
Taddy BLAZUSIAK, Hometown Hero !
What an incredible opening round of the 2018/2019 season! The Tauron Arena
hosted the first round of the Maxxis FIM SuperEnduro World Championship. And
the Polish fans kept up their reputation for being the most passionate and
enthusiastic on the calendar!
SuperPole: The Top Three Favourites Fight
At the beginning of the evening the thrilling SuperPole battle offered the
13,500 fans a taste of the furious action that would follow. Cody WEBB set the
best time in the Prestige category, with his countryman Colton HAAKER at his
heels. Demoting the local hero Taddy BLAZUSIAK to 3rd place. These three men
seemed to place themselves as firm favourites for the night, even if the fans
were a little worried to see Taddy 'only' 3rd.
Prestige: Taddy BLAZUSIAK Off Like a Rocket!
Very quick in the first heat, Taddy BLAZUSIAK seemed to dominate. The
Factory KTM rider's performance bolstered by the incredible support from the
Polish public, and at the halfway point he had already built a considerable
lead over Cody WEBB and Colton HAAKER. The two Americans tried hard to keep up
with the fast pace of the local rider but they had to settle for podium
positions, particularly after a crash for HAAKER on the penultimate lap.
BLAZUSIAK therefore won this first heat by more 11 seconds over WEBB.
The second heat, with the reverse grid start, put the pressure on the top
stars to perform. But despite starting from the second row behind the gate,
Taddy continued his push for home glory. In fact, the multi-champion was hot
on the heels of the leaders after less than 2 laps. The Pole signed off his
second victory of the evening, thrilling the Tauron Arena in the process.
Rookie Kevin GALLAS lead the race early on but was closed down and passed by
the American duo. But with Husqvarna's HAAKER stalling his bike and WEBB
falling just minutes before the end, they were forced to settle for 2nd and
3rd respectively.
Taddy BLAZUSIAK aimed to pull off a hat-trick and win three out of three in
Krakow. But a shocking crash for the KTM rider at the start of the 3rd heat
saw him dead last on the opening lap. With worried fans urging him on, the
Pole made an astonishing comeback through the pack, all the way to 4th place.
This last heat was won by Alfredo GOMEZ, the consistent Spaniard pleased to
return to the top following injury last year. However, WEBB and HAAKER both
challenged for race victory, each crashing at separate points on the track and
leaving GOMEZ to romp home. BLAZUSIAK leaves Krakow after a near perfect night
which saw him take the overall win and the 24MX Leader Plate by just two
points over Cody WEBB. Colton HAAKER is 3rd after his strong start to the
season. BLAZUSIAK will definitely be kept on his toes by his two main rivals
at the German GP.
Junior:
William HOARE Does the Triple!
British rider, William HOARE, put on a masterclass in Poland, taking three
dominant victories during the three Junior category heats. In the first race
he chased David CYPRIAN right down to the last corners of the race,
overhauling him at the chequered flag, Norbert Levente JOZSA closed out the
top three. The 2nd Junior final start was in reversed order with Will Hoare at
the back but he was straight to the front closely followed by Dan MUNDELL. Lee
SEALEY was going well until he crashed in the rock section. On the penultimate
lap Dan also stalled on the Enduro Matrix. William HOARE took the double win.
David CYPRIAN was second and Dan recovered to take 4th.behind Tim APOLLE. And leaving nothing to chance in the last
heat, HOARE took victory by a decent margin in front of local rider Dominik
OLSZOWY and David CYPRIAN. The young Brit therefore leads the 24MX rankings
ahead of CYPRIAN and JOZSA.
FIM-EUROPEAN Class: A Great Start!
The European class added extra spice to the Tauron Arena on Saturday night.
After two very exciting heats it was Robert SCHARL who took the number one
spot in front of Paul BURY and Thomas HOSTINSKY.
Join us in Riesa, Germany on January 5th to find out what twists and turns
round two of the SuperEnduro World Championship has in store!
QUOTES OF THE DAY:
Taddy BLAZUSIAK: " I didn't cruise the first two motos but I was on
my own and could choose my lines and hit my markers. When you're in front it's
easier because you can be smooth. In the final Moto I made a good start but
got together with cody. It's a risk off the start but that's racing. There's
14 bikes but only room for three bikes. I got back up and I knew I was dead
last but I started to charge and go hard thru the traffic. I had a small crash
again... I'm so happy to leave Poland with the red plate with the fourth place
at the end. win I was thinking about getting everything point possible... In
this championship every point counts over 15 motos and that's all I was
thinking about. The crowd was great but this track was good and very racy but
in Poland the biggest issue is the dirt and getting it dry in Poland at this
time of year.”
Cody WEBB: " I made a couple of mistakes in the first two races
and Taddy checked out in. He rode great. In the third race we came together...
I'm looking forward to Germany though and ironing out my mistakes. I'm happy
with how I rode tonight. It's a different intensity in Superenduro compared to
endurocross and I was trying to learn the field and racing against those guys
again. I'm two points behind taddy but theres so many points to be won and
lost in superenduro."
Colton HAAKER: "Last year when I left Poland I wasn't sure if I
should even come back. I plugged thru the year but I was banging my head
against a wall. I needed a break before Endurocross but our team changed our
bike a lot and it turned it around for me in endurocross. After the second
final I was surprised that I wasn't as far off as I expected and it's better
than last year. Cody and Taddy are both champions and it's going to be a great
year. Cody and me both looked up to taddy when we were younger because he was
always winning. I thought a couple of years he was leaving but he keeps coming
back! We have so much respect for each other.”
Prestige
Class :
Heat 1 : 1. Taddy BLAZUSIAK ; 2. Cody WEBB ; 3. Colton HAAKER ; 4. Alfredo
GOMEZ ; 5. Diogo VIEIRA ; 6. Blake GUTZEIT ; 7. Pol TARRES ; 8. David LEONOV ;
9. Kevin GALLAS ; 10. Emil JUSZCZAK…
Heat 2 : 1. Taddy BLAZUSIAK ; 2. Colton HAAKER ; 3. Cody WEBB ; 4. Alfredo
GOMEZ ; 5. Kevin GALLAS ; 6. Blake GUTZEIT ; 7. Diogo VIEIRA ; 8. David LEONOV
; 9. Pol TARRES ; 10. Xavi LEON SOLE…
Heat 3 : 1. Alfredo GOMEZ ; 2. Cody WEBB ; 3. Colton HAAKER ; 4. Taddy
BLAZUSIAK ; 5. Kevin GALLAS ; 6. Pol TARRES ; 7. Diogo VIEIRA ; 8. Blake
GUTZEIT ; 9. Jose Maria JUAN BERNABEU ; 10. Xavi LEON SOLE…
Provisional Standing : 1. Taddy BLAZUSIAK 54pts ; 2. Cody WEBB 52pts ; 3.
Colton HAAKER 49pts ; 4. Alfredo GOMEZ 46pts ; 5. Kevin GALLAS 28pts. 6. Diogo
VIEIRA 27pts ; 7. Blake GUTZEIT 25pts ; 8. Pol TARRES 23pts ; 9. David LEONOV
18pts ; 10. Xavi LEON SOLE 14pts…
Junior
Class :
Heat 1 : 1. William HOARE ; 2. David CYPRIAN ; 3. Norbert Levent JOSZA ; 4.
KABAKCHIEV Teodor ; 5. Ivan PUEYO GIL. 6. Diego HERRERA. 7. Leon HENTSCHEL ;
8. Dan MUNDELL ; 9. Tim APOLLE ; 10. Lee SEALEY…
Heat 2 : 1. William HOARE ; 2. David CYPRIAN ; 3. Tim APOLLE ; 4. Dan
MUNDELL ; 5. Dominik OLSZOWY ; 6. Diego HERRERA ; 7. Ivan PUEYO GIL ; 8.
Norbert Levente JOSZA ; 9. Sebastian ENÖCKL ; 10. Fabien POIROT…
Heat 3 : 1. William HOARE ; 2. Dominik OLSZOWY ; 3. David CYPRIAN ; 4.
Norbert Levente JOSZA ; 5. Ivan PUEYO GIL ; 6. Lee SEALEY ; 7. Dan MUNDELL ;
8. Tim APOLLE ; 9. Leon HENTSCHEL ; 10. Fabien POIROT…
Provisonal Standing : 1. William HOARE 60pts ; 2. David CYPRIAN 49pts ; 3.
Norbert Levente JOSZA 35pts ; 4. Ivan PUEYO GIL 30pts ; 5. Dominik OLSZOWY
29pts ; 6. Tim APOLLE 28pts ; 7. Dan MUNDELL 28pts ; 8. Diego HERRERA 21pts ;
9. Teodor KABAKCHIEV 18pts ; 10. Lee SEALEY 18pts…
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