To Hel and back
By TMX Archives on 4th Feb 15
Taddy Blazusiak takes the win as Emma is crowned Champion!
It was battle royale at round three of the Maxxis FIM SuperEnduro World Championship in Helsinki, Finland where KTM's Taddy Blazusiak toughed it out to win.
Chasing Blazusiak hard for the win, Cody Webb (KTM) delivered his best performance of the series to place second while Jonny Walker (KTM) fought back from a poor qualification run to edge out David Knight (KTM) for the third step of the podium.
In the Women's Cup Sherco's Emma Bristow was crowned the World Champion for the second year running.
Making it three overall wins from three starts in the 2015 SuperEnduro series, Blazusiak survived a frantic night of racing in Finland to remain as top dog in the championship. Missing out on winning the first two races, the Polish rider put it all on the line in race three to take the win and with it the top spot of the podium.
"What can I say, it's been a crazy night, but somehow I came away with the win,” Said Blazusiak. "The racing was wild tonight, everyone was putting it on the line to win. I wasn't really feeling it during the first two races. My pace was good but I just couldn't get into it. We changed some things for the final race and it worked out. On the last lap Cody passed me but then he left the door open two corners from home and I got back in front. It wasn't the cleanest of pass but it was for the win.”
Finding his best form of the season to date, Webb put behind him a disappointing outing at round two in Germany to challenge hard for the victory. Laying down the fastest lap to top SuperPole – despite losing the use of his front brake – Webb came out swinging in race one.
Chasing down early race leader Alfredo Gomez (Husqvarna) and Blazusiak, Webb closed onto Blazusiak's wheel tracks as the duo both found a way past Gomez. Setting him up in the log pit, Webb got his nose in front and hung on to win. Fourth in race two, Webb almost made it two wins in Finland in race three.
Passing Blazusiak for the race lead on the final lap, he left the door open for the Pole two corners from home.
With Blazusiak forcing his KTM up the inside of Webb, he was pushed back to second. Losing out on the tie-breaker for overall, Webb ended his night as runner-up.
Getting his night off to a disastrous start, Walker missed the cut for the SuperPole when he ended timed practice in ninth. Forced to start from the second row of the grid for races one and three, the Brit had his work cut out to mix it with the leaders at the front of the pack.
Benefitting from the reversed start for race two, Walker grabbed the holeshot and checked out for the win, which secured him third overall.
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE TMX NEWS, FERUARY 5, 2015 (ISSUE 1957)
