Indoor Enduro World Championship Genoa Results
KTM Enduro Factory Team rider Taddy Blazusiak came back from a series of crashes in Round One of the Indoor Enduro World Championship in Genoa, Italy on Saturday night to finish in third place overall.
KTM Enduro Factory teammate Thomas Oldrati was a solid fourth at the end of the night.
Taddy, the Polish rider and reigning Indoor Enduro champion who has established himself as the one to beat in hard man-hard machine Enduro competitions, has just returned from winning five of six rounds in the GEICO Endurocross in the USA but his opening event in the championship was not as he would have wished.
Blazusiak went down hard in the first of three Indoor Enduro finals and banged both his head and shoulder but continued racing. Then from mid pack he crashed again just short on the triple jump and did well to scrape back to a ninth place with a banged up bike and bent handlebars.
Despite feeling pain in an aggravated old shoulder injury, he was leading the second final when he crashed again and had to concede first place to Finland’s Mika Ahola.
The third Indoor Enduro race was his best of the night. He took the holeshot in the style that has won him respect from peers and fans alike and went on to claim the checkered flag.
Blazusiak 9-2-1 result on the night left him in third place overall in front of Ahola and Joakim Ljunggren. Just eight points separate him from the leader in the five-round competition that this year has been elevated from World Cup to World Championship status.
It was also a solid night’s ride for Italian Thomas Oldrati the second rider in the KTM Enduro Factory Team to compete in the night. Fastest in training, Oldrati finished with a 3-4-2 result to be fourth overall behind the big guns on a night where crashes claimed other prominent riders.
Taddy Blazusiak says: “I had two crashes in the first final – the first was a simply indoor Enduro fall where I lost my front wheel after hitting a log. But the second was much bigger. I was riding with a good pace and was sure I could get back to the front but I lost some traction on the take off of the triple jump and came up short.”
“My shoulder was really sore after that crash so I was struggling a bit on the second race. I didn’t have a loft of power in the shoulder and I just ended up on the ground again when I was leading. I got back to second, which was okay.”
“The last race was the perfect way to end the night. I pulled the holeshot and then stayed out front and upright all race. I felt like my speed was good enough to win all three races but after my first final crash to still be third in the championship is really good.
2011 Indoor Enduro World Championship, Round 1 Genoa Results:
Final 1
1, Joakim Ljunggren, Sweden, Husaberg
2, Mika Ahola, Finland, Honda
3, Thomas Oldrati, Italy, KTM
9, Taddy Blazusiak, Poland, KTM
Final 2
1, Mika Ahola, Finland, Honda
2, Taddy Blazusiak, Poland, KTM
3, Joakim Ljunggren, Sweden, Husaberg
4, Thomas Oldrati, Italy, KTM
Final 3
1, Taddy Blazusiak, Poland, KTM
2, Thomas Oldrati, Italy, KTM
3, Mika Ahola, Finland, Honda
Indoor Enduro Championship standings after Round 1
1, Mika Ahola, Finland, Honda, 51 points
2, Joakim Ljunggren, Sweden, Husaberg, 45
3, Taddy Blazusiak, Poland, KTM 43
4, Thomas Oldrati, Italy, KTM, 42
