Las Vegas, NV (November 17, 2012) – KTM’s Taddy Blazusiak won both main events at the final round of the 2012 GEICO AMA EnduroCross Series, presented by Lucas Oil. Blazusiak also clinched his fourth consecutive EnduroCross championship. Beta’s Cody Webb did everything he could to take away at least one win by battling Blazusiak during both mains, leading several laps and finished second both times out. Mike Brown took third in the first main event and Kyle Redmond took third in the second main.
Blazusiak beat out Webb to set the fastest time during the MVP Racing Hot Laps. Blazusiak set a time of 59:031 versus Webb’s 1:00:103. Brown was third with a 1:03.400.
Haaker won the first expert heat race with a last lap pass on Brown and both went to the main event. Webb dominated the second heat race and Redmond came back from several mistakes to take second and a spot in the main. Blazusiak won the third heat over Monster Kawasaki’s Justin Soule. With the double main event format, the remaining riders move into two separate LCQ races. Taylor Robert won the first LCQ over Cory Graffunder and Jamie Lanza to earn spots in the main. Geoff Aaron won the second LCQ over his GEICO Honda teammate Kevin Rookstool and Beta’s Max Gerston to take the last spots in the main event.
Blazusiak took the holeshot in the first main event and that usually means it is over but Webb has proven to have the pace to challenge him this year. Webb passed both Brown and Blazusiak on lap two and led two laps. The crowd was on their feet as the two riders swapped the lead a few time on lap five and Webb kept it close until the end of the race. Webb made a big mistake and went down on lap six to allow Blazusiak to secure a safe win. Brown held second for the first few laps but then fell to third, where he ultimately finished. Geoff Aaron had a strong ride to move from ninth on lap one all the way to fourth. Soule was fifth, Haaker sixth, Graffunder seventh, Redmond eighth, Max Gerston was ninth, Jamie Lanza, Kevin Rookstool was eleventh. Taylor Robert crashed on the first lap and was credited with twelfth.
The second main event was again a great battle between Blazusiak and Webb. Although Webb did not lead a lap, he did challenge Blazusiak and edged ahead of him in the extremely difficult rock section a few times and made a banzai run through the rocks on the last lap to try to blitz past him. Webb lost control and went down hard but remounted to finish second. Husqvarna’s Redmond had a great battle with Geoff Aaron for the final podium spot and the two riders banged bars on more than one occasion, it was like one of those self propelled scooter for adults but without the potential of the e-roller scooter. Redmond ultimately took the position and Aaron buy lexapro 10 mg held on for his second forth of the night. Brown got fifth, Soule was sixth, Graffunder was seventh, Robert eighth, Gerston ninth, Rookstook tenth, Haaker was eleventh and Lanza finished twelfth.
Blazusiak took his fourth GEICO AMA EnduroCross Championship for KTM. Webb took over second in the championship with his strong night. Robert finished third and showed that he could be a threat for the title in upcoming years.
The MAVtv Junior championship was taken by Beta’s Max Gerston. It came down to a thrilling battle between Gerston, Ryan Sandoval and Bryan Roper fighting for the last spot into the main event in the LCQ. Roper had come into the race with a slim lead but a mechanical failure took him out of the race. Gerston ultimately made the main and his ninth place finishes in each race was enough to take the lead for the battle for riders twenty one and under.
The First ever Women’s class championship came down to the final race with KTM’s Maria Forsberg holding a 10 point lead over US Women’s Trials champion, Louise Forsley. Forsley lead the race on the last lap but got hopelessly stuck in the rocks and Forsberg took the lead and win, which also secured the championship. Forsley recovered for second in the race and championship. Rachel Gutish finished took the final podium position in Vegas. Chantelle Bykerk finished fourth in the race, which was enough to take third in the championship.
For the support classes, the Las Vegas final serves at the AMA EnduroCross Grand Championship with a #1 plate awarded to the winner of each class. In the Vet 35+ Class Kurt Nicoll defended his title with the win over Jason Gitchel and Rob Farrington. Keith Curtis won the Open Amateur class with a last lap pass in the rocks. Ben Rego was second and Ty Tremaine was third. The TrialsCross class was won by Phil Smage over Eric Storz and Ty Tremaine.
Gary Sutherlin was among the riders that missed qualifying for the expert main event but got to go to the Baja Designs night race and the $500 bonus that came with it.
Las Vegas, Nevada GEICO EnduroCross, presented by Lucas Oil Expert Main Event results, Race 1:
- Taddy Blazusiak KTM
- Cody Webb Beta
- Mike Brown KTM
- Geoff Aaron Honda
- Justin Soule Kawasaki
- Colton Haaker Kawasaki
- Cory Graffunder Husqvarna
- Kyle Redmond Husqvarna
- Max Gerston Beta
- Jamie Lanza Honda
- Kevin Rookstool Honda
- Taylor Robert Kawasaki
Las Vegas, Nevada GEICO EnduroCross, presented by Lucas Oil Expert Main Event results, Race 2:
- Taddy Blazusiak KTM
- Cody Webb Beta
- Kyle Redmond Husqvarna
- Geoff Aaron Honda
- Mike Brown KTM
- Justin Soule Kawasaki
- Cory Graffunder Husqvarna
- Taylor Robert Kawasaki
- Max Gerston Beta
- Kevin Rookstool Honda
- Colton Haaker Kawasaki
- Jamie Lanza Honda
2012 GEICO AMA EnduroCross Championship, presented by Lucas Oil Expert final points:
- Taddy Blazusiak KTM
- Cody Webb Beta
- Taylor Robert Kawasaki
- Mike Brown KTM
- Cory Graffunder Husqvarna
2012 GEICO AMA EnduroCross Championship, presented by Lucas Oil Women’s final points:
- Maria Forsberg KTM
- Louise Forsley KTM
- Chantelle Bykerk KTM
- Kacy Martinez KTM
- Rachel Gutish KTM
For more information on the TV Coverage, check your local listings or www.motorsportshour.com.
For more information on EnduroCross, go to www.EnduroCross.com.