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Blazusiak Tops the Podium in Finland

KTM’s Taddy Blazusiak steals the show with victory at round three of the 2015 Maxxis FIM SuperEnduro World Championship in Helsinki, Finland...

Continuing his unbeaten run of overall wins in the 2015 series, Blazusiak made a last lap pass in the final race of the night to claim the top step of the Prestige podium from Cody Webb of the Maxxis-sponsored RPM Racing Team. Ensuring a KTM 1-2-3 in Helsinki, Jonny Walker – boosted by a win in race two – took third overall.

It’s fantastic to come away with the overall win again,” said Blazusiak. “It was a tough night – the racing was seriously close. I made some mistakes and really had to work for it. Getting the win in the final race was awesome but then capping the night off with the top step of the podium was even better.” In the Junior class it was a memorable night for Sweden’s Andreas Linusson. Winning all three heats, the Swede also took control of the points lead.

Entering Finland, it was Blazusiak who controlled the championship lead. But with the GP of Germany proving anything but easy for the defending champion it was clear from the outset that he wasn’t going to have things his own way in Helsinki. 

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Despite losing use of his front brake, Webb laid down the fastest lap time to top the all-important SuperPole qualification. But getting boxed in off the start Webb was shuffled backwards as they emerged from the first corner of race one. Quickly putting himself out front, Blazusiak tried to breakaway while the Husqvarna pairing of Alfredo Gomez and Danny Mccanney completed the top three. Finding a way past the Husqvarna duo, Webb closed onto Blazusiak’s rear wheel and with one lap to go forced his way to the front. Staying clean for the final lap, he secured his debut SuperEnduro win. Blazusiak followed him home for second while David Knight clawed his way back from a bad start to take third.

Having missed out on making SuperPole, Walker benefited on the reversed starting order for race two. Grabbing the holeshot he immediately put himself at the front of the field as Blazusiak, Webb and company battled their way through traffic. With a clear track to play on, Walker opened up a comfortable lead and held on to secure his second victory of the season. Fairing best in the traffic, Knight crossed the finish line in second while Blazusiak took third.

For the third and final race of the night it was Knight who rounded the first corner in the lead. Entering the Motorex rock corner Blazusiak dived up the inside of Knight to take the lead. Webb was quick to follow and after finding a way past McCanney in second, began to size Blazusiak up for a pass. Overtaking him in the tricking matrix section, Webb took the lead but a hard move by Blazusiak on the final rock garden saw the Pole retake the lead and the win to secure the overall.

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In the Junior class the night belonged to Linusson. With confidence brewing following his overall victory at round two in Germany, the young KTM rider had only thoughts of winning again on his mind. Easily sweeping all three races, Linusson topped the podium and also took over the point’s lead. Behind Linusson, USA’s Ty Tremaine (of the Maxxis-sponsored RPM Racing Team) was unable to offer an answer for the Swede and had to be content with the runner-up result.  Returning to the podium once more, Germany’s Manuel Lettenbichler is steadily becoming a forced to be reckoned with. Placing third in the first two races, a fourth place result by the German in the final race saw him end his night third overall.

The Maxxis FIM SuperEnduro World Championship continues with round four in Guadalajara, Mexico on February 21.

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