KTM’s Brown Wins AMA EnduroCross Season Opener in Vegas
2013 Las Vegas AMA EnduroCross Results
The 2013 GEICO AMA EnduroCross series throttled into action Friday evening in Las Vegas’ Orleans Arena.
All eyes were on the reigning EnduroCross Champion, Factory FMF/KTM’s Taddy Blazusiak, but the Polish rider didn’t take the top step of the podium.
Instead, it was Blazusiak’s teammate Mike Brown who took the win, with Blazusiak in second. Rockstar Energy JCR Honda’s Coulton Haaker took the final podium position.
En route to his first-ever AMA EnduroCross win, Brown, an X-Games EnduroX Gold Medalist, put in a dominating performance aboard his KTM 350cc machine. He led every lap, and finished nine seconds ahead of Blazusiak.
In the first heat, Brown chose the inside gate, which helped im achieve the holeshot and lead every lap to qualify into the man.
For 2013, there’s a new element at play for the AMA EnduroCross series.The 12 riders that qualify for the main event put in some hot laps for gate picks. Brown again took the top honors during this stage, turing a 40.1 seconds and getting his pick of the gate. Blazusiak was a close second with 40.2.
The two riders choose the two inside gates for the start of the main event. Just as predicted, they rounded the first corner in that order with Brown taking the holeshot and Blazusiak in second. The two riders never changed position throughout the 12-lap main event.
Mike Brown (FMF/KTM EnduroCross) says: “It feels so great to get my first win tonight. I’ve been training hard and working toward this goal for a few years now and everything finally feels right. I am extremely grateful to my team that has been behind me this season and built me a great bike. I hope to carry my momentum into the next round and work toward a championship.”
Taddy Blazusiak (FMF/KTM EnduroCross) says: “I struggled a little bit with bike set-up this morning but everything was improved for the main event. I am happy to start the season off on the podium but I definitely have a goal of being on the top step and will shoot for that at the next round.”
Coulton Haaker (Rockstar Energy JCR Honda EnduroCross) says: “I got a good start from the second row and worked my way up to third and I felt like I could have made an aggressive move on Taddy in the second to last turn but I knew he would not give it up easily so I decided to check up.”
Beta two-stroke rider Cody Webb, now riding a Beta two-stroke, had to come back from a terrible start to finish fourth ahead of Geoff Aaron, who is now riding a Red Bull backed KTM 350. Monster Kawasaki’s Taylor Robert finished sixth ahead of Husqvarna’s Cory Graffunder, RPM KTM’s Kyle Redmond, Monster Kawasaki’s Justin Soule and Beta’s Max Gerston rounded out the top ten. Destry Abbot was eleventh, Jamie Lanza twelfth and Gary Sutherlin was thirteenth in the main.
The Women’s class had a first time winner as Shelby Turner beat fellow Canadian, Chantelle Bykerk. Rachel Gutish finished third. KTM’s Maria Forsberg, the defending Women’s champion had a tough night and finished fourth and Louise Forsley, the second place women from 2012 missed the race due to injury.
The night also included support classes and Kurt Nicoll started the night off by winning the Vet 35+ class ahead of Ty Davis and Colby Begin. Tyler Murray won the Open Amateur class by taking the lead in the last turn from second place finisher, David Broderick. Gavin McCarthy finished third. Australia’s Jack Field wowed the crowd by pulling a backflip off the finishline log while taking the win in the TrialsCross class. Ty Cullins and Ty Tremaine finished second and third.
Las Vegas AMA EnduroCross Round 1 Results:
- Mike Brown, KTM
- Taddy Blazusiak, KTM
- Colton Haaker, Honda
- Cody Webb, Beta
- Geoff Aaron, KTM
- Taylor Robert, Kawasaki
- Cory Graffunder, Husqvarna
- Kyle Redmond, KTM
- Justin Soule, Kawasaki
- Max Gerston, Beta
The 2013 GEICO AMA EnduroCross Championship now heads to Sacramento, Calif. , for round two of seven on June 8.
