Taddy Blazusiak Report
Blazusiak blasts to double win at Erzberg ‘08

KTM Enduro Factory Team rider Taddy Blazusiak stamped his mark on the ’08 running of the Erzberg Rodeo in no uncertain terms this past weekend as the Polish extreme enduro star dominated the gruelling Red Bull Hare Scramble event as well as comfortably topping the newly introduced Rodeo-X Endurocross. Finishing over 15 minutes ahead of his closest rival in the Red Bull Hare Scramble event, and in a time of just under one-hour and 20 minutes, Taddy claimed his second Erzberg victory in as many years.

Despite his sizeable winning margin Taddy was made to work hard for his victory, as a poor start resulted in him having to pass numerous riders during the early stages of the race. Forced to fight his way through the dust, as well as having to weave his way around the riders ahead of him on the early climbs, it wasn’t long until Taddy was in fourth position and catching KTM team-mates Cyril Despres and Juha Salminen.

Once past Cyril and Juha it was Andreas Lettenbichler who was the next rider in Taddy’s sights and before the half way stage of the race Taddy moved into the lead. Pushing hard to pull away from Lettenbichler the Pole saw his lead at the front of the race extend significantly as he worked his way through the toughest sections of the event. During the last 30 minutes of the race Taddy was unchallenged, with even the several newly introduced sections of the course unable to slow his pace.

Taddy Blazusiak: “It’s great to have won at Erzberg again. It was a lot harder for me this year because the track was harder, the other riders were faster and I was expected to win. Last year no one really knew who I was.

“I got a bad start, which made things difficult for me in the early stages of the race. I thought my bike had started but it took several kicks before I was going, by that point I was behind and in the dust of the other riders. I bumped my way past a few riders in the first two corners and then almost failed to get to the top of the first hill because I lost all my speed at the bottom of the climb. I rode like a mad man for a while then, to make sure I didn’t lose too much distance to the leaders. I had a few close moments.

“I crashed into some tree at the bottom of the first downhill, and was about fourth or fifth at that point. Not long after that I past Cyril Despres and Juha Salminen and started to close in on the leader, Andreas Lettenbichler. Andi was riding well so it took me a little while to pass him but once I did I pushed really hard to pull away. Last year I was able to take it easy between the difficult sections but this year I was racing at motocross pace everywhere, which was tiring.

“When I knew I was four or five minutes ahead I started to think about taking things carefully. It’s so easy to damage your bike so I was picking my lines through the really rocky sections of the track. I’m really, really thrilled to have won.”

BMW Motorrad Motorsport
Second place at Erzberg

The extremely tough terrain of the Erzberg Rodeo 2008 turned out to be a perfect play ground for the two BMW Motorrad factory riders Andreas Lettenbichler and Gerhard Forster and their BMW G 450 X. With a sensational second place and a further top ten result BMW conquered its set position in the extreme enduro scene. The weather was perfect, and “Letti” even had the chances of scoring first place at the final Hare Scramble which is the highlight of the Erzberg week end. He had a perfect start and was leading the field when he broke one foot peg touching a rock at checkpoint 2. He had to ride nearly the whole race with this severe handicap. And then of all things the gear shaft broke just when he was struggling through the rocks of the “Gerichtsgraben”, one of the most brutal parts of the race, leaving him with first gear only in that torturous section. But in the end only the Polish rider Taddy Blazusiak was faster. The rest of the world’s top enduro riders, most of them equipped with light two stroke bikes, had no chance to beat the 33 year old man from Rosenheim.

The 7th place of Gerhard Forster is a great performance as well, and he too could have finished even better if there hadn’t been that infamous “Gerichtsgraben”. There he somehow lost the good track and had to find his way back to the racing line over big solid rocks which cost him 2 places.

The Hare Scramble 2008 was the toughest in Erzberg history so far. Particularly the last section of the race called the “Reitwagenklamm” was virtually not ridable.

Andreas Lettenbichler already showed a fantastic performance one day before the Hare Scramble at the Rodeo-X Endurocross. He was surrounded by the 17 best extreme enduro riders of the world but nevertheless finished in second position on this very selective course which had the character of an indoor enduro world championship track.

The two prologue runs for qualification were a mere formality for the two BMW factory riders. With a 9th and a 13th place they ensured their start places in the first row.

Andreas Lettenbichler: “Erzberg was harder than ever and packed with dirty tricks. The Gerichtsgraben was absolutely crazy, and the Reitwagen-Klamm even topped it. There were 20 people with ropes pulling up bikes and riders. Without outside help it would have been impossible. At the second check point I broke my foot peg, and then of all things the gear shaft broke so that I had to ride the rest in first gear. I just tried to take it easy and to ride smoothly to the finish, easy as that…”

Gerhard Forster: “It could have gone better for me. I had a bad start and fought my way up to 5th position. In the Gerichtsgraben I got off the right track and found myself stuck in the rocks. That cost me two places. The bike was working perfectly. It is just so much fun to ride the 450 up banks, just open the throttle and off you go.”

Team manager Wolfgang Fischer: “We were at Erzberg only with a small team because we had parallel races in Walldorf and in Spain. Our small but highly motivated team proved the potential of a modern four stroke bike and that we can compete with the armada of light two strokes. BMW four stroke bikes in the top ten, the result speaks for itself. The performance of Andreas Lettenbichler is sensational. He was leading the race until check point 2. Then he lost a foot peg and as a result he couldn’t keep up with Blazusiak. I am very happy to see that we are ready to compete for top positions. Now we can attack, let’s go!

Results – Erzberg Rodeo, Arena Enduro
1.     Taddy Blazusiak (KTM Enduro Factory Team)
2.     Andreas Lettenbichler (BMW)
3.     Richard Ellwood (Honda)

Results – Erzberg Rodeo, Hare Scramble
1. Taddy Blazusiak (POL, KTM), 1:20:13
2. Andreas Lettenbichler (GER, BMW Motorrad Motorsport), 1:35:58
3. Paul Bolton (UK, Honda), 1:38:03
4. Cyril Despres (AND, KTM), 1:38:22
5. Kyle Redmond (USA, Christini KTM), 1:42:19
6. Geoff Aaron (USA, Christini KTM), 1:45:32
7. Gerhard Forster (GER, BMW Motorrad Motorsport), 1:46:15
8. Chris Birch (NZL, KTM), 1:47:35
9. Juha Salminen (FIN, KTM), 1:51:19
10. Mark Jackson (UK, KTM), 2:04:45



KTM Racing
Taddy Blazusiak undisputed King of Erzberg

On the eve of the Red Bull Hare Scramble at the 2008 Erzberg Rodeo, experts predicted that no rider would master the Iron Mountain in less than two hours. KTM factory rider Taddy Blazusiak charged through the checkered flag in 1:20.132.

The Polish rider who won the event and a factory ride in extreme Enduro events for the Austrian sports motorcycle manufacturer in 2007, left no doubt about his shooting star role. He has taken to top level competition like a duck to water. Taddy not only won the 2008 event, he did it in seemingly effortless style and passed through the victory arch on the top of the mountain almost 15 minutes in front of his nearest rival, German rider Andreas Lettenbichler.
 
Popular victory
Blazusiak's victory through the 16 control points of the massive mountain slope, terraced through hundred of years of iron ore mining was enthusiastically celebrated by the thousands of fans who came to Austria for the event. Particularly vocal were the large numbers of fans from his home country Poland who travelled south to watch him master what is considered to be the toughest one day competition on the extreme Enduro racing calendar.
 
Supercross winner
Taddy had warmed up for the challenge on Saturday with a victory in the super final of the Rodeo-X Supercross then on Sunday, 500 enthusiasts from 32 different countries were on the starting line for the Hare Scramble. They ranged from fully fledged factory riders to enthusiastic amateurs and it was the German Lettenbichler who won the start and held onto the lead for the first 20 minutes before he was overtaken by the 25-year-old Pole. From that point on it was never in doubt that Blazusiak would capture the glory.
 
Fourth for KTM's Despres
Dakar winner and KTM factory rider Cyril Despres of France was fourth this year while two other KTM riders from the USA, Kyle Redmond and Geoff Aaron came in at fifth and sixth. The results list continued to underline the supremacy and tenaciousness of the orange machines from KTM.
 
The 2008 Hare Scramble, the fourteenth annual race, wrapped up four days of riding and events at the annual Erzberg Rodeo and was this year held in perfect weather.



Christini Team
The Christini Team have contacted us to point out that Kyle Redmond and Geoff Aaron are Christini Team riders and were on All Wheel Drive Christini machines with KTM as the base bike.  They also wanted to mention that Geoff Aaron finished third in Enduro Cross on the All Wheel Drive machine. Both of these riders were on stock machines with All Wheel Drive and no works forks, engines or suspension. Glad to put the record straight.
Check out the Team Christini website at: http://www.christini.com.