FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Cody Webb has battled to second overall at round three of the 2019 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship held in Madrid, Spain. Taddy Blazusiak showed great pace on the night but unfortunately suffered a couple of falls to ultimately finish ninth.
On a tight and technical track at the Caja Magica stadium in Madrid, Cody Webb enjoyed a strong start to his evening by posting the second fastest time in the SuperPole qualification lap. Aiming to add to his overall win from the previous round in Germany, the American rider made a solid start to race one. Following a small mistake that cost him some time, Webb regrouped and worked his way through the field of riders. At the end of the gruelling 10-lap race he crossed the line in third.
In the reversed start order race two, Cody got away cleanly and immediately began to chase down the riders ahead. Steadily working his way into the lead at the end of lap four, he remained unchallenged for the reminder of the race to secure a convincing win.
With another good start in the third and final heat, Webb moved into second place early on. Riding his way up onto the wheel tracks of race leader Colton Haaker, he began to set himself up for an overtake. Unfortunately, a technical issue on lap four forced Webb to stop and make trackside repairs to resolve his issue. Despite his best efforts to rejoin the race, he wasn’t classified as a finisher. Cody ended his night as the overall runner-up.
Cody Webb:“It was a tough night for me tonight, but I’m happy to take second overall. The first race went well, I struggled to get into a good rhythm but I was pleased with third and knew what I had to do to improve for race two. I got away well in the second race and was able to control the pace from the front and take a clean win. I was probably riding my best of the whole evening in race three. Colton was in front but I was confident I could match his speed and fight for the win. Unfortunately, after a reasonably hard landing, I damaged the bike. I tried my best to fix it in time but it wasn’t quite enough. It’s upsetting but this is SuperEnduro and anything can happen. I’m looking forward to the next race and will try to win back the overall lead.”
For Taddy Blazusiak, the third stop of the SuperEnduro series was challenging due to a series of crashes that ended with an injury to his knee. Entering the Madrid event second in the championship chase, the KTM rider was eager to regain control of the points lead. Third fastest in the SuperPole showed the Polish rider was on form and hungry for success.
Putting in a clean ride in the opening race, Blazusiak raced hard for a confidence-boosting second place. Knowing the reversed start order for race two would play a factor on the tight course, Blazusiak was unable to avoid trouble on lap one. Remounting last he battled hard to climb his way up to fourth. However, in a fight to the finish line for second the KTM rider crashed heavily and was unable to finish the race. Determined to make amends, he looked to take the holeshot in race three. But on catching his foot in a hole exiting the rock section, he injured his left knee in the process. Needing some time to assess the situation he valiantly rejoined the race and scored valuable championship points with 12th, ending his night ninth overall.
Taddy Blazusiak:“Unfortunately tonight turned out to be a rough night and so it’s going to take a little bit of time to assess what’s happened. I had a big crash in race two, but then a very strange and unlucky incident in race three, which resulted in an injury to my left knee. After placing second in race one, things unravelled quickly in race two. Almost last in the reversed start, I then crashed into a bike pile up I couldn’t see behind a jump. I remounted last and did well to work my way to fourth. However, in a three-way battle to the finish line for second, I collided with Colton Haaker and went down hard. I was banged and bruised pretty good, but lucky to walk away from it relatively unscathed and able to focus on the final moto. In race three I got a great start but then stalled in the rocks and accidentally put my left foot down into a hole. As I fell over, with the bike on top of me, my foot became trapped in the hole and twisted my knee. As yet I don’t know how serious things are until I see my doctor to get it checked out but I will do my best to be ready for round four in Budapest.”
