Red Bull KTM Factory rider Taddy Blazusiak finished second n Rd. 4 of the AMA GEICO EnduroCross Series to close down the gap to leader and Factory FMF/KTM rider Mike Brown to just three points. Brown finished in fourth place and the two riders have two more rounds to go to settle the leadership dispute.
Brown finished third in his opening heat to qualify for the main but Blazusiak crashed early on in the second heat. He had to fight back from dead last to finish one position shy of an automatic qualification to the main and had to contest the LCQ. the Polis rider easily settled the LCQ by taking the holeshot and leading every lap.
This year, once all riders are qualified into the main event they have to do one hot lap to determine their gate pick. Blazusiak made a small mistake during his hot lap but still pulled the fourth fastest lap to earn a decent gate pick. Brown crashed during his hot lap, recorded the slowest time and was relegated to a back row position for the main event.
Blazusiak rounded the first corner in third when the gate dropped while Brown had a great start from row two to move up to fourth. Then Brown slipped past Blazusiak into third to set up a battle between the two KTM riders that lasted the rest of the race. Near the end of the race, Blazusiak made a move around Brown and then Colton Haaker to move into second. Brown continued to battle Taylor Robert for the final podium position but eventually had to settle for fourth.
After four of six rounds, Brown is still the championship leader with 90 points while Blazusiak is in second with 87 points.
The next round is in two weeks at Everett, Washington on October 26, 2013.
Overall Results Rd. 4
1. Cody Webb
2. Taddy Blazusiak – KTM
3. Taylor Robert
4. Mike Brown – KTM
5. Colton Haaker
6. Kyle Redmond – KTM
7. Justin Soule
8. Cory Graffunder
9. Destry Abbott
10. Geoff Aaron – KTM
11. Bryan Roper – KTM
12. Kevin Rookstool – KTM
13. Nick Thompson – KTM
Overall Point Standings –
1. Mike Brown – 90
2. Taddy Blazusiak – 87
3. Taylor Robert – 75
4. Colton Haaker – 68
5. Cody Webb – 63