Red Bull Last Man Standing
By TMX Archives on 12th Dec 07
EVENT first timer, 24-year-old Tadeusz Taddy' Blazusiak from Krakow, Poland, dethroned two-time winner, David Knight, at the 2008 edition of Red Bull Last Man Standing.
Qualification on a shorter five to six-mile loop was staged to cut the entry down to just 100 for the first of the two main races. The first of these was a run over a single lap, 40-mile course during the hours of daylight, with some of the steepest climbs and descents imaginable.
Anyone who finished within one-hour of the winner of the daytime lap was eligible to start the second lap, run in the opposite direction and at night.
Factory KTM rider, Blazusiak, captured the daytime lap as well as the night lap. Ten-times US National Trials Champ, Geoff Aaron, from Bailey, Colorado, was the only other rider to finish both 40-mile laps at the Red River Motorcycle Trails course on the Texas/ Oklahoma border.
Of the 100 starters, only Britain's Knight and Aaron joined Blazusiak in blasting off the starting line for the night race, meaning that 97 riders failed to finish the first lap within one hour of the Polish rider. This year's edition was run in chilly, overcast conditions before more than 2,500 spectators, making it the highest-attended sporting event in the history of Bulcher.
"This was a very tough race and my bike worked perfectly,” explained Blazusiak, who completed the 40-mile night lap in 3:37:54.
"The organizers did a great job with the course. You hit something difficult and have no time to relax afterwards. Last Man Standing and Erzberg are very similar and very physical.
For full report and pictures see T+MX News, Friday, December 14, 2007