Five Minutes with Taddy Blazusiak

Taddy Blazusiak SuperEnduro KTM 2013We catch up with the KTM rider after he wrapped up his fourth consecutive indoor world title.

Congratulations on winning the 2013 SuperEnduro World Championship, Taddy!
Thanks. It feels awesome to have won the title and now that makes it four a row. I couldn’t ask for better.

Leading into the final round of the series with a healthy points lead, did you have a set game plan for the race?
Coming into this one with a 29-point lead, I knew what I needed to do to win the title. I got two great starts in the first and third final, which made things much easier for me. My starts have been my biggest asset this season. Getting a good start is the most important part of the race. Those first few metres mean everything.

After winning the first final, were you nervous about starting Final #2 from the second row of the grid knowing the title was up for grabs?
I knew that I was going to get a bad start in the second final because I had a really bad gate pick. So I decided that I wouldn’t risk crashing in the first corner by trying to make up positions. Instead, I started last and carefully worked my way through the pack – one rider at a time. And it turned out to be a great race. I managed to come all the way from last to second. Unfortunately, I ran out of laps to fight for the win but second place was enough to wrap up the championship. In the end, doing that was more important than risking it for the race win.

With the title secured, you looked on course for the win in Final #3 but a crash set you back. What happened?
I got an awesome jump off the gate and led almost straight away. For the first few laps I pushed hard but then I just made a little mistake in the rocks. I caught one of them wrong and it was enough to put me on the ground. When I got going, both David Knight and Jonny Walker had passed me. I tried to catch them back up but the gap was too much. I was happy to settle for third and still take the overall win.

For the final round of the series, Schaefer Tracks, who build the US EnduroCross tracks, built the course. What was it like to ride?
The track was amazing – so much fun to ride. I think the biggest thing about it was the dirt. It was unreal. The grip was incredible and with no stones you could really attack the corners. I don’t ever remember riding on dirt that grippy in EnduroCross. There were plenty of jumps too and with multiple line sections to overtake on. In Spain, we had only one fast line in the rock garden to choose from, whereas in France there were two. It’s important to separate those sections. It makes people use the entire track instead of just the middle.

Dealing with some serious injuries and equally serious competition probably makes this championship all the more rewarding to win?
Definitely. This has been one incredibly tough season so to come out of it as champion is crazy. Crashing before round one in Poland just didn’t help at all. I literally went there not knowing if I could ride. But thankfully I’ve got an awesome physio and he taped my shoulder into place just so I could get on my bike. I didn’t think I would win but once the race started adrenaline kicked in and I somehow got it done. I fought hard just to stay in this championship so to end it as world champion, even after my injuries and racing against guys like Knight and Walker, is so rewarding.

With the start of the US EnduroCross series and also X Games on the horizon, what’s next for Taddy Blazusiak?
I’m going to take a week off and celebrate with friends – I think I’ve earned a beer. Then it’s back to work Monday and the focus is all about getting ready for EnduroCross and X Games.

With EnduroCross, X Games and now the SuperEnduro series extending to seven rounds for 2014, are things looking up for the sport?
Yeah, it’s amazing to see it going global like this. I’m really happy to see SuperEnduro growing in Europe. Knowing where it’s at in the US, I can see how popular it’s going to get here – I’m pretty sure it’s going to take off big time. Now with the combination of SuperEnduro, EnduroCross and also X Games, EnduroCross is about to explode in popularity. It’s an awesome time to be part of it.