spot, ahead of Husaberg team-mate, Xavi Gallindo, who also enjoyed his best result.
US rider Cody Webb ended the event with a strong fourth place finish on his Beta ahead of Gomez and Jonny Walker.
The Brit fell mid-way through the race, and had he managed to pick up just two more places, would have ended the night third overall.
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE T+MX DECEMBER 2
World SuperEnduro Championship
Rd 1 – Palafiera, Genoa, ITALY
SUPERENDURO FINAL ONE: 1 Taddy Blazusiak (KTM) (time 8:29.2), 2 Cristobal Guerrero (KTM), 3 Jonny Walker (KTM), 4 Xavier Galindo (Husaberg), 5 Cody Webb (Beta), 6 Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg), 7 Rodrig Thain (Honda), 8 Ivan Cervantes (Gas Gas), 9 Dani Gibert (Husaberg), 10 Alex Salvini (Husqvarna), 11 Alfredo Gomez (Husaberg), 12 Mike Hartmann (Husaberg), 13 Doug Lampkin (Gas Gas), 14 Jeremy Joly (Honda), 15 Ricky Dietrich (Husqvarna), 16 Niccolo Morni (TM).
SUPERENDURO FINAL TWO: 1 Blazusiak (KTM) (8:36.6), 2 Alex Salvini (Husqvarna), 3 Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg), 4 Alfredo Gomez (Husaberg), 5 Jonny Walker (KTM), 6 Cristobal Guerrero (KTM), 7 Xavier Galindo (Husaberg), 8 Ivan Cervantes (Gas Gas), 9 Cody Webb (Beta), 10 Dani Gibert (Husaberg), 11 Jeremy Joly (Honda), 12 Mike Harmann (Husaberg), 13 Rodrig Thain (Honda), 14 Niccolo Mori (TM), 15 Ricky Dietrich (Husqvarna).
SUPERENDURO FINAL THREE: 1 Taddy Blazusiak (KTM) (8:32.6), 2 Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg), 3 Xavier Galindo (Husaberg), 4 Cody Webb (Beta), 5 Alfredo Gomez (Husaberg), 6 Jonny Walker (KTM), 7 Cristobal Guerrero (KTM), 8 Ivan Cervantes (Gas Gas), 9 Dani Gibert (Husaberg), 10 Alex Salvini (Husqvarna), 11 Mike Hartmann (Husaberg), 12 Niccolo Mori (TM), 13 Jeremy Joly (Honda), 14 Ricky Dietrich (Husqvarna).
SERIES STANDINGS after 1 (of 3) rounds: 1 Taddy Blazusiak (KTM) 60 points, 2 Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg) 40, 3 Cristobal Guerrero (KTM) 34, 4 Xavi Gallindo (Husaberg) 33, 5 Jonny Walker (KTM) 33, 6 Alex Salvini (Husqvarna) 27, 7 Cody Webb (Beta) 27, 8 Alfredo Gomez (Husaberg) 25, 9 Ivan Cervantes (Gas Gas), 10 Dani Gibert (Husaberg) 17...
NEXT ROUND: December 10 – Lodz, POLAND.
