Wild endurocross finale - Blazusiak is denied!
By TMX Archives on 25th Nov 09
Red Bull/KTM rider Taddy Blazusiak came to the Orleans Arena for the final round of the EnduroCross Series with the Championship wrapped up and the goal of winning the final round and a $50,000 Triple Crown prize.
Judging from the afternoon practice laps and first heat, itlooked as if it might be his night. Blazusiak had the secondfastest hot lap of the afternoon behind his teammate ShockDoctor/KTM rider Mike Brown.
Brown and Blazusiak were split up in the first two heatraces. Brown started heat number one with a holeshot and anamazing battle with Christini/KTM rider Geoff Aaron. Brown andAaron switched the lead position multiple times before Brown madethe pass stick taking the win and the first qualifying positioninto the main.
Blazusiak was up next in heat number two. Blazusiak had agreat jump off the gate but hit a plant in the first corner andwent down. Another rider fell on top of him and the two struggledto get back up. Luckily, Blazusiak kept the bike running and oncehe regained composure he put on an impressive charge through thepack.
By the second lap Blazusiak had moved from last to 2ndposition and was closing in on lead rider Gary Sutherlin. Anotherlap down and Blazusiak caught Sutherlin in the rocks and made thepass for the lead. He pulled on the field and finished the raceapproximately a ½ lap ahead of the next closestrider.
Photo: Kinney Jones - KTM Images
The third member of the team, Shock Doctor/KTM WORCS riderJustin Soulè also made an appearance at the final round ofEnduroCross. Unfortunately, Soulè crashed in his heat andsemi and wasn't able to qualify into the main event. As aconsultation he was entered into the highly popular night race,an event where the stadium lights are turned off and the ridershave to race only by headlights.
Soulè started up front alongside Husaberg riderJoakim Ljunggred. The two rode side by side for the first halflap until Soulè got held up in the rock section.Soulè lost a few positions getting through the rocks andwas able to charge back through and finish the race in 4thposition.
In the main event, Blazusiak had a decent start roundingthe first corner in 3rd place while Brown's wheel spun on thegate and caused him to have a last place start. Blazusiak quicklymoved into 2nd position at the tire jump and was soon side byside with Ricky Dietrich.
As they came to the right hander after the tire straightDietrich moved over and into Blazusiak. With no where to goBlazusiak hit the ground hard causing injury to his leg. "Iknew something was wrong as soon as I crashed but I am a racerand I came to win, so I was not going to retire early,"commented Blazusiak. He soon recovered and was back on track in7th place. Out front, Dietrich had taken the lead followedclosely by Aaron.
As the race continued, Brown continued to put pressure onthe field working as hard as he could to move up in position fromhis poor start. Brown spent a lot of time trying to get aroundstuck riders in the treacherous rock section. "The rocksection was tough because so many riders got held up there and Iwould lose time each lap trying to get around them or waiting forthem to pick themselves up so I could get by," remarkedBrown.
At the end of the race, Brown eventually passed up to 9thposition where he finished for the night. "I love racingEnduroCross because you never know what will happen. I had greatlap times all night but if you don't have luck to go withyour speed in the main event you can find yourself in the back ofthe pack."
Blazusiak passed a few riders after his first crash beforehe had a second encounter with the ground. After the secondcrash, Blazusiak put forth a remarkable effort to try and catchthe top three but fell short of that goal in the eight lap race.Aaron maintained his 2nd place position to end the season with apodium finish while Blazusiak crossed the line in 5th.
After the event Blazusiak had his leg examined for whatlooks like a possible ACL tear on his right knee. "I will goin for further examination when I return home. I am bummed withhow the evening turned out but am still happy to have thechampionship and plan to return to defend my title in 2010."Blazusiak will be joined once again by Mike Brown as the two KTMFactory riders contending the AMA EnduroCross series nextseason.
Results - US Endurocross Rnd 6 '09
