Despite racing with torn ligaments in his right shoulder following a serious practice crash just eight days before the opening round of the 2013 Superenduro World Championship in Lodz, Poland, KTM/Red Bull rider Taddy Blazusiak made a hugely successful start to the defence of his Superenduro title – securing a hard fought win in front of his home fans.
Uncertain if he would be able to race due to his injuries, Blazusiak incredibly managed to not only complete a full night’s racing but ended it as the overall event winner having claimed two wins and a runner-up result.
Getting his night off to an unexpectedly good start, Taddy topped the qualifying heat race ahead of David Knight and Joakim Ljunggren. Importantly giving him first pick of the gate for two of the three finals, Taddy made the most of his inside starting position and claimed the holeshot in the first and third finals. Going on to lead each and every lap of both races Taddy claimed two important wins. In the night’s second final, which featured a reversed start order, Blazusiak got caught up in traffic during the opening lap, which allowed eventual race winner Jonny Walker to open up a sizeable lead. Settling for third behind Walker and Knight, Taddy was able to capitalise on a mistake by Knight during the closing stages of the race and claimed the runner-up position to go 1-2-1 for the night and take home a six-point lead at the head of the 2013 Superenduro World Championship.
Taddy Blazusiak: “The night before the race I seriously didn’t think I was going to be able to compete because of the torn ligaments in my shoulder. I had to have so much strapping on my shoulder, arm, even around my stomach, that I couldn’t lift it to clean my teeth before the race, but without it my collarbone would have been sticking up and my shoulder dropped. Adrenaline, added to the strapping, well, it’s amazing what you can do – I still can’t believe I managed to win the race. I was struggling during practice so we added some more strapping and I just decided to go for it in the qualifying race. Despite everything the night’s been amazing. The crash last Friday when I damaged my shoulder was probably the biggest I’ve ever had, and put my racing here in so much doubt. I don’t think I’ve ever been as focused on getting good starts as I was here. I knew that if I could get out front early on I would make things so much easier for myself, and that’s pretty much what I did in two of the finals. The second race, with the reverse start, was tough. I was in third, and happy to finish third, when Knight had a problem and I moved up one position. I certainly couldn’t have asked for more. The support I got from the fans was every bit as amazing as it was last year, and I’m just so pleased that I was able to put on a good show for them as well as taking the lead in the Superenduro championship. I really have to say a huge thanks to everyone in my team, and especially my physio – I couldn’t have raced without him.”
2013 Superenduro championship standings
1. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM) 57pts
2. Jonny Walker (KTM) 51pts
3. David Knight (Honda) 41pts
4. Alfredo Gomez (Husaberg) 31pts
5. Kornel Nemeth (KTM) 29pts…
