Taddy takes Pole position in Krakow
By Future 7Media on 19th Dec 18
Remaining the undisputed King of Krakow, Taddy Blazusiak claimed his third consecutive SuperEnduro victory in the Tauron Arena.
Now unbeaten on home turf for three years, Red Bull KTM Factory Racings Blazusiak came out of the blocks swinging for the opening round of the FIM SuperEnduro World Championship at Krakow in Poland.
Fired-up for victory and with the support of almost 14,000 fans behind him, Blazusiak again gave the Polish crowd the win they came to see. The home hero ended round one as the early pace setter over defending champion Cody Webb (KTM) and Colton Haaker (Husqvarna).
And in the Junior ranks there was plenty to celebrate for British SuperEnduro fans as Craig Motorcycles William Hoare (Husqvarna) dominated. Carding a debut race win in heat one, Hoare swept all three races on the night to secure his debut SuperEnduro victory.
Its an amazing feeling to win for the third time here in Poland, said Blazusiak. This place holds so many special memories for me. Tonight added to that. I felt great the whole way, winning the first two motos.
Race three was tight but I knew what I needed to do after I crashed to get it done. With the outdoor season put to bed for 2018, attention is now drawn to the action-packed arenas for SuperEnduro.
The Tauron Arena in Poland again played host to the series opener but British hopes of a podium position were dashed in the days before when news broke that Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) had broken the fibula in his left leg and would be an unfortunate non-starter.
William Hoare SuperEnduro Poland
A relief to his rivals, it left Blazusiak, Webb, Haaker and Alfredo Gomez (Husqvarna) as podium favourites, while 2018 Junior champ Kevin Gallas (Husqvarna) and 2017 Junior champ Blake Gutzeit (Husqvarna) looked to card a surprise result.
With the stadium full to capacity of 13,500 Poles, Cody Webb (KTM) laid down the benchmark with the fastest time in SuperPole, followed by Haaker and then Blazusiak.However, come the drop of the gate in race one, Blazusiak reversed those positions exiting turn one and was simply never headed. A series of scorchingly fast laps, saw him pull a full straight clear of Haaker and then Webb to win comfortably.
Haaker, sitting second, washed out his front wheel entering the start straight and dropped to third as Webb sneaked past for second. The start order was reversed for race two and Gallas was quick to capitalise on the leading quartet starting second row.
Grabbing some limelight, the German led the first half of the race as Blazusiak was quickest to charge his way forward.Riding up on to the Husqvarna riders wheel tracks, he pounced on Gallas when the German bobbled in the rocks and then checked out for win number two. Behind him Haaker got the better of Webb for second, while Gomez found a way past Gallas in the closing stages to steal fourth. Hopes of a Blazusiak clean sweep were dashed instantly when the Pole crashed at the start of race three.
Needing a few seconds to adjust his levers, Blazusiak had a lot of ground to make up. Climbing up to 10th he hit another setback and crashed once more. With Gomez leading and both Webb and Haaker hustling the Spaniard, Blazusiaks shot at the overall victory was also looking shaky. Lap after lap, Gomez resisted the attacks of Webb and Haaker.
With both riders eventually crashing, it gave the Spaniard enough breathing room to ride clear for the win. And in the process allow Blazusiak come back into contention. Racing back to fourth, Blazusiak saved his night and to the delight of the crowd made it a victorious one.
For Webb, it was Blazusiak who denied him a winning start to his championship defence, but he was still pleased with his night. I had great fun tonight, its always good to race here in Poland, he said.
Second overall for the night is good I just made a few too many mistakes out there. I know my speed is good and my fitness is nearly there now after my injury earlier in the year. Im excited for the rest of the season so well see what round two brings in Germany.
In the Junior ranks it was William Hoare who stole the show. Now in his third year of SuperEnduro, the young Brit showed his true potential in Poland by comfortably winning all three races.
Hoare has consistently challenged for wins in the past but mistakes always cost him.
In Krakow he was a changed rider and showing he has learned from the past by looking more confident and controlled. A level above his rivals, Hoare looks like the rider to beat in the 2019 series thats if the self-funded youngster can find the budget to continue.
Im amazed by how well tonight has gone, said Hoare following his clean sweep of victories. In the past Ive showed good speed but never managed to hold it together. Tonight I finally put it together. Winning race one my first ever victory gave me the confidence that I could do it. For the rest of the night I rode my own race and didnt panic or tighten up.
I still cant believe Ive won and that Im now leading the championship because I didnt expect that coming here. I hadnt planned on racing any more rounds simply because I dont really have the money to, but I guess well have to see now and hopefully I can make round two in Germany happen.
With a late decision to race SuperEnduro, Shercos Dan Mundell jumped in the deep end in Krakow. A poor start in race one saw him finish eighth, before picking up his best result of the night in race two with fourth. Seventh in race three gave him seventh overall. For Lee Sealey (Yamaha), Krakow held mixed fortunes with a series of crashes hampering his performance. A best result of sixth in race three saw him end his night 10th overall.
Krakow also marked the opening round of the FIM Europe championship, won by Germanys Robert Scharl (Husqvarna). Putting in a strong showing, Gas Gas rider Tom Knight improved massively on his race one result of seventh to finish third in the second and final race, just missing out on a podium result by one point for fourth overall. With a pair of sixth place results, Gavin Houson (Husqvarna) finished eighth overall.
The FIM SuperEnduro World Championship continues with round two in Germany on January 5.
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