At the opening round of a new, extended X-Games program, KTM’s Taddy Blazusiak won the gold medal at the X-Games in Foz Do Iguacu, Brazil – underlining his position as the best EnduroCross rider in the world.
On a track three times bigger than the usual competition indoor circuit, Taddy had a hard battle, but the Polish factory rider continues to be the dominant force on the EnduroCross circuit.
At the X-Games in Brazil he was back to his winning ways, but not without a very hard challenge from last year’s silver medialist, American Cody Webb. Blazusiak took an early lead after making the break from David Knight, who eventually finished third but it was Webb who pushed him throughout the race.
It was a hard night’s work for the usually dominant Blazusiak – qualifying in 17th and was fifth in the first run of heat one to secure his place in the finals. Webb fared better in his round one heat but he crashed in the final laps and Blazusiak went on to win by nearly 10 seconds and 20 second ahead of the third placed David Knight.
After the race, Blazusiak admitted that it had been a very hard race, saying: “I don’t know how it looks on TV but I have never ridden something as hard as this track. It’s so slick … I’m super stoked on first place. I gave it all I had and I’m so pumped.”
KTM’s Mike Brown, the defending 2012 X Games Los Angeles gold medalist, finished in sixth, behind fellow Americans Colton Haaker and Taylor Robert.
Results Men’s EnduroCross final X-Games Brazil
1. Taddy Blazusiak (PL), KTM, 12:45.160 min
2. Cody Webb (USA), Beta, 12:54.633
3. David Knight (UK), Honda, 13:04.609
4. Colton Haaker (USA), Kawasaki, 13:19.001
5. Taylor Robert (USA), Kawasaki, 13:23.405
