BLAZUSIAK RETURNS TO AMA ENDUROCROSS SERIES WITH THIRD OVERALL AT SEASON OPENER

PRESCOTT VALLEY,Ariz. – On Saturday night, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Taddy Blazusiak made his return to U.S. racing for the first time since 2014 as he battled it out with the best in the nation for the opening round of the 2019 AMA EnduroCross Series. Blazusiak, a five-time AMA EnduroCross Champion, raced his way to third overall with 4-6-2 finishes inside the packed Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley, Arizona.

His orange teammate, FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Cody Webb, will not compete in the 2019 series as he continues to undergo rehabilitation for a knee injury. The 2017 AMA EnduroCross Champion has plans to return to racing in 2020.

Blazusiak started off the day strong by capturing the fastest time in the afternoon’s Hot Lap, which placed him in a great starting position for the first of three motos. In the first race, Blazusiak powered his KTM 350 EXC-F to a second-place start and held a good position heading into the first turn. But, he ended up going down as he attempted a pass for the lead in the first rock garden, which dropped him back to 14th on the opening lap. He immediately charged through the pack to pick off several riders per lap, making his way up to fourth in the 11-lap race.

For the second moto, riders were inverted from the race one results to determine their start positions. With that, Blazusiak was placed on the second row. He got boxed in off the start and got caught behind a first-turn pileup, where two riders fell onto his bike and ended up breaking his rear-brake plunger. As a result, Blazusiak was forced to complete the 12-lap race without the use of his rear brakes. Despite the setback, he was able to fight his way from almost last all the way up to a sixth-place finish after also bouncing back from a big crash in the middle of the race.

The final moto’s start positions were based on the race two results, giving Blazusiak a front-row start position. He capitalized on the favorable start position by putting himself out front right away with the holeshot. With Colton Haaker pressuring him from behind, he continued to lead for the first 10 laps before going into a head-to-head battle with two laps to go. The two riders came into the final rock garden side-by-side and they tangled together but it was Haaker who was able to get going first, leaving Blazusiak to settle for second. With 4-6-2 scores, Blazusiak was able to secure third overall for the day.

Blazusiak: “The day started off well with winning the Hot Lap. I’ve had very limited time on the new KTM 350 EXC-F because I am still racing the WESS on a 2-Stroke but I was very comfortable on the bike, there were only a few changes we made during the day to make the bike better. I’m happy to walk away from Round 1 on the podium and hopefully the bad luck is all behind and we can have some time to test on the bike and come back stronger for the next two rounds.”

FMF/RPM/KTM Racing Team Maxxis rider Trystan Hart finished fifth overall in the highly-competitive Super EnduroCross class with 7-2-5 finishes for the night.

In the Women’s class, KTM riders swept the top two steps of the podium on Saturday with KTM-supported rider Shelby Turner taking the win and FMF/RPM/KTM Racing Team Maxxis rider Maria Forsberg finishing a close second.

Additionally, KTM-support rider Destry Abbott captured the Vet 35+ win in his home state of Arizona. 

Super EnduroCross Results

1. Colton Haaker, 2-1-1, Husqvarna

2. Cory Graffunder, 1-5-3, Yamaha

3. Taddy Blazusiak, 4-6-2, KTM

OTHER KTM

5. Trystan Hart, 7-2-5, KTM

10. Nick Thompson, 11-8-10, KTM

14. Spenser Wilton, 16-13-14, KTM