Blazusiak ready for Erzberg & looking forward to US Endurocross
. By Bikeland Staff
With just a few days to go before the 15th running of the world's toughest one-day extreme enduro - the mighty Erzberg Rodeo - two-time event winner Taddy Blazusiak is ready and waiting for his chance to claim a third consecutive Erzberg victory.
Triumphant first time out as an enduro newcomer in '07, in '08 Taddy switched borrowed machinery for a place in the KTM Enduro Factory Team and again claimed victory. This year, having spent much of the last two months preparing himself for toughest extreme enduro in the world, the talented Pole is hopeful he can make it three wins from three starts.
Erzberg also marks the start of Taddy's extreme enduro and indoor enduro season. Almost five months to the day since the final round of the ‘08/'09 Indoor Enduro World Cup in Madrid, from Erzberg Taddy will head to the States where he will live for the next five months while competing in the '09 US Endurocross series. Following that it will be back to Europe and the start of the ‘09/'10 Indoor Enduro World Cup.
The '09 US Endurocross series starts in Las Vegas on July 25 before heading to Oklahoma, South Carolina, Ohio, Colorado, and finishing back in Las Vegas on November 21.
Taddy Blazusiak
"I feel confident about my chances of winning at Erzberg for the third consecutive year. I've been working hard recently, riding in lots of different types of events, so I know I'm in good shape. It would be great to win again and get three victories in a row, but Erzberg is an event that's hard to win and easy not to finish. As always there's going to be lots of strong competition from experienced Erzberg riders and some new competitors, I'm just going to do my best and try and use my experience to good effect.
Erzberg marks the start of my season, so it's an important event in many ways. Right after the race this year I head to the States to get ready for the Endurocross series. Then later in the year the Indoor Enduro World Cup kicks off, which along with several extreme events will keep me busy through the winter months.
I'll take one week off after Erzberg and then I head to the US and the start of the Endurocross series. I'm going to base myself in the States for the whole series this year - I'll be living with Mike Metzger in California. I'll be close to the KTM team and have lots of great places to go practicing.
The injury I sustained to my face last year took a lot to get over, but I feel I'm in the best shape I can be right now, considering everything I went through. Competition in the Endurocross championship is always fierce, but I'm focused on podium results. Obviously my goal is to win the championship - to do that I'll need to be consistent throughout the championship. I'm really looking forward to it. But first I'm focusing on Erzberg, and trying to get around the Iron Mountain faster than anyone else."