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FONTE: TRAILBIKEMAG.COMThe Echo Arena in Liverpool’s Albert Docks was the host for the opening round of the 2013/2014 SuperEnduro World Championship. The riders arrived one day before the event and were greeted by a very technical and tight track and after much discussion and some practice sessions it was decided that alterations would be made to some of the many difficult obstacles. The organisers had done a great job of providing just about everything, however, and the track was made up of logs, rocks, tyres and a water splash. One thing was for sure – this was going to be a tough one!
The day started with practice and qualifying sessions for the four classes: Open, Junior, Prestige and Women. This provided the riders with a good warm-up but was unfortunately not without incident as Sherco’s Hannah Styles fell and injured her ankle – a sad early exit for Hannah, who was excited to be competing in her first SuperEnduro. Junior frontrunner, Giacomo Redondi took a whack to his hand and many others struggled to maintain a rhythm as they learned the tricky track.
At lunchtime the Echo Arena was open to the public, the fans had a chance to meet and greet their racing heroes at an autograph session and the atmosphere immediately came alive. The riders were presented in the stadium infront of the crowd and one minute’s silence was held in honour of offroad star, Kurt Caselli.
The top riders from the Prestige class then took to the track for the newly introduced ‘Superpole’ session. The six fastest riders from the qualifying session started one after the other and the battle to choose the best spot on the starting gate was a tense one. Cumbria’s Jonny Walker set a blistering lap only to beaten at the last moment by a hard charging Taddy Blazusiak. This worked everyone up into a frenzy before the main races and the crowd were then treated to the first of three incredible Freestyle displays from Jamie Squibb and his ‘team’.
Prestige – Race 1:
By the time the first Prestige race started the atmosphere was fantastic and the riders on the start gate looked tense. America’s Cody Webb took the holeshot and was immediately joined up front by Taddy Blazusiak but it wasn’t going to be easy for the Pole and David Knight quickly caught him. They stayed close for a couple of laps until Webb closed down Knight, allowing Blazusiak to make a gap on his rivals. After a tight battle Webb eventually made a mistake, and dropped to fourth as Spain’s Dani Gibert slotted into the final podium slot.
1. Tadeusz Blazusiak (KTM)
2. David Knight (Sherco)
3. Dani Gibert (Husaberg)
Prestige – Race 2:
The second Prestige race of the evening was run under ‘revere grid’ rules meaning that the riders on the second row move to the front row and vice versa. This allowed riders such as Mathias Bellino and Ivan Cervantes, who struggled in qualifying, to have a chance at a better race start. The surprise frontrunner was American KTM rider, Kevin Rookstool followed by fellow countrymen Ricky Dietrich and Kyle Redmond. But a determined pack were hunting them down and it wasn’t long before Jonny Walker and Taddy Blazusiak made inroads. But it was an unlucky race for the Brits as Walker, Sagar, and Knight all crashed and lost time. The Spanish duo of Alfredo Gomez and Dani Gibert took full advantage of the other’s mistakes and completed the podium places behind Blazusiak.
1. Tadeusz Blazusiak (KTM)
2. Dani Gibert (Husaberg)
3. Alfredo Gomez (Husqvarna)
Prestige – Race 3:
The crowd clicked up another gear for the final race, hoping for a home win for one of the many quick Brits and the excitement was palpable as everyone took to the start gate. But it was Polish superstar Taddy Blazusiak who impressively lead from start to finish. But behind him there was a very close fight for the final podium spots between Walker, Knight, Ljunggren, McCanney, Gomez and Webb! As the race progressed there were many changes of position and despite Blazusiak’s dominance it remained an exciting race. In the end, David Knight stayed strong for another podium after an intense battle with KTM’s Jonny Walker.
1. Tadeusz Blazusiak (KTM)
2. David Knight (Sherco)
3. Jonny Walker (KTM)
The overall top three was Blazusiak, Knight, and SuperEnduro’s ‘next big thing’, Dani Gibert.
Blazusiak (Overall 1st, three wins): “I’m a racer and I want to do my best always but for sure it’s never easy. But I felt good in all practices and I took a lot of risks, so winning all three is a really steady start for me ahead of my home race in Poland”
Knight (Overall 2nd, 2x 2nd place): “I really like my new bike and I felt good but it’s hard work out there! I wanted a podium and the last race was good for me as I was battling up front with Jonny and Taddy.”
Gibert (Overall 3rd, 2nd & 3rd place): “I didn’t do much training before this race as I did not expect to ride here but this race was good for me because it’s very technical and has a trials style, which I like so I’m happy.”
Junior – Race 1:
The first race for the Under23 class was exciting from the off as there were three Brits on the front row with McCanney, Freeman and Humphreys. But bad luck struck Devon’s Steve Holcombe and Yorkshire’s Rob Johnson as they were involved in a collision early on the first lap and quick youngster, Brad Freeman was also held up a mistake early in the race. Jamie McCanney looked strong onboard his new Husqvarna but he was unable to pass new Swedish SuperEnduro rider, Andreas Linusson. Linusson’s countryman, Magnus Thor completed the podium.
1. Andreas Linusson (KTM)
2. Jamie McCanney (Husqvarna)
3. Magnus Thor (KTM)
Junior – Race 2:
The ‘reverse grid’ race for the Junior race resulted in an impressive holeshot from MPS Husqvarna’s Jack Rowland but the youngster from Doncaster suffered a couple of unfortunate crashes and his rivals shot past him. Germany’s Tim Apolle made a good start but was passed by a charging Jamie McCanney. Italian KTM rider, Giacomo Redondi made good progress and stayed close to McCanney but in the end he had to settle for 2nd. Last year’s Junior frontrunner, Pawel Szymkowski completed the top three.
1. Jamie McCanney (Husqvarna)
2. Giacomo Redondi (KTM)
2. Pawel Szymkowski (KTM)
The overall top three were McCanney, Linusson and Redondi.
Jamie McCanney (Overall winner, 2nd & 1st place): “I’m really happy, it’s a good start to the championship and great to do it in front of all the fans!”
Women:
The 2013/14 season sees the introduction of a full-time women’s class and in the UK was well represented by a number of top British female riders. Quick World Enduro regular, Jane Daniels took the holeshot but made a mistake on the first obstacle and was quickly demoted by Spanish wonderwoman, Laia Sanz. But Sanz made a costly error and dropped the bike – allowing UK trials star, Emma Bristow to overtake. The crowd went wild as she took the lead but Emma promptly crashed on the difficult log section and Laia retook the lead. But as Emma and Jane began an impressive fight back for the podium spots the fans were behind them all the way and cheering louder than ever.
1. Laia Sanz (Honda)
2. Emma Bristow (Sherco)
3. Jane Daniels (Husqvarna)
Round 2 of the SuperEnduro World Championship will take place in Lodz, Poland in mid-December.
Photos: Rick Wells.
