Former AMA EnduroCross Champion Taddy Blazusiak seals up his sixth career FIM SuperEnduro Championship with a podium finish in Cahors, France.
Red Bull KTM’s Taddy Blazusiak made extreme off-road racing history once again when he earned his record sixth FIM SuperEnduro crown at the final round of the series at the French GP in Cahors, France, last night.
Blazusiak, who had a solid series lead coming into the final, finished third in the French round, behind fellow KTM riders Jonny Walker and Cody Webb, but that was more than enough to clinch the title over both men, who also served as his rivals in the championship chase. Blazusiak became the champion once again, while Webb finished second and Walker third in the final series standings, giving KTM a one-two-three sweep.
Blazusiak actually clinched the title after the second of three heats. He played it cagey in the opening heat, but in the second race, where riders start in reverse order, he finished second, which was enough for him to settle the championship. He wrapped up his night with a 3-2-3 result.
Afterward, Blazusiak said that while each title has its own story, he put in a lot of work to claim his sixth.
“I just love what I do, and I hate to lose,” he said. “The game plan tonight was just to collect points and to stay out of trouble. I feel like I’m on top of the world right now. Coming into this race I knew I was in the perfect position to wrap up the title–I had a healthy points lead–but I still felt some pressure to get it done. Crossing the finishing line as World Champion for the sixth time in a row is amazing. Overall it’s been a fantastic season–four GP wins and a world championship–and I can’t thank KTM, the team and everyone involved enough for the effort they put in.”
Blazusiak’s factory teammate, Walker, also had reason to celebrate as the French round marked his first career World SuperEnduro win.
“It’s amazing to eventually get the win and to finish third in the discipline,” Walker said. “This year I learned a lot, and I’ll come back strong next year. I’ve been chipping away at getting an overall win and now finally it’s happened. In Brazil I was so close, but then it all fell apart in the final race. Here in France I felt good on the track from practice. It was a tight and tough track, but it seemed to work for me, and I got on with the job. I had a good race one but silly mistakes held me back. Then race two I got to the front and took the win. I knew the overall was on the line leading into the final race and this time around I made sure I didn’t do anything stupid. Once I got my nose in front I rode smart and got my first SuperEnduro overall win. It’s been an eventful season. I’m happy to have salvaged third in the championship and can now look forward to focusing on Extreme Enduro for the rest of the year.”
Webb continued what has also been an exceptional rookie season in SuperEnduro.
“I really wanted that overall win, but Jonny just had the edge on me in the final moto,” Webb said. “I knew the points were close, but I couldn’t get to him to try and fight for the overall victory. But I’m happy that I’ve been able to end the year as runner-up in the championship. It’s been a great first full season of SuperEnduro for me–races wins, the overall victory in Brazil and finishing things off with second overall in the series.”
Webb’s third-place finish wasn’t the only good news for American off-road racing fans. American rider Ty Tremaine claimed the Junior Championship title. What was anticipated to be a fantastic final clash between Tremaine and Andreas Linusson of Sweden ended prematurely when Linusson crashed and broke his wrist in practice. Even so, Tremaine’s new title is well-deserved.
“It’s an awesome feeling to be a World Champion,” Tremaine said. “It’s been a crazy season, but I’ve loved every minute. Starting out I didn’t really know what to expect, but taking the overall in Poland gave me confidence for the rest of the year. It was tough to see Andreas crash out in France, but that is part of racing. I’m delighted to have a World Championship to my name now.”
Tremaine won the French GP as well as the title, beating out Manuel Lettenbichler of Germany (KTM), the son of KTM factory rider Andreas Lettenbichler.
FIM SuperEnduro Championship
French GP
Cahors, France
Results: March 14, 2015 (Round 6 of 6)
Overall
1. Jonny Walker(GBR)-KTM/59 points (2-1-1, first career GP win)
2. Cody Webb (USA)-KTM/55 (1-3-2)
3. Taddy Blazusiak (POL)-KTM/48 (3-2-3, takes 6th World title)
4. Alfredo Gomez (ESP)-Hus/39 (4-4-4)
5. Paul Bolton (GBR)-KTM/30 (7-5-6)
FIM SuperEnduro Championship Final Standings (After 6 of 6 rounds)
1. Taddy Blazusiak-320
2. Cody Webb-282
3. Jonny Walker-277
4. David Knight-231
5. Alfredo Gomez-212
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