07.04.2019
Round 5 - SuperEnduro World Championship - April 7, 2019
BILBAO, Spain - Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Cody Webb has won the dramatic final round of the 2019 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship in Bilbao, Spain. Teammate Taddy Blazusiak claimed third overall, just two points behind the runner-up.
On a tight and extremely technical track in the Bizkaia Arena, Bilbao, defending SuperEnduro Champion Cody Webb put in a superb performance to take the overall event win. Coming into the fifth and final round trailing the championship leader by 12 points, the American rider knew he would have to pull out all the stops in order to clinch the 2019 title.
Cody got his night off to the perfect start by posting the fastest time in the Superpole qualification lap, earning himself first gate pick and three valuable championship points in the process. With the first final restarted following a problem with the track, which caused the initial running to be red flagged, Cody tamed the tight, log-strewn course to claim his first win of the night.
In the reverse-grid second final, traffic was once again an issue. Nevertheless, Webb deftly made his way through the pack to take second place and with it a chance of fighting for the title in the third heat.
After the gate dropped for the final race of the night, Webb immediately made his way to the front of the field and began to stretch the gap over the second-placed competitor. Riding consistently and without mistakes, Cody crossed the line comfortably ahead of second-placed Blazusiak. Unfortunately, despite his dominant performance in the race and on the night, Cody’s points haul wasn’t enough to claim the 2019 championship title – placing just four points behind at the end of the five rounds.
Cody Webb: “Obviously I’m disappointed with the final championship result tonight, I felt I rode really good out there today and deserved the title. The night started off well with a good time in superpole and then in the restarted first final I took my time, rode smooth and took the win by a good margin. I am kicking myself now for the mistakes I made in the second final, I got caught up in traffic a few times, but still got second – I knew then I would have to really go for it in the last one. I got off the line well in the third final and set about catching Colton. After I got past him, I just stayed smooth and could see he was struggling. I’m happy because I did my best, won that third final and believe the championship should have been mine. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but I’ll learn from it, and come back even stronger next time.” Red Bull KTM Factory Racing return to action on May 10-12 for the opening round of the 2019 World Enduro Super Series, in Portugal.
Results — 2019 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship, Round 5 Prestige Class — Overall 1. Cody Webb (USA), KTM, 60 points 2. Colton Haaker (USA), Husqvarna, 52pts
3. Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 50pts 4. Pol Tarres (ESP), Husqvarna, 33pts
5. Kevin Gallas (DEU), Husqvarna, 30pts
Prestige Race 11. Cody Webb (USA), KTM, 7:14.362 2. Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 7:17.735 +3.373 3. Colton Haaker (USA), Husqvarna, 7:53.742 +39.380
4. Alfredo Gomez (ESP), Husqvarna, 7:58.861 +44.499
5. Pol Tarres (ESP), Husqvarna, 8:09.694 +55.332
Other KTM 7. William Hoare (GBR), KTM, 7:46.442 +1 lap
Prestige Race 2 1. Colton Haaker (USA), Husqvarna, 6:55.578
2. Cody Webb (USA), KTM, 6:59.889 +4.311 3. Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 7:11.593 +16.015 4. Alfredo Gomez (ESP), Husqvarna, 7:22.196 +26.618
5. Pol Tarres (ESP), Husqvarna, 7:40.625 +45.047
Other KTM 7. William Hoare (GBR), KTM, 6:57.120 +1 lap
Prestige Race 3 1. Cody Webb (USA), KTM, 7:10.740 2. Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 7:24.645 +13.905 3. Colton Haaker (USA), Husqvarna, 7:53.072 +42.332
4. Kevin Gallas (DEU), Husqvarna, 7:58.115 +47.375
5. Pol Tarres (ESP), Husqvarna, 7:58.402 +47.662
Other KTM 10. William Hoare (GBR), KTM, 7:58.325 +1 lap
Final Championship Standings 1. Colton Haaker (USA), Husqvarna, 263 points
2. Cody Webb (USA), KTM, 259pts 3. Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 234pts 4. Pol Tarres (ESP), Husqvarna, 155pts
5. Alfredo Gomez (ESP), Husqvarna, 145pts
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