Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team riders Colton Haaker and Mario Roman rounded out their participation in the first round of the 2015/2016 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship in Lodz, Poland with fourth and ninth place overall results.
The highlight of the night for the Husqvarna team was Haaker’s winning ride in the night’s second final. Finishing fifth in the opening final, Colton managed to work his way to the front of the race quicker than any of the other following the reversed order start. With a clear track ahead of him he held his position at the front of the race to claim the win.
Frustratingly, the third and closing final started in the worst possible way for the US racer. Getting bumped while exiting the first turn at speed Colton hit the ground, damaging his gear shifter in the process. Stuck in fourth gear he battled on to place ninth, rounding out his night in a strong fourth place overall.
For Mario Roman the Polish SuperEnduro opener marked the young Spaniard’s return to competition following knee surgery earlier in the year. Placing ninth, eighth and 11th in each of the three finals, Mario ended his night in ninth overall.
Round 2 of the FIM SuperEnduro World Championship takes place in Germany, on January 2.
Colton Haaker: “It was an eventful night. My bike was excellent and I really felt like I could ride to my potential. The track in Poland was good and we had some interesting races. It’s great for the sport that we have five or six different riders going for the win. I got a mediocre first race, a win in the second race and had a big crash in the last race. If you’re out front from the start it makes a big difference and that’s what happened to me in the second race, which I won. In the final race Taddy got tangled up with someone and went straight on and I was just there. I went over the side of the bike and lost it. The gear level broke so I was left in fourth gear. I’m looking forward to the next round, hopefully with some better luck.”
Mario Roman: “It was my first race with the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team and I’m glad I kept improving during the night. It’s really hard to come back to competitive action after six months off. We worked hard during the day and came up with a good bike set-up. Right now I feel I can compete with the best of the guys for a certain amount of laps, but I still need to find my rhythm for the full moto to get better results. I’m happy I improved during the day and managed to get a ninth place overall. We’ll get back stronger in the next round of the championship.”
Results – FIM SuperEnduro World Championship, Round 1, Poland
Overall Classification
1. Cody Webb (KTM) 53pts; 2. Jonny Walker (KTM) 52pts; 3. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM) 39pts; 4. Colton Haaker (Husqvarna) 38pts; 5. Taylor Robert (KTM) 38pts… 9. Mario Roman (Husqvarna) 19pts
1st Final
1. Cody Webb (KTM) 8 laps, 06:56.141; 2. Jonny Walker (KTM) 06:59.679; 3. Taylor Robert (KTM) 07:02.951; 4. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM) 07:07.319; 5. Colton Haaker (Husqvarna) 07:10.718… 8. Mario Roman (Husqvarna) 07:54.724
2nd Final
1. Colton Haaker (Husqvarna) 8 laps, 06:56.231; 2. Jonny Walker (KTM) 06:59.392; 3. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM) 07:08.002; 4. Andreas Linusson (KTM) 07:29.611; 5. Alfredo Gomez (KTM) 07:30.255… 10. Mario Roman (Husqvarna) 07:52.085
3rd Final
1. Cody Webb (KTM) 9 laps, 07:51.123; 2. Jonny Walker (KTM) 07:58.385; 3. Taylor Robert (KTM) 08:01.783; 4. Alfredo Gomez (KTM) 08:15.277; 5. Ty Tremaine (KTM) 08:19.255… 9. Colton Haaker (Husqvarna) 08:34.518… 11. Mario Roman (Husqvarna) 08:00.210