Blazusiak's fourth straight Erzberg win

From KTM Racing

Red Bull KTM's extreme Endurist Taddy Blazusiak wrote himself into the Erzberg Rodeo history books on Sunday scoring his fourth consecutive Red Bull Hare Scramble victory in the world's toughest Enduro race on Austria's Iron Mountain.

The 27-year-old Polish rider, onboard his EXC 250 had earlier secured his second place in the traditional prologue. At the beginning of the almost 32km long course the title holder let several other riders take the advantage before he moved into the lead between checkpoints nine and 10 of the 20 checkpoints of the extreme course.

After he had mastered the almost impassable key 'Carl's Diner' passage and other difficult sections like the rocky 'Dynamite', considered by many experienced Endurists as almost impossible to negotiate, the way was clear for him to secure victory in a time of one hour, 45 minutes and 43 seconds.

But the race was not all plain sailing for the Polish rider. He got a good start and was in the lead at the first climb. After that he made a small mistake, hit a tree stump and slid back down the hill again. He approached the next check point on the wrong side and race officials made him come into it correctly and in the process he dropped back to about sixth place. Then he really had to go all out to get back in the race.

Blazusiak also benefitted from the fact that the race leader, Sherco rider Graham Jarvis was disqualified after missing a checkpoint.

"I just can't get my head around the idea that I've won here four times," Blazusiak said. "'Carls Diner' was physically tougher than anything I have ever tackled before. After I managed that, I was able to control the advantage I had and conserve my energy so I could get to the finish."

It was almost 10 minutes after Blazusiak's arrival at the summit before the German rider Andreas Lettenbichler came through the checkered flag in second place, registering a time of 1:56.26. Former World Trials Champion Dougie Lampkin (UK) finished the course in 2:02:26 to take third place.

Just 16 riders from a total of 500 starters were able to finish the course in the prescribed four-hour limit. Seven of the 15 finishers rode KTMs.

Results
1. Taddy Blazusiak, Poland, KTM
2. Andreas Lettenbichler, Germany, BMW
3. Dougue Lampkin, Britain, Beta
4. Paul Bolton, Britain, KTM
5. Ben Hemingway, Britain, KTM
6. Cory Graffunder, Canada, Husqvarna
7. Jade Gutzeir, South Africa, Yamaha
8. Kurt Caselli, USA, KTM
9. Gerhard Forster, Germany, BMW
10. Darryl Curtis, South Africa, KTM