With the title already clinched, Taddy put an exclamation point on a dominant Indor Enduro World Cup season with yet another win. | Photo: Jonty Edmunds
Barcelona proved to be yet another venue for KTM’s Taddy Blazusiak to thrill the crowds and mount the winner’s podium to complete a clean sweep of all four of the events that made up the 2010 Indoor Enduro World Cup.
With the title already in his pocket after the third event at Vigo, Spain, Taddy, riding for the KTM Enduro Factory Team, stayed motivated and undefeated on Sunday in the Palau Sant Jordi indoor arena in Barcelona, thrilling the large crowd with his skill and agility over what proved to be a challenging set of obstacles.
At the end of the four World Cup events, he finished with 174 points, a significant lead over the 2009 champion and fellow KTM factory rider Ivan Cervantes of Spain with 115 points. Swedish rider Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg) was overall third with 95 points.
But on the night, Taddy had some tough competition from inside the KTM factory team from both local favourite Cervantes and David Knight, who returns to KTM and only raced in the final round. After a bad start in the opening final, Taddy fought back through the field to eventually finish second. He then went out in the second final to take the holeshot and lead the pack right up to the chequered flag, a clear 12 seconds ahead of Cervantes. Although Cervantes prevailed in the third final, the collective result was enough for Taddy to once again mount the top step of the podium.
“If you don’t give 100 percent when you are racing indoor Enduro that’s when you can get hurt, so although I’d already won the title I knew that I needed to push as hard as I could and stay 100 per cent focused on my racing. Generally it was a great night for me and it was great to see a full stadium….. It’s been a great and almost perfe ct championship for me,” Taddy commented after the race.
David Knight made a successful return to the Farioli KTM team finishing as overall runner-up at the final round of the ’10 Indoor Enduro World Cup. | Photo: Jonty Edmunds
David Knight: “Finishing the night on the podium, and having won the first final, has been a great way to start the new season. It’s just great to be back racing again. I knew that I wasn’t perfectly prepared for the event as I’d been testing my World Enduro Championship bike all week before the event and basically put my four-stroke suspension in my 300 and made the best of what I had. Generally the bike was great but there were a few places where I was finding things tough. I had two options in the first final once I got into the lead – take things at a speed I was comfortable with or go as hard as I could and risk crashing. I took my time a bit and it worked well as I won. I got a bit tangled up with a few other riders off the start in the second race but finished third, which was ok. And then I got third again in the last final. I can’t really complain about th e way things have gone. I really enjoyed the event and to finish on the podium having only spent about an hour on my two-stroke in the last few weeks is pretty good. Both Taddy and Ivan rode well, as I knew they would, so to be on the podium with them is great.”
The Indoor Enduro World Cup is a unique opportunity to bring the thrills and skills of the sport to an urban venue and to allow the fans to experience it close up. The competition continues to grow in popularity and was this season increased from three to four rounds.
Final Standings 2010 Indoor Enduro World Cup
1. Taddy Blazusiak, Poland, KTM, 174 points
2. Ivan Cervantes, Spain, KTM, 115
3. Joakim Ljunggren, Sweden, Husaberg, 95
4. Graham Jarvis, UK, Sherco, 70
5. Daniel Gibert, Spain, Yamaha 63
