Webb takes Round 2 win and championship lead in Reisa
Haaker & Blazusiak complete podium
Cody Webb (FMF KTM Factory Racing) took out the round win in Germany, at the second round of the SuperEnduro Championship for 2018, and in doing so moved to the top of the provisional standings, with Colton Haaker and Taddy Blazusiak taking second and third respectively for the round.
After a strong start to his championship campaign in Poland, where he claimed a runner-up result to Blazusiak, Cody Webb quickly got down to business in Germany. Stamping his authority on the Akrapovic SuperPole with the fastest lap time, he began his night in determined fashion.
Starting race one third, the American quickly worked his way around leaders Colton Haaker and Jonny Walker to claim the opening win of the night. With the start order reversed for race two always proving decisive, Webb cut his way through the field to place a hard-earned third. Going on to win the third and final race of the night, Cody ended round two on the top step of the podium and with it the took over the championship’s points lead.
Cody Webb
“It’s great to end the night with both the overall win and the championship points lead. I almost had it in Poland so to get it done here in Germany is brilliant. Overall, it was a pretty good night. I won SuperPole and that gave me an added boost of confidence. Like Poland I won the first and final race, only this time I had a much-improved result in race two. I feel like I still have a bit more work to do there, which is something I can build on towards round three in Bilbao, Spain.”
Bouncing back from a frustrating performance at the opening round of the 2018 SuperEnduro World Championship, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Colton Haaker has made a welcome return to the SuperEnduro podium with a strong runner-up result at round two of the series in Riesa, Germany.
Feeling more in tune with his racing, and mostly staying out of trouble during the night’s three races, Haaker consistently placed at the sharp end of the field. Grabbing the holeshot in race one, he immediately put on a charge. But shortly afterwards a small crash cost him the lead and dropped him back down the field. Regrouping, he worked his way back to finish a well-deserved second.
Putting in his best showing on the night, Haaker claimed the win in race two to set up a potential overall win heading into the third and final race of the night. Tangling with another rider off the start, Haaker damaged his clutch lever. Salvaging seventh, he missed out on his chance of victory but still claimed second overall.
Colton Haaker
“It feels good to be back on the podium. Things just didn’t go my way in Poland but tonight it was a lot better. I think it’s taken me a little longer than I expected to recover from my elbow injury but we’re 85 per cent there now. I’ve got a few more weeks to ride and train before round three so hopefully there I can get back on to the top step of the podium again.”
After securing the overall victory at round one in Poland, in Germany Taddy Blazusiak was hungry to keep his winning momentum going. Despite a poor start in race one he regrouped well to fight his way back up to fourth.
In race two, Blazusiak hit the front from the off and initially looked to have claimed a start-to-finish win. But in making the mistake of jumping the concrete pipe obstacle on the first lap, something that all riders were told not to do, he was later docked 10 seconds, dropping to sixth.
Putting that disappointment behind him, Blazusiak put on a charge in race three to finish second to Webb and with it end his night third overall.
Taddy Blazusiak
“It’s been a good night, unfortunately not quite as good as Poland but I’ll take third overall. I was riding good in each race. I felt strong, my fitness was stronger than Poland and I could push right through. I made a silly mistake by jumping the concrete pipe off the start in the second race and was docked 10 seconds as a result. I hold my hands up, I completely forgot that we had to roll it off the start and having got the holeshot I got a little carried away. It wasn’t until I was in the air I realised my error. But we’ll deal with it and move on to round three.”
Continuing to impress in his rookie SuperEnduro season, Billy Bolt again delivered a strong performance, just missing out on a podium result with fourth overall in Germany. Improving with each race, Bolt placed fifth, fourth and finally third to place a creditable fourth.
Billy Bolt
“It’s been another great night for me. I felt strong all evening and didn’t make too many mistakes. I’m happy with how I’m settling into SuperEnduro as it’s really only my second time racing indoors like this. We almost had third overall in the bag, in fact I did stand on the podium and spray the champagne but when the officials adjusted the penalty awarded to Taddy Blazusiak in race two that ultimately dropped me back to fourth.”
For Jonny Walker, round two of the 2018 SuperEnduro World Championship ended with a much-improved performance over round one in Poland. Placing a strong third in race one, his best finish of the night, Walker went on to place seventh and fourth for fifth overall.
Jonny Walker
“Tonight was much improved over Poland. I felt like I was riding a lot better. Race one was my best result of the night with third, but race two was my best performance. I got tangled up on the start, was last to get going and really had to work hard to get back up there. Of course, I want to finish on the podium and to be fighting for the overall win, but like I said I feel like I rode well.”
For Alfredo Gomez, it was a night of mixed fortunes. The highlight came with a second-place result in race two, but seventh in race one ultimately hampered his overall result with the Spaniard ending his night in sixth position overall.
Alfredo Gomez
“Things are coming good but it’s still early for me as it’s only my second race back with Husqvarna. The competition is very tight and any mistakes are costly. I’m very happy with second in race two, I just needed a little bit more luck in the other two races. I’ve two home rounds in Spain coming up so I’m looking forward to that now.”
Putting in a strong performance on home soil, Manuel Lettenbichler finished seventh overall.
The FIM SuperEnduro World Championship continues with round three in Malaga, Spain on February 17th.
2018 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship – Round 2 – Results
Prestige Class Overall
- Cody Webb (USA), KTM, 58 pts (1-3-1)
- Colton Haaker (USA), Husqvarna, 45 pts (2-1-7)
- Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 43 pts (4-6-2)
- Billy Bolt (GBR), Husqvarna, 39 pts (5-4-3)
- Jonny Walker (GBR), KTM, 37 pts (3-7-4)
Prestige Race 1
- Cody Webb (USA), KTM, 7:27.268
- Colton Haaker (USA), Husqvarna, 7:44.877 +17.609
- Jonny Walker (GBR), KTM, 7:48.184 +20.916
- Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 7:54.616 +27.348
- Billy Bolt (GBR), Husqvarna, 7:59.974 +32.706
Prestige Race 2
- Colton Haaker (USA), Husqvarna, 6:57.242
- Alfredo Gomez (ESP), Husqvarna, 7:00.773 +3.531
- Cody Webb (USA), KTM, 7:01.628 +4.386
- Billy Bolt (GBR), Husqvarna, 7:06.339 +9.097
- Manuel Lettenbichler (DEU), KTM, 7:13.357 +16.115
- Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 7:14.773 +17.531
- Jonny Walker (GBR), KTM, 7.212.82 +24.040
Prestige Race 3
- Cody Webb (USA), KTM, 7:29.752
- Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 7:36.774 +7.022
- Billy Bolt (GBR), Husqvarna, 7:44.550 +14.798
- Jonny Walker (GBR), KTM, 7:53.747 +23.995
- Alfredo Gomez (ESP), Husqvarna, 7:53.753 +24.001
