Taddy Blazusiak led from the start,didn’t have things all his own way as he made a small, but costly, mistake while weaving his way through one of the technical wooded sections of the course. Dropping off the racing line, and having to return to the start of the trail before working his way back towards the next check-point, Taddy dropped down into sixth position but wasted no time in working his way back into the lead.
Once back out front Blazusiak pushed no harder than he needed to and having opened up a commanding lead by the time he exited some of the event’s most technical sections he arrived at the finish in a time of 1.45:43, more than 10 minutes ahead of runner-up Andreas Lettenbichler. Just 16 of the 500 starters finished the Red Bull Hare Scramble.
Even more so than in previous years, Erzberg ’10 was a busy event for Taddy. With thousands of Taddy fans flocking to the race to catch a glimpse of the extreme enduro star, on Saturday evening he took part in the Red Bull Motorclash – a race up the qualifying prologue course against former F1 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen. Although Kimi’s WRC Citroen topped the timed race, the event attracted thousands of spectators and proved to be a massively exciting part of the Erzberg festival.
Although running into problems during the first of his two qualifying runs, Taddy recorded the second fastest time at the end of his second run, which ensured an all important front row start for the Red Bull Hare Scramble.
Taddy Blazusiak: ‘I was really focused on getting a good start because normally you can never guess when the flag will drop. I got a really good start, which was great. I made it to the top of the first climb in the lead. That made things so much easier for me this year. I felt pretty good early on but then I made a small mistake, which cost me quite a lot of time. I hit a tree stump and ended up quite a long way down a hill I’d already ridden up. I arrived at the check point from the wrong side but they didn’t allow me to continue, so I had to go back and come at it the correct way. I dropped from first to about sixth because of that. I chased the riders ahead of me like a maniac from that point. I was riding like I was in an enduro special test – I really gave it everything. I actually worked my way back into the lead quite quickly, and once I was there I just maintained my lead. In the past I’ve pushed and pushed, but this year, once I knew I had a good lead, I rode smart and took my time. There were some really physical sections of the track, but I really enjoyed it. It’s fantastic to win for a fourth year. There were some times not too long ago after I injured my shoulder when I wasn’t sure if I’d be racing Erzberg this year. I worked really hard to make sure I was ready, that’s why this win means a lot to me. Also, I have to thank KTM and everyone that helped and supported me. It’s been another great event and to win for a fourth time is just fantastic.’
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