Red Bull/KTM Factory rider Taddy Blazusiak blasted his way to a sixth consecutive victory in the AMA Endurocross Series to retain his perfect scorecard in front of a sell-out crowd at the Idaho Center in Boise. But Factory FMF/KTM rider Mike Brown earned a strong second place finish to keep the championship alive until the finale in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The championship will now be decided in the final double round in Las Vegas in November and it remains to be seen if KTM’s extreme Enduro specialist from Poland can retain the title and his perfect results.
It's six wins from six starts for Taddy in Endurocross
Blazusiak and Brown both started strong turning the fastest hot laps of the night to secure first gate pick in their heats. Brown went on to win heat number one, Blazusiak heat number two and Justin Soule took the win in the final heat.
In the main event, Blazusiak got off to a powerful start by launching his KTM to the front of the pack to nail the holeshot. Brown came around the first corner in second place and began a battle with Soule for the position. The two swapped positions a few times before Brown made an aggressive move to make the pass stick. Brown was able to keep Blazusiak in his sights for the first half of the race before Taddy turned up the heat, stretched the lead and grabbed yet another victory in what has been an epic season for the Polish rider. Brown went on to finish second and Geoff Aaron earned third. KTM riders soaked up five of the top 10 places in this exciting competition that is growing in popularity with every event.
Taddy: “It was pretty much another great night for me. When you know that you’re getting close to being able to wrap-up a championship then it can be hard to stay relaxed and ride at your best, but I didn’t feel like I was under any real pressure. Everything went really well again and I have to say a huge thanks to everyone in the KTM team. I felt good on the track and my Hot Lap session went well, which set me up well for the night really. It’s kind of weird knowing that your team-mate is the only rider that can beat you in the championship, but I just stayed focused on doing my on thing and trying to win my heat race while learning the track. The main event was really good. I got a great start, which always helps, and being exactly where I needed to be meant that I could just focus on the track for the opening laps and then start to push a little harder. I knew Mike would be riding hard to make sure he finished top three but after a few laps I opened up a pretty good lead and kept myself upright and out of trouble. I’m really looking forward to Vegas now. It’s going to be interesting having two finals but I know my bike’s working great and that I’m in good physical conditions so I’ll be ready. It helps knowing that I have a 53 point lead in the championship.”
The series next heads to Las Vegas for a double format main event. Brown is the only rider that has a chance to challenge Blazusiak for the title in Vegas.
Next Event: Las Vegas EnduroCross – November 19, 2011 – Orleans Arena
Overall Results 1, Taddy Blazusiak – KTM 2, Mike Brown – KTM 3, Geoff Aaron – Honda/Christini 4, Justin Soule – Kawasaki 5, Gary Sutherlin – Kawasaki