FIM SuperEnduro 2020
Round Two – Riesa, Germany
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Taddy Blazusiak has claimed victory at round two of the 2020 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship in Germany.
Riders faced another tight and technical track for round two of the FIM SuperEnduro World Championship, held at the Sachsen Arena in Germany. Multiple log hazards and rock gardens created a gruelling course that required maximum focus in order to secure a strong result.
Runner-up at the opening round, Taddy Blazusiak knew he had to claw back important championship points in order to stay competitive in the short five-round series. Getting his night off to a strong start, Blazusiak posted the second-fastest time in SuperPole qualifying, beaten only by team-mate Jonny Walker.
Race one started well for Blazusiak, completing the first lap in third place. With the top two riders both having problems, he took the lead and never looked back, ultimately taking the chequered flag with a huge 34-second advantage. The second race, despite the reversed grid, went very much the same way as the first – Blazusiak, riding consistently, made his way to the front leaving his rivals behind.
The third and final race saw Blazusiak take the holeshot and instantly create a comfortable lead. Using his skill and experience to master the demanding track, the Polish ace never faltered and completed his hat-trick of first-place results to claim the overall win. Despite his main championship rival finishing second, Taddy earned enough points to move himself into the lead of the series standings with a useful 11-point advantage going into round three.
Taddy Blazusiak
“I don’t know what to say, I’m over the moon, it’s been such an amazing night. All of the races went really well today and fell into place. You still need to earn your results though and I knew that this round would be tough. With a track like this you can’t just sprint the whole thing or you will make mistakes so I knew if I stayed consistent it would pay off. My plan was to stay safe and just ride to the limit of the bike with the minimum of errors. I’m really happy to go into round three with the championship lead. Spain is like a second home race for me, so I hope I can do the same thing there and come away with another win.”
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Billy Bolt was runner-up. After arriving as series leader following a highly impressive winning performance at the opening event of the championship, Bolt endured a challenging night inside the Sachsen Arena with a heavy fall in the opening final preventing him from performing at his best.
Despite his troubles, the FE 350 mounted rider secured second overall and with it holds the runner-up position in the SuperEnduro championship standings, just 11 points behind new series leader Taddy Blazusiak.
Round Two – Riesa, Germany
Quickly getting to grips with the technical track, Bolt showed his pace by posting the fastest time during the final timed practice. In the first of the three finals it took just two laps before he moved ahead of teammate Gomez and into the race lead, where he stayed until lap five. Initially losing just one place to Blazusiak, Bolt then dropped to his final finishing position of fourth.
The reversed start order second final saw Bolt quickly hustle his way inside the top five before taking the race lead on lap two. Looking comfortable out front, a mistake while leading on lap four unfortunately saw him drop to his final finishing position of second.
The night’s third and closing final proved to be the toughest for Bolt. Feeling the effects of his spills in the first and second race, he spent two laps in third before dropping to fourth. Finally moving forwards one position to secure third at the finish was enough for the Brit to claim second overall in the event classification.
Billy Bolt
“It was certainly a difficult night for me. It looked like things were going to go well – the track really suited me, so I was really looking forward to seeing what I could do. I felt like the track could be ridden aggressively, but maybe that was where things went wrong for me. There was definitely a racing line, but I made too many mistakes. The crash I had in the first race was pretty big, I hit the ground pretty hard and that detuned me for the other races. After that I just wanted to get as many points as possible. For the championship things didn’t go like I wanted, but my speed was good. It’ll be back to work on Monday, with three rounds of the series still to go there everything to fight for.”
Fastest in SuperPole, Jonny Walker endured a tough night of racing in Riesa. Falls at the first corner in races one and two put him on the back foot for the remaining laps. A better start in the third race really let him demonstrate his pace, with the British rider fighting for the podium throughout. Despite a challenging night, Jonny was able to claim third in the overall event results. Happy with his fitness and speed, Walker now looks forward to round three.
Jonny Walker
“Tonight was really tough. I’d be lying if I said I was happy with how things turned out, especially after showing I had the pace by claiming the SuperPole win. I have to look on the bright side though – I’m feeling really good on the bike and I’m close to being back to 100 percent fit now, too. If things go well at the next round in Spain, I know I can challenge for the win.”
In missing the end-of-night overall podium by just four points, Alfredo Gomez was ultimately a little frustrated at the way his time in Riesa ended. But in showing impressive speed on his TE 300i the experienced Spaniard kept a cool head to start his night with a deserved runner-up result in the opening final.
The reverse-start second final didn’t go Gomez’ way as an incident on lap seven saw him drop from fifth to seventh. Bouncing back in the night’s closing final, Alfredo again made a strong start to complete lap one in second, where he remained until the chequered flag. Heading into round three of the series Gomez sits third in the championship standings.
Alfredo Gomez
“It’s been a fantastic night for me, apart from an unfortunate incident in the second final that stopped me from finishing on the podium. That’s disappointing, but the first and third finals were really good for me. In the first race I made a small mistake when I was leading, but overall I’ve felt really good. I was able to find a much better rhythm compared to the first race in Poland. The final result could have been better, but generally I’m very pleased.”
The FIM SuperEnduro World Championship continues with the third stop of the five-round series in Spain on January 18, 2020.
2020 SuperEnduro World Championship
Round Two – Riesa, Germany
Overall Event Classification
- Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 62 points
- Billy Bolt (GBR), Husqvarna, 46 pts
- Jonny Walker (GBR), KTM, 46 pts
- Alfredo Gomez (ESP), Husqvarna, 42 pts
- Blake Gutzeit (ZAF), Husqvarna, 31 pts
Prestige Race 1
- Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 6:48.813
- Alfredo Gomez (ESP), Husqvarna, 7:23.066 +34.253
- Jonny Walker (GBR), KTM, 7:26.617 +37.804
- Billy Bolt (GBR), Husqvarna, 7:37.658 +48.845
- Pol Tarres (ESP), Husqvarna, 7:02.163 +1 lap
Prestige Race 2
- Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 6:55.816
- Billy Bolt (GBR), Husqvarna, 7:13.376 +17.560
- Jonny Walker (GBR), KTM, 7:13.640 +17.824
- Blake Gutzeit (ZAF), Husqvarna, 7:39.762 +43.946
- Pol Tarres (ESP), Husqvarna, 6:58.545 +1 lap
Prestige Race 3
- Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 6:52.817
- Alfredo Gomez (ESP), Husqvarna, 7:06.871 +14.054
- Billy Bolt (GBR), Husqvarna, 7:09.880 +17.063
- Jonny Walker (GBR), KTM, 7:14.722 +21.905
- Blake Gutzeit (ZAF), Husqvarna, 7:54.072 +1:01.255
SuperEnduro Championship Standings (after round 2 of 5)
- Taddy Blazusiak (POL) KTM, 117 points
- Billy Bolt (GBR) Husqvarna, 106 pts
- Alfredo Gomez (ESP) Husqvarna, 87 pts
- Jonny Walker (GBR) KTM, 87 pts
- Blake Gutzeit (ZAF), Husqvarna, 60 pts
Source: MCNews.com.au