Another evening of top draw racing took place inside the Atlas Arena, Lodz, Poland for the second round of the FIM SuperEnduro World Championship. Again it was home hero Taddy Blazusiak that swept the boards with a maximum three wins. Britain’s Jonny Walker – KTM claimed his first ever World Championship podium with second beating Joakim Ljunggren into third.
Here’s what they had to say for themselves:
Taddy Blazusiak (1st): ‘This has been one of the best events ever for me. Getting to race in front of my home crowd is something I’ve been looking forward to all year and to be able to win all three finals and extend my lead in the championship is just amazing. I knew that I would get a lot of support here, but I wasn’t ready for the reaction of the crowd when I first rode into the arena – I have to say I was a little bit emotional. The event has been amazing. The organising team really did a fantastic job, and the event was more than worthy of being a round of the SuperEnduro World Championship.’
‘In the first race I made a small mistake and Jonny Walker got close to me for a few laps but by the end of the race I had a pretty decent lead so I was happy with the way that race went. The second race was the reversed start order, which I knew would make things tricky. But I went for a few ballsy passes on the first lap, which paid off, and I hit the front on lap two. Once I was in the lead I settled down a bit and the second half of the race went really well. The third final was perfect. I got the holeshot and lead from start to finish to make it a perfect night. It really has been an amazing event, and the perfect way for me to bring the year to an end.’
Jonny Walker (2nd): ‘I’m overjoyed at how this championship is turning out. I learned a lot from my results in Genoa and came here trying to ride a lot smoother. I think by doing that it really helped my confidence with the track and in turn I was able to push a lot harder. To finish second overall tonight is incredible – hopefully with more time to prepare for the final round of the championship in Barcelona I finish on the podium and end this series on a high.’
Joakim Ljunggren (3rd): ‘I think third was the best result possible for me tonight. I was not my normal self early on in the night and was fighting off some arm pump issues during the first final. It held me back as I wasn’t able to ride relaxed on the bike. Once I settled in I began to find my rhythm again and my results improved. I had some great battles tonight with Jonny Walker and Ivan Cervantes and it was fun to be able to race like that with them. Jonny was very strong tonight and I know that I must up my game in order to finish second overall again in this championship. With my result in Poland it’s really tightened things up in the race for second overall and unfortunately I’m now two points behind Jonny in third. But we’ve got eight weeks to prepare for the final race in Barcelona so I’m very motivated to fight as hard as I can to end the season on a high.’
Joakim recovers from a sluggish start to end the night third
Xavier Galindo (4th): ‘Fourth overall tonight has been another strong result for me. Although it’s the same result as what I had in Italy, I feel tonight has been a better race for me. I felt very comfortable on the bike tonight and was able to push hard throughout each race. In race two I got a perfect start and was able to pass my teammate Mike Hartman and lead the race for three laps before dropping back to third. Leading the race was an incredible feeling and I’m confident I have the ability to finish on the podium at my home race in Barcelona.’
Ivan Cervantes (5th): ‘I feel I really stepped up my riding tonight compared to the first round in Italy. Up until the last SuperEnduro final I was on target for a podium. Joakim and myself were pushing hard but coming into the final corner of the third lap I touched his rear wheel and crashed. After that it sort of fell apart as I crashed again by just pushing too hard to come back through the pack. I can’t complain though, it’s been a good night for me and it gives me a lot of confidence entering the final round at my home town in Barcelona. I’m hopeful for a podium there’
Alex Salvini (6th): ‘It was a tough night out there. Again I felt my speed was good and I proved that with the fastest lap in practice but it’s during the race I seem to struggle. My starts were bad and it always left me with a lot of work trying to recover. With a clear lap I can run some of the fastest lap time but I’m finding it hard to do it in traffic. It’s still only my second time racing SuperEnduro so I’ve got more to learn but hopefully the final round in Barcelona will bring better luck.’
Poland was a great success
Images: FIM/ J. Edmunds