Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Colton Haaker wins round five of the Maxxis FIM SuperEnduro World Championship, passes Cody Webb and now crowds Jonny Walker in the championship points battle.
Colton Haaker scored his first career Maxxis FIM SuperEnduro World Championship victory during round five of the series at Tipsport Arena in Prague, Czech Republic, and the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna factory-backed American is now within one point of series leader Jonny Walker with one round remaining.
On a pressure-packed night in Prague, who rode smoothly and calmly in the three Final events after admittedly botching his Akrapovic SuperPole lap, netting third in the first Final, behind fellow American Taylor Robert and Alfredo Gomez of Spain. Meanwhile, Jonny Walker and Cody Webb, who came into Prague as the top two in the series points standings, finished seventh and fourth respectively. He then got off to a blazing start in the second Final and went on to score the win after fending off a brief challenge by Webb while Walker once again ran off the pace in sixth place. Haaker then collected a runner-up finish in the third Final to secure the overall win ahead of Robert and multi-time FIM SuperEnduro World Champion Taddy Blazusiak. The net result is that Haaker is just one point adrift of Walker with one round remaining, and Webb is just seven points behind Walker, leaving the title race wide open.
“Things just sort of went my way tonight,” Haaker said. “It was hard to stay out of trouble but I did my best. Getting the win in race two was a major help and then fighting back to second in race three sealed the deal. I’m just one point off the championship lead so the final round in Madrid is going to be good.”
Overall runner-up Robert actually tied Haaker on points during the nightm but Haaker managed the better finish in the third Final to earn the tiebreaker. Even so, Robert said that he was more than pleased to net his first ever SuperEnduro World Championship podium.
“Race one was crazy, everyone was pushing hard,” Robert said. “I was upfront the whole time and kept chipping away and managed to get the win. I just tried to keep it together after that. I tied on points with Colton but he got the nod for the overall, which is a little bummer, but I’m happy to be on the box.”
Returning to action following injury, Blazusiak was pleased to finish the night with the final main event win and also land on the podium in third place.
“It feels great to get back on the podium,” he said. “It’s been tough being off the bike for so long, so to come back and win a race and get third overall feels pretty good. I think tonight was a night where anything could happen. The racing was so tight. I’m excited now to go race Madrid.”
The 2015-16 Maxxis FIM SuperEnduro World Championship concludes in Madrid, Spain on March 19.
2015-16 Maxxis FIM SuperEnduro World Championship
Tipsport Arena
Prague, Czech Republic
Results: March 12, 2016 (Round 4 of 5)
Final 1
1. Taylor Robert-KTM
2. Alfredo Gomez-KTM
3. Colton Haaker-Hus
4. Cody Webb-KTM
5. Taddy Blazusiak-KTM
Final 2
1. Colton Haaker-Hus
2. Cody Webb-KTM
3. Taylor Robert-KTM
4. Alfredo Gomez-KTM
5. Mario Roman-Hus
Final 3
1. Taddy Blazusiak-KTM
2. Colton Haaker-Hus
3. Taylor Robert-KTM
4. Mario Roman-Hus
5. Alfredo Gomez-KTM
Overall
1. Colton Haaker-Hus/52 points
2. Taylor Robert-KTM/52 points
3. Taddy Blazusiak-KTM/43 points
4. Alfredo Gomez-KTM/41 points
5. Cody Webb-KTM 31 points
2015-16 Maxxis FIM World SuperEnduro Championship Series Points Standings (after 4 of 5 rounds)
1. Jonny Walker-241
2. Colton Haaker-240
3. Cody Webb-234
4. Taylor Robert-193
5. Alfredo Gomez-183
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