Report: Lodz night out
By Team TMX on 9th Dec 15
Cody Webb claimed an early lead in the 2015/16 Maxxis FIM SuperEnduro World Championship with a winning run at the opening round of the series in Lodz, Poland.
Setting itself up for one close and action packed season of racing, round one of the SuperEnduro championship saw all the main contenders come out swinging inside the Atlas Arena. Snatching the overall win by the narrowest of margins, KTM's Webb claimed the top step of the podium.
Just one point behind him, Jonny Walker (KTM) was second while home favourite Taddy Blazusiak (KTM) survived an up-and-down night to complete the top three.
With the lights going down inside the Atlas Arena, it was Webb who blitzed the fastest lap around the stadium to claim the Akrapovic SuperPole with Blazusiak and Walker just behind in second and third.
With the gate dropping for race one, Webb - now racing a 250 four-stroke - quickly worked his way up to second behind Walker. Pressuring the Brit for a couple of laps, he hit the front when Walker got caught up behind a slower fallen rider.
Mistake free, Webb recorded the opening win of the night. In the reversed start order for race three, he almost threw away his night when a crash dropped him to sixth. Bouncing back to win race three, he left Poland as the early championship leader.
"To come away from round one with the overall is just fantastic,” said Webb. "Two wins and sixth was great. I really felt good out there tonight. The track was riding really fast but I had a good flow. "Race one was near perfect. I got a decent start, followed Jonny and then got into the lead. Race two was just a bit of a lottery but then to win the final and take the overall capped off a great night.”
Walker - determined to start his season strong - was one of the most consistent riders in Poland. Focused simply on avoiding trouble, he rode a smart and mature race. Claiming three second place results from three starts, it was his third place result in the SuperPole that unfortunately saw him lose out on the top step of the podium.
"It wasn't the overall win I wanted but it was pretty close - only one point away,” told Walker. "There wasn't much in it between myself and Cody at the end of the night. The goal was to be consistent, I wasn't consistent at round one last year so I definitely feel like I turned things around tonight.
"Three second place results were great, the SuperPole just cost me the top step of the podium but I can leave Poland happy and look forward to Germany.”
Back in action following a summer of illness, Blazusiak made his first serious return to competitive action. Proving he's lost none of his speed with second in the SuperPole, it was his starts that hampered his progress. Hitting the deck on more than one occasion, the Pole really did have to dig deep into his reserves to pull a result out of the bag.
"Tonight was just wild. I hit the ground hard a couple of times and really had to dig deep to pull something out of the bag,” explained Blazusiak. "When I crashed off the start in race three I thought that was it, any chance of the podium was gone, but I didn't give up and clawed my way back. That's probably the hardest fought podium result I've ever got, so I'm pleased.
"After taking the summer off with illness, it's good to be back on track, there's still some bits of my riding to build on but it's coming back. My fitness didn't fade so I'm pumped about that. There's still a long way to go in this championship, that's for sure.”
Also caught up in the start straight crash of race three, Husqvarna's Colton Haaker placed one-point behind Blazusiak for fourth overall. However, the American recorded his debut SuperEnduro race win when he claimed an almost start-to-finish victory in race two.
Tying on points with Haaker, KTM's Taylor Robert completed the top five overall, which included a third place finish in races one and three.
Having his own eventful start to the series, Paul Bolton (KTM) crashed out of race one but fought back to end his night 10th overall.
"I had two big crashes in the first race, mainly due to other people's mistakes,” told Bolton. "In the second race I had a great start and was second in the first turn. I kept pushing and managed to stay in fourth for the first five laps. Then I just stalled it in the water section.
"I had to pull it back up and at that point three guys had gone past me. Taylor Robert passed me too in the last lap so I ended up ninth, from fourth.”
In the Junior class, the opening round of the series was dominated by Germany's Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM). With three wins from three starts, Lettenbichler was comfortably a level above his classmates.
"Three wins in three races is a pretty amazing result for me,” said Lettenbichler. "I never thought things would turn out this way but they did and I'm so happy. I pretty much rode my own races all night. I tried to make no mistakes and to clear all obstacles, that's the key to the win and that's what I did.”
Returning to SuperEnduro following injury last year, Husqvarna's Gethin Humphreys was a very well deserved third overall. Fast and consistent throughout the night, the Welshman secured his best result of second in the final race.
Just behind him in fourth, Yamaha mounted Lee Sealey delivered an impressive performance. Starting things off strongly with third in race one, Sealey's seventh in race three saw him lose ground to Humphreys in the overall standings.
Boosted by a fifth place result in race one, TM's Josh Gotts ended his night in eighth overall.
The SuperEnduro World Championship continues with round two in Riesa, Germany on January 2.
