Triple Win For Blazusiak, Redondi Crowned Junior World Champion
KTM’s Taddy Blazusiak has delivered a flawless performance at the penultimate round of the FIM Maxxis SuperEnduro World Championship inside the Palau Sant Jordi stadium, Barcelona, Spain. Claiming a perfect three wins from three starts, the Polish rider secured the top step of the Prestige podium in style. Carding a 2-4 result in Spain, Italy’s Giacomo Redondi (Beta) was crowned the 2014 SuperEnduro Junior World Champion.
Unable to transfer his Super Pole result into a holeshot, KTM’s Jonny Walker (GB) crashed as the Prestige class rounded the first corner of Final #1. Grabbing the initial advantage, Spain’s Alfredo Gomez (Husqvarna) led as Blazusiak gave chase. Finding a way past the Spaniard, the KTM rider appeared to pull away until Gomez gave chase. With the home crowd on their feet, many hoped for a Spanish win. Controlling the race, Blazusiak led home the field to win Final #1. With Gomez second, Sherco’s David Knight (GB) placed third. Sweden’s Joakim Ljunggren (Husqvarna) took fourth while Walkerrecovered strongly to end his race in fifth.
With the start order reversed for Final #2, Blazusiak expertly avoided the chaos to emerge from the end of lap one as the race leader. With closest rivals Knight and Walker buried in traffic, the Polish rider quickly built up a comfortable advantage. Making no mistakes, he then secured his second win of the evening. Determined to make up for his misfortune in Final #1, Walker determinedly carved his way through the field. Battling his way from outside the top five, he chased Blazusiak home for second. Getting the better of Hungary’s Kornel Nemeth(Husqvarna) on the final lap, Knight completed the top three.
Recording his best start of the night, Walker led the first three laps of Final #3. But with Blazusiak in close pursuit – and determined to secure his first hat trick of wins this season – the Pole soon found a way around his young team-mate. With the lead now his, Blazusiak upped his pace and steadily pulled away from Walker to capture his third win of the night. Ending his event on a high, Walker finished second to claim the runner-up spot on the podium. Delivering a heroic result – considering his recent Appendix operation – Gomez’ third place result was enough to earn him the third and final step of the podium.
Bringing Giacomo Redondi’s recent winning streak to an end, Sweden’s Andreas Linusson (KTM) took a well-earned victory in Final #1. Staying out of trouble, the young Swede secured his second race win of the season. Behind Limusson, Redondi and Jamie McCanney (Husqvarna) battled for the runner-up result. Sustaining the pressure the Italian beat his rival by one-second to finish as runner-up. In Final #2 it was Linusson that bagged his second race win of the night. But despite the Swede winning by a comfortable margin, it was Redondi that stole the show. With the title hanging in the balance, the young Italian worked his way from eighth on lap one to end his race in fourth. The result was enough to crown the Beta rider as the 2014 FIM SuperEnduro Junior World Champion.
The 2014 FIM Maxxis SuperEnduro World Championship concludes with the sixth and final round of the series in Tours, France on February 22.
